Friday after Epiphany 2020 - The testimony of Baptism's waters

On Wednesday, I spoke about how it is fitting to read from the first letter of St. John during the Christmas season, as St. John takes up the task of explaining the significance of the incarnation of Jesus Christ and how that is to impact our lives as Christians.

God’s love is revealed to us in the incarnation, and so God’s love is to be revealed in our lives: God loved us, so we are to love one another.

Well, today’s readings are perfect for this particularly liturgical day, pointing us toward this Sunday’s upcoming Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord. For John today explains how Jesus’s divinity is was revealed through water. At the baptism, the heaven’s opened, the Holy Spirit descended, and the voice of the Father spoke, “this is my beloved Son”.

God testifies to the identity of Jesus. He is the Son of God. Belief in Jesus’ divinity isn’t simply based on human testimony, John says today, it is based on God’s testimony. John connects water and belief, baptism and faith, the revelation that Jesus is God and the possession of eternal life. A perfect reading to get us ready for the feast of the baptism this weekend.

But also our Gospel reading introduces the theme of cleansing. A leper falls prostrate before Jesus, believing that Jesus has the power to heal him, and he is made clean. Faith in Jesus leads us to the waters of baptism which cleanse us, not of the terrible physical disease of leprosy, but a spiritual disease far worse: the sinfulness which has caused death to our souls.

Today’s reading prepares us to celebrate the Lord’s Baptism this weekend, as the final feast of the Christmas season. The babe born in Bethlehem gives us new birth in the waters of Baptism. Faith in Him leads us to those waters, sanctified by him, by which we are reborