The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King

Posted on November 19, 2022November 18, 2022 by Deacon Joe

2 Sm. 5:1-3; Ps. 122:1-5; Col. 1:12-20; Lk. 23:35-43

Christ the King, “the chosen one”. Christ the King is not only “the chosen one, the Christ of God” but God in the flesh as the second person of the Trinity. This makes him above all not only “This is the King of the Jews” but the king of all in the heavens and earth, our king. In Christ the King “all the fullness was pleased to dwell”, the fullness of God himself, the fullness of love, mercy, and sacrifice for our sins that as unworthy sinners we may all be reconciled to him “by the blood of his cross”.

This is the day of rejoicing for the sinner is redeemed, the unfit made fit, the broken made whole, and the poor in spirit made rich in grace. This is our rejoicing that from the darkness of this world we now share in “the inheritance of the holy ones in light”. What are we doing with our inheritance to spread this light into our world? Christ on the cross is the victory over death with the mandate to “go forth” and multiply our inheritance as witnesses of the light.

When our children look up to us do they see the light of love coming to them or the grumpiness of our struggles for the day? Is it about us this day or about rejoicing in thanksgiving for the light of God’s love is with, in and through us? This is our celebration today that we live in this light and are blessed to receive our Lord and King, Jesus Christ. The Lord’s kingship then makes us his servants to follow in the truth the king has revealed of himself and his kingdom. The kingship is not a democracy but an authority out of love for God’s creation. In his kingship there is not “my truth” as my own “god” but the truth for eternal salvation.

Christ the King established his authority in the Word, in the Spirit and in the flesh. The Word was given to the disciples to go and teach the Word with the authority of the King. Jesus says to his disciples “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mt. 16:19) This is his church speaking for the King we call today the magisterium, the chosen ones to follow in his kingship with authority, trusted with the keys to multiply the kingdom of God.

Christ the King also promised us the advocate, coming in the Spirit with authority to pour out his graces upon the elect with power to change the world. In baptism we receive the Holy Spirit to be holy bringing the light into the darkness. The Spirit comes with fire to fire us up with the Lord’s passion to move mountains. It does not leave us idle, doubtful, and insecure living in fear of evil, death, or harm. The Spirit is active, powerful, and committed to something greater than ourselves, something inspired by heaven itself. When we find it, we will know it is for us to serve our calling, our source of love, our road to salvation.

Christ the King comes in the flesh even this day body, blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharist as a continued sacrifice of himself for us. His coming in the flesh is to transform us incarnated in our flesh as one body, Christ in us and we in him. If he is in us there is no doubt but joy and the fullness of his love for us. We come as we are into his embrace with our own fiat to be done with us according to his will and we will be purified, healed, and made whole for all eternity. No sickness of the flesh or death can destroy the body waiting to rise in us. It is the promise of the resurrection made visible in Jesus himself. Now is the time for us to rise again to new life even was we live in this flesh.

Christ the King comes to rule with fire that all may be purified by the fire of his love. Fire cleanses the impurities of our soul giving off the light and reflection of God’s image upon us. This image is to go forth and set our world on fire. Christianity came into the world not to be assimilated into the world but to transform the world. The world allows Christianity to coexist in the world as long as it remains within the confines of its walls and out of the public square. Once it becomes a voice for conversion of the world it is scourged into silence and threatened into compliance. What are we to do? Do we remain silent, lukewarm, and remain culturally acceptable or do we fear not and go forth?

The Lord cautions the lukewarm “so because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Rev:3:16) The chosen one calls the elect to fear not and go forth to claim the kingdom waiting to rise up in victory. The fearful remain silent assimilated into the mainstream of cultural tradition waiting for the end to come. The choice is now for us to make while there is still time. Christ the King is waiting for us to respond with our fiat, he will take us the rest of the way for he is faithful and will never depart from us.

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Homily

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Posted on June 19, 2022June 19, 2022 by Deacon Joe

Gen. 14:18-20; Ps. 110:1-4; 1Cor. 11:23-26; Lk. 9:11b-17

To all the fathers, Happy Father’s Day! Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ as the summit of our Catholic faith. From Melchizedek in Genesis in his priesthood with “bread and wine” as a foreshadow of Christ himself to St. Paul looking back to the command of Jesus to “do this in remembrance of me” to Christ himself in the multiplication of the loaves and fish, it is a manifestation of the sacrifice of Jesus giving up his body and blood to nourish our lives, remain with us, and lift us up to heaven.

God the Father has given us his Son for our salvation. Jesus the Son gives us himself as a sacrifice of love of himself and the Father. Together they are the epitome of what our lives as Father’s with our children are to reflect. Our children are a gift from God and we are to give them up to God by raising them to be his children by coming to know, love and serve God. Jokingly a parent may express their rights over a child with the words “I brought you into this world and I can take you out”. Nothing can be a more distorted view of life that this, to assume “our” children means total rights over their life. They as we are a child of God first and we carry a right of responsibility to bring them up as a child of God.

Fathers are the first image of God the Father to be head of the domestic church at home. This is a right to make the greater sacrifice for them. It is in the sacrifice that we gain our authority to lead them in the way of God the Father. Nothing gives a child more of a lesson of love and humility than to see their Father bow his head and pray, to listen to a Father’s prayer of surrender to God, to hear a Father’s words of love for God and their family. In a Father’s prayer the mask of false pride and power is removed and the truth of our weakness and trust in God is revealed. A father’s love is a powerful sign of our heavenly Father to grow in faith, hope and love.

Children believe what their fathers do more than anything they say so that our words may confirm what our actions reveal about our own faith and obedience to God. If we desire the best for our children, it will never come from what we can give them of the world. The best for our children comes from our relationship with them learn from us how to be the best God created us to be, to discover purpose and meaning in life, and to see in Jesus that it is in giving of ourselves that we receive the kingdom of God for eternal life.

If we truly believe there is a heaven and a hell and we will determine our eternal destiny by the way we live this life then there is only one thing that matters above all. It is the “one way” God has provided for us to his glory. The rest is just a “supporting cast” of gifts from God to live this one way to heaven. Our home, our work, our friends and family all are a gift of God’s love and mercy. The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is a reminder of the “one way” we die to ourselves that we may rise to eternal glory. Let this be the day others see in us our love manifested in our acts of charity to be the true image of God in this world. Then we will truly live our call as “fathers” making every day a Father’s day.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Queenship of Mary – 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on August 21, 2021August 21, 2021 by Deacon Joe

Josh. 24:1-2a, 15-18b; Ps. 34:2-3, 16-21; Eph. 5:21-32; Jn. 6:60-69

Queenship of Mary celebrates a memorial in honor of our Blessed Mother Mary eight days after celebrating Mary’s Assumption into heaven. It is a continuation of her celebration into heaven as Queen of Heaven and our Queen. It recognizes her distinct place in heaven as the Mother of God, first human into heaven as body and soul in the resurrected life. Jesus’ resurrection was his humanity and divinity, second person of the Trinity but Mary represents our humanity into the gates of heaven.

The Queenship of Mary is a “Marian feast day of the Church created by Pope Pius XII in 1954” commemorating all the privileges bestowed upon Mary by God and all the graces received through her intercession and Mediation.” (www.franciscanmedia.org ) The Queenship of Mary culminates her journey of faith from her moment of conception as the Immaculate Conception, her visitation to Elizabeth who calls Mary “mother of my Lord”, her mysteries by the side of Jesus, her Assumption into heaven and her recognition by the early Church fathers’ reference to her as Queen especially in her prayer “Hail Holy Queen”.

We can look to the Queenship of Mary as the new Eve through Jesus redemptive work responding to the call to “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”. This perfection is found in the image of Jesus love who first felt the embrace of a mother’s love as a child. Perfect divine love is embraced by perfect human love and all things are made new. What’s left is our call to perfection in the same image of love, a sacrificial love, a love of mercy and forgiveness, a love of charity and generosity, a love of a father and a mother and for a love as brother and sister. That love is what this world still needs to see. That love is what we are being offered today to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”

In the royal court of ancient times next to the King the seat was reserved for the mother of the King. When the disciples mother asks for her son’s to be at Jesus right and left side as any mother would want, Jesus lets her know that seat is predestined and who would it be that would receive this gift if not the Queen of Heaven and Earth who has the ear of Jesus and holds his heart reminding us to do as he says exercising her queenship. The royal court of Jesus is not a democracy and we don’t get a vote on which commandments we accept and which we discard. As Joshua spoke to “all the tribes of Israel” meaning all the people of God to make a choice. “If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today who you will serve…”

Joshua was speaking to the people of God, the chosen people and yet by their choice their actions were forsaking the LORD for other gods. Those gods were attributed to the Amorites whose legend holds they were “uncivilized nomadic raw-meat eating barbaric giants in the time of their ancestors who plundered and abused the people of God. They were feared and ancient writings describe them as “the former terrible giants, the Rephaim, gave way to the Amorites, an evil and sinful people whose wickedness surpasses that of any other, and whose life will be cut short on earth (the canonical Book of Jubilees (xxix. [9]11)” and to their reference to “their black art, their witchcraft and impure mysteries, by which they contaminated Israel in the time of the Judges (Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (Haaretz.com). They were part of a cult that sacrificed “their living children by burning them in a fire worshiping their god Moloch. To keep this in context these were historical figures that Joshua was comparing his people to falling into the same corrupt immorality and to choose between serving the Lord or the “gods” of these Amorites seen as lowest level of humanity who his people were becoming like.

Can we hear the voice of Joshua today speaking to our people in like manner? Recently it was reported of a university who I will not mention by name but you can easily find the story on the web, who in this country is performing live abortions without “Digoxin” in order not to contaminate the aborted babies body parts, having them born alive, selling them in the market as prime specimens and as well as using those body parts for scientific experiments like implanting the babies’ hair onto rats. The story continues with more graphic details of barbaric behavior that a civilized society condones. Could there be any lower form of humanity? The story came to light under the Freedom of Information Act by someone we could say is the voice of Joshua or John the Baptist calling us to repent in our times.

The Lord is asking “decide today who will you serve”. The gods of these “giants” of today who control the culture of death with sinful behavior or the house of the Lord? If we respond in like manner to Joshua “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD” then we can no longer ignore the sins of this world and it begins in the home. The importance we give to God, his church, and the teachings of his Word matter as a household to be one household under God. Husbands and wives are to be united as one in one faith under God passing on to their children the same faith, hope and love of God. The new age view that parents allow their children be free to explore their own sexuality, their own identity, their own faith views, and find their own gods is “Amoriteish”. To God all lives matter under his household and we carry a responsibility to each other.

In the teaching from Ephesians to be “subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ” as one flesh we recognize the importance of the church to Christ. Many today try to separate their faith in God to their commitment to church. This teaching reminds us of the importance of “church” to God as one flesh. Why so important? The gospel reveals the “why” because it is in church where we come to receive him body, blood, soul, and divinity in the Eucharist. For this reason, priests are subordinate to their bishop and bishops to the Pope in order to remain as one in reverence to Christ. As husbands and wives are married and subordinate to each other the priesthood is married to the church. Regardless of the sins of the few from within the church there remains many more holy priests and the walls of the church will continue to stand guarded by Christ and the heavenly hosts.

To many “this saying is hard; who can accept it” is as much true today as it was when Jesus proclaimed it. By coincidence or not in John 6:66 we hear “As a result of this many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him”. The numerical sign of the antichrist is “666” and we can view the antichrist today in the “many” who turn away from Jesus’ teaching returning to their way of life to serve other gods. It is not difficult to fall into the antichrist role, be an “Amoriteish” world that is self-serving and becoming the giant monsters of promoting sin when we demand it to be our way, not God’s way.

“Do you also want to leave?” This is the question Jesus possess to us today and we pray that we too will see the light to answer “Master, to who shall we go? You have the words of eternal life”. We cannot separate Christ from the church or we will find ourselves to be the separated ones from his words that are “Spirit and life”. “Does this shock you?” says Jesus and bring us closer to him in the Eucharist and his church or do we turn away. This is what the Queenship of Mary is ultimately about, bringing us closer to her son in whatever state of life we find ourselves.

If we find ourselves in a state of mortal sin then Christ is there crucified in atonement for our sins and we come to him as Mary is at his feet. If it is as disciples going deeper into his word, Christ is there in Spirit to reveal himself as the will of God. If it is in receiving the Eucharist, Christ is there to offer us his body and blood for our transformation to be “granted him by my Father” says Jesus. If it is in the sacramental life of the church, Christ is there building up his kingdom as a force for good against the culture of death. And, if it is at the moment of death, Christ is there in his Ascension to receive us as sons and daughter of the most-high God that we may all be one as he is one with the Father and the Spirit and as he also joins to himself all called to be saints.

We are all called to be holy, perfect, and saints. Don’t miss the opportunity. Let not our hearts be hardened but come to him in humility to receive him, give praise and serve the greater good he has destined for us, each according to the gifts he pours into us.

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Homily The Deacon Joe

The Bread of Life – 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Posted on August 6, 2021August 4, 2021 by Deacon Joe

1 Kg. 19:4-8; Ps. 34:2-9; Eph. 4:30-5:2; Jn. 6:41-51

“I am the bread of life…taste and see the goodness of the Lord”. Today Jesus reveals himself to be the fulfillment of the prophesy “They shall all be taught by God” not as the Jews anticipated but as God reveals through Jesus Christ. While the Jews question the validity of Jesus proclamation “I have come down from heaven” by only recognizing his humanity as the “son of Joseph” while they claim to know “his father and mother”, Jesus is announcing his divinity as the Son of God. In announcing “I am” Jesus declares the great “I AM” of God himself is the bread of life and he now stands before them as the “I am” who is one with God and whose name was given to Moses for God the Father.

In following the readings from the past Sundays of Ordinary Time, Jesus first is the “Teacher” to the Jews, then in his miracles he feeds the thousands to be recognized as “The Prophet” they were waiting to arrive from God. Now he takes them into new waters of revelation and faith by declaring himself from heaven coming as God for his people. Can anything be more amazing and challenging to the faith? Would we have reacted any different than the Jews if we had been standing there hearing this proclamation? How many of us would have walked away incredulous and how many of us remain incredulous?

Many are still incredulous as to the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist and the world is incredulous that God exists. Today we can taste and see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living from the “arm chair quarterback” looking back but back then we may have walked away in disbelief or tried to even stone Jesus as zealots of our own beliefs.

Today there are many zealots from within religions and outside of any faith doctrine. From within religions this is possible when a group takes up the original language and gives it an interpretation that fits its view of the world. It transforms the religion into its human doctrine instead of being transformed by the faith. Outside of religion is the coming together of an ideology for transforming the world into a structure that gives one group power over another. Zealots rise and fall but not without causing harm along the way. Jesus however perseveres in transforming lives in the land of the living through the light of truth. This “land” is not a geographic area but a spiritual domain we enter into to receive the bread of life.

The Jews were awaiting a king to restore their kingdom on earth. What they are receiving now is a king from heaven to take them to heaven by providing them and us the bread of life for the journey. “I am the bread of life” is understood that God is the bread of life from all eternity and Jesus is now present to provide us this bread in himself. We taste and see by coming to Jesus not just in spirit to taste and see but by receiving his body and blood in the Eucharist. It is the more perfect way of receiving Jesus as true food for the journey.

The journey as Elijah discovers after only a day’s journey is more than he can survive on his own. He prays for “death” recognizing he is “no better than my fathers”. In Elijah, we recognize ourselves as no better than the saints so how are we to be perfect as called to be? How are we to succeed in our journey? Only by receiving Jesus who is the bread of life can we survive our in our journey of life through all the “desert” encounters. We are weak “but strengthened by that food” that only God provides can we endure through the “desert” of life “else the journey will be too long for you!” “That food” is real food in receiving him in the Eucharist. Elijah foreshadowed it and Jesus fulfills it.

The journey that is too long to endure is the temptation of sin, suffering, and hunger. We see this after Jesus’ baptism as he went out to be tempted by the devil for 40 days. Here Elijah must endure the desert for 40 days and 40 nights as a prefiguring of Jesus. Jesus confronts the devil with the Word of God and we also have the Word as a weapon of faith but we also have something greater. We have the bread of life in Jesus to feed our hunger for righteousness through the Eucharist in the consecration of the bread and wine. This inner strength for the journey is what nourishes us to be strong and endure all the hardships, disappointments, and sacrifices of life.

The human condition is one of “hunger”. Not only do our bodies hunger for nourishment but our minds hunger for truth, and our soul hungers for something greater than ourselves. The hunger of the soul is our “hardwire” for God. If we don’t satisfy our hunger for all three then we may be lost in the desert wandering until we can no longer endure this life and like Elijah call out for death. But the angel of God came to Elijah and he can come to us as a messenger from God to rescue us and feed us in our time of needs. Like Elijah we must put aside our pride and turn to the Lord in prayer “This is enough O Lord!” If we ask the Lord to “take our life” he will answer our prayer with the nourishment to continue the journey to the mountain he has prepared for us.

Elijah was given the bread and water and “strengthened by that food” from heaven he reached the “mountain of God”. We too have a spiritual mountain where God is calling us to reach but the journey is through a desert of pain, struggle, and perseverance or we will die before we reach it. The Lord saves us from all our distress but we must call upon him and take our refuge in him that he may save us. The Lord saves but he cannot save us without us if we thus fail to turn to him with all our heart and believe. Today is that day of faith to believe. Receive the bread of life and be saved or “else the journey will be too long for you!” In Christ we can do all things through him who strengthens us for the journey he is calling us to take in this life. “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord” and we will reach our final destination in heaven.

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Homily

Something greater among us! 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on July 24, 2021July 23, 2021 by Deacon Joe

2 Kg. 4:42-44; Ps. 145:10-11, 15-18; Eph. 4:1-6; Jn. 6:1-15

Something greater among us is here! The people are waiting for “The Prophet” the one that is to come, what they are about to get is something greater, the Son of God. Last few weeks Jesus has been preaching and teaching the people many things reflecting the liturgy of the Word in the Mass and now the readings shift to reflect the feeding of the people as a sign of the liturgy of the Eucharist to come. The Lord feeds us with his own body and blood to answer all our needs and preserve us as “one body and Spirit in the bond of peace” through “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all”. The Mass is a microcosmic reflection of the ministry of Jesus to his people and in the Mass he is present to us today.

Jesus has been crisscrossing the Sea of Galilee with his disciples and crowds keep following him. What they see in this man is a “Teacher”, a healer, and a sign of a prophet. Jesus performs a greater miracle in feeding not only the five thousand men but the women and children who were with them so that the people recognize not only the “signs he was performing on the sick” but the greater sign that he was not just a prophet but “The Prophet” everyone was waiting for to be their King. His hour had not yet come to be recognized as the Son of God or how he was to deliver his kingdom to the people so “he withdrew again to the mountain alone”.

This is our time in Mass to withdraw from the world while in the world. This is a time to let go of our cares, a time to focus on God’s love for us, a time to be fed by him and to nourish our soul, a time to hear his voice and transform our minds and hearts. A time to offer him the greatest gift we can give that is ourselves to him, a time to be lifted up in spirit and truth. Yes, this is that time to surrender and return his gift of sacrifice for us by our sacrifice of love for him. This is that time.

Has our time come to experience something greater in our lives? With all the distractions of this world and everything we are being fed that is not from God by a world trying to steal our minds, hearts and will, we cannot satisfy our essential needs for joy and peace that only God can deliver. The world itself is not bad as a creation of God there is goodness, beauty, truth, and unity in the world when we gather together to share our gifts, talents and treasures. We honor God with our work and we contribute to the love of God in our charity. The problem often lies in being short sighted when we seek what is in the world as a possession and not a means to a greater purpose.

Home ownership is like a prize to have but there is something greater to have in building a home of love that is the greater reward. Knowledge is a treasure chest but people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care and something greater becomes of the relationship. Education leads to a degree but the degree is not the reward, the reward is the application to our calling in something greater than ourselves in the service to others. Work pays the bills and puts food on the table but something greater happens in the actualization of work that serves a purpose to produce something good. Children are a lifetime investment “caritos” but they become our greatest legacy when they carry forth our faith to love and serve God.

Church is an institution with a doctrine of faith but something greater happens in the incarnation of the doctrine that is transformative when we act on our beliefs. Sacraments are celebrations within the church community but something greater happens here through the grace of God the Father through the Son in the gifts of the Holy Spirit that unite our humanity to the divinity of God. Bread and wine feed the body but there is something greater among us here in the transubstantiation of the bread and wine through the ministry of the priesthood that brings us the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist.

We can see the world as something that just is or we can experience something greater among us here when we become united with the one body of Jesus Christ “striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace”. There was a time when everyone knew some version of Luke 2:14 even in the secular world people knew to say “peace on earth and good will to men”. The complete line is spoken by an angel of the Lord when Jesus was born praising God and saying “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests!” His favor rests on those who seek something greater than themselves, something divine. For those who believe this world is all there is there is something greater missing in their lives.

Today the search is not for peace or it would lead many to return to God. Today the search is for power and it leads many to create division with the old mantra “divide and conquer” and there is something greater here than a desire to conquer the people in our times. There is a greater evil coming from the evil one seeking to create division among families, despair in death, confusion between right and wrong, chaos in the streets, and final separation from any hope of salvation in God. If the victory has been won by Jesus on the cross then what is the battle that remains? It is the battle of pride to take down and punish those called to be sanctified by the grace of God from the Evil one.

The Evil one desires us to be fed to the lions of hate in a culture of death. Our children experience the hate coming from bullying in the schools, the test of pride when tempted by their peers to do drugs, and the fear of being “cancelled” by ridicule and shame for claiming to believe in God. Many in fact become suicidal by the impact of social media in their lives. They are being taught that race and color define a person as inherently oppressed or oppressors. The time when you were judged not by the color of your skin but by your merits is no longer the standard. The cultural war has risen to hate “mankind” so that there is no “man” or “woman” or “humanity” only the “kind” of species you identify with and kindness has given over to hate.

Hate comes in the workplace for religious beliefs when a business won’t bake a cake for a same sex wedding or even when a business takes a position against same sex marriages they are being banned. The next step already in the making is the Equity Law being proposed that will target religion making it illegal to discriminate in any form or fashion against any minority group thus lawyers are preparing their discrimination lawsuits against religion for refusing to marry same sex couples and the church will be treated as violating the law. This Equity Law may become the next “Roe vs. Wade” battle in defense of religious freedom.

Something of greater evil is underlying all of these battles and it involves the intent to deny the existence of God by denying natural law and creation, by making of the body a shell to be manipulated into an identity of choice, and ultimately by denying the sanctity of life itself. If life is not sacred then it becomes as disposable as trash which is how the aborted child is now treated, simply trash keeping only the parts that can be utilized for science. There is a choice to be made and it’s coming to our home if not already here to obey God’s law and commandments or to follow the herd mentality down the path of sin and death.

Jesus comes to preserve the sanctity of life and raise us up to something greater that is to his divinity. After the baptism of Jesus, he was led off into the desert to be tempted by the Evil one. He tried to tempt Jesus with pride to succumb to the evil one’s test but Jesus responded with humility and with the power of the word of God. The word is our defense and Jesus our strength when we recognize it is not about us but about him, and we humble ourselves before him. He comes to make all things new and he can renew us in himself to do greater things with our lives through him who strengthen us.

Jesus comes to offers us his joy and peace from the love of the Father in unity with the Holy Spirit. It is the love of sacrifice seen in humility to God the Father. It is the love that comes in the sacrifice of the Mass as he offers us his body and blood. In birth we receive the gift of life, in baptism we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and in Mass we receive the gift of Jesus himself in the Eucharist. It is surprising how Christians can believe in the omnipotence of God, in all the miracles he performed and then refuse to believe that he would take something as basic and natural as bread and wine and make it into his body and blood in memorial of his passion, death, and resurrection. If he demonstrated he could resurrect the dead, why is it so hard to believe in the miracle of the Eucharist? Believe and be fed and allow him in his body and blood to transform us and preserve us in holiness. Something greater is among us here so let this be our time for God’s time with us.

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Homily

18th Sunday Ordinary Time

Posted on August 1, 2020July 31, 2020 by Deacon Joe

Is. 55:1-3; Ps. 145:8-9, 15-18; Rom. 8:35, 37-39; Mt. 14:13-21

“What will separate us from the love of Christ?” Will anguish over a virus, or distress over a hurricane, or persecution by a political structure, or nakedness of our sin, or peril from unemployment, or the sword of death? Even death brings us to the love of Christ “to all who call upon him in truth”.

Truth is the path of love and to love God with all our heart and soul is the first truth of life. To “heed” him in truth is the sign of our love. Love is an active obedience to the will of God. How are we to “listen, that you may have life”? We must first receive him in order to listen to him. The Lord is inviting us to “come to the water!” The first act of love and truth is through the water of baptism. “Without cost” we are invited to receive him the true bread of life who does “satisfy” and we become members of the renewal “the everlasting covenant, the benefits of David.”

Having received him in water we can now listen to him in spirit as he speaks to us through his Word, the bread that satisfies in the Eucharist, in all the sacraments and through the church meaning the magisterium of the church and the people of the church. “The Lord is near to all who call upon him in truth.”

Five loaves and two fish feed five thousand plus. Really! Yes, really for “Heed me, and you shall eat well” says the Lord who is near. “Why spend your money…for what fails to satisfy?” says the Lord. In a highly commercialized world where everything becomes a “need” to satisfy nothing lasts except a continued “need”. Truth is God satisfies! He is our peace as we heed his voice and follow his truth.

What separates us from the love of Christ is when we fail to heed him, we separate ourselves denying him as we deny his word and fail to listen in Spirit and truth. Consider how many times God was ready to respond with his love if only we followed his command, “Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life”. The “I” of our ego kept us from him and the pride of our heart wanted to do it “our way” as he waited for us to call upon him, we denied him once again.

Come and be satisfied at the waters of life, at the bread of salvation in the Eucharist, with the Word of truth in scripture and remain in his presence. The goodness of the Lord is everlasting and today he invites us to receive what satisfies the longing of our hearts and the needs of our being.

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Homily

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Posted on June 13, 2020June 12, 2020 by Deacon Joe

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

“The cup of blessing” and “the bread that we break” unites the many into the one body of Christ not as a people of race, culture, or nationality but as a people of origin from the one God in three Persons. While race, culture and nationality give the body its human origin it is the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ that raises it up to it divine origin.

Some seek to use the human origin as a weapon of division to bring crisis and division extending the journey in the “terrible desert with its saraph serpents and scorpions” wanting to poison the water of life. Justice comes from God in his body and blood when we gather to break bread and recognize Christ present in all our brothers and sisters.

Today there are many false prophets in the streets who shield their face of evil with the veil of justice but as the sun sets their true image is revealed in their crimes to humanity. Those who seek justice work for peace while those who seek power work their crimes. Peace will come when hearts turn to worship Christ not worshipping an ideology. The miracle is in the person created in the image of Christ, a transformation of the soul into the image of Christ not into the image of an ideology.

Division is not only in the public square but in the church as the cornerstone of faith is his body and blood in the Eucharist when rejected among people of faith. The sacrifice he leaves us on the altar to transform our very being from the beginning of the church, rejected by the Jews remains questioned by people of all faiths who still ask “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

In the eyes of reason alone miracles don’t exist but in the eyes of faith life and all its existence begins as a miracle and anything is possible for God. The miracle we seek is the eternal life Jesus promises to the believer who receives him in body and blood not in faith alone but in the act of consumption found in the Eucharist, “whoever eats this bread will live forever”. “Thousands are, as one, receivers, One, as thousands of believers, eats of him who cannot waste”.

This food, the body and blood of Christ “cannot waste” in preparing us to answer the call he has designated for us in serving the greater good. This is social justice, the work of the church to go forth as a sign of Christ in the work of salvation. We were not created to live by bread alone but from the bread of life which directs our ministry, provides purpose and meaning, and allows us even to suffer with Christ always present in us and through us.

Years back 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 faith of the church in transubstantiation, 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 who is above all human understanding to be transformative.

The choice we make makes us to receive or reject his gift. In the end “Bad and good the feast are sharing, of what divers dooms preparing, endless death, or endless life”. Today we share the feast of the fruit the world has prepared and the choice we make is one that passes into death. Christ invites us to receive the cup of his blood and the bread of his body that passes into life to live eternally with him. We can look to Jesus passion, death, and resurrection as the trifecta of his great miracle. We can also look at his coming in birth, his return in the Holy Spirit, and his remaining in the Eucharist as the trifecta of his loving presence with us.

Let us remain in him in his Most Holy Body and Blood, the Eucharist. If we seek a world to be transformative we will continue to be disillusioned. If we seek transformation of ourselves in Christ’s body and blood the world will be transformed. May God bless you and keep you, may his face shine upon you now and forever.

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Homily

5th Sunday of Easter

Posted on May 9, 2020May 8, 2020 by Deacon Joe

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

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. Recently I heard the argument for the Last Supper as the birth of the church when Jesus by the breaking of the bread and giving of the wine instructs his disciples thereby instituting the priesthood of the church. Thus, the church is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist which we become when we receive the Eucharist at Mass. The unity in the one body the church comes to its’ fullness in the Eucharist. We could say the descent of the Holy Spirit is the “Confirmation” of the church.

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 to the extent the source and summit of the church remains in the Eucharist and is not lost. Unfortunately, too many people identify as Christian without unity to the Eucharist becoming “churches” of their own body. The people are called to “follow” in the body of Christ which they receive in the Eucharist and in the sacramental life of the church. Can there be church without the Eucharist? If history is a sign then we see the multiplication of “churches” into isolated cells when people separate from the Eucharist only to rise and fall.

Easter season is a renewal of the Church as we celebrate its formation in the early church. Today’s first reading in Acts is the birth of the diaconate into the church. “Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom…They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them”. 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 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 be Jesus as a voice for our times in our homes, work places, and in the community.

Jesus is our cornerstone present in the Eucharist. In the gospel he reminds Philip, “The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.” Today Jesus who dwells in us in the Eucharist is doing the works of the Father “and will do greater ones than these because I am going to the Father.” These are the works of salvation through evangelization as the church fulfills its mission of adding to the house of the Lord many more dwelling places prepared for us. This is our Easter hope and victory as we wait to gather together after this pandemic crisis is won.

“Come to him, a living stone…built into a spiritual house…to offer spiritual sacrifices”. This pandemic is our invitation to offer spiritual sacrifices for the recovery of this nation and the world. It is also a time for renewal of the “church” into a spiritual vessel of faith, hope and love, and prayer is the sacrifice needed. Prayer Matters!! As the nation celebrates the National Day of Prayer bringing people of all faiths we join in prayer for healing, the end of the virus, a return to a healthy work environment, and an opening of our houses of worship.

A spiritual house recognizes we are all created equal but not equally gifted for the same purpose. Each is called by name for a given purpose in the house of the Lord yet all serve the same greater good. As the early church quickly grew in number it realized the need for a house of God united in order of service just as all parts of the human body all come together to create a functioning human. The homeostasis of the human body is in care for its physical, psychological and spiritual needs and as such the body of the church must be cared for also.

The living stone is the Eucharist inviting us to a transformation of our body into his body and our souls into his spiritual vessel each called by name to our place of order within God’s house. Let us enter into it in body, soul, and spirit and our transformation will transform our world into a house of worship with many rooms to serve each purpose in the mystery of faith.

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Homily

Solemnity the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Posted on June 22, 2019June 21, 2019 by Deacon Joe

Gen: 14: 18-20; Ps. 110: 1-4; 1 Cor. 11: 23-26; Lk. 9: 11b-17

“Give us this day our daily bread”. Melchizedek, both king and priest uses bread and wine to offer a blessing and Abram gives his “a tenth of everything”. Imagine before all the history of animal sacrifices there is this event that prefigures Jesus sacrifice on the altar with bread and wine. That is why all of salvation history either point forward to Jesus or back to him, “You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek”. He is the eternal sacrifice poured out for us on the altar today in the Eucharist. How important was that blessing to Abram that he gives a tenth of everything to Melchizedek? The importance of a blessing by God will “deliver your foes into your hands.” When we receive Christ in the Eucharist, we receive power over evil and sin in the spiritual warfare of this life. Do we bless our children before they walk out of the house to go out into the world to face “the wickedness and the snares of the devil”? When we go to confession what is the first thing we say? “Bless me Father for I have sinned.” We ask for a blessing to be forgiven and healed from the wounds of sin.

A blessing is not giving “best wishes”, it is affirming favor with God and calling on his protection. A child says, “Mom/Dad I’m leaving”. How do we often respond? “Ok, take care, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, stay out trouble.” How about, “May God bless you and keep you, may his face shine upon you.” A blessing fulfills the song, “In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus”. “Do this in remembrance of me.”

“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 we 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!

We celebrate the kingdom of God already present able to heal us and strengthen us when the priest raises the host and multiplies the heart of Jesus that we may receive our equal amount of blessing. 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 b y 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 faith of the church in transubstantiation, 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. Believe and receive, but go to confession first for the blessing of forgiveness. “Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses…”

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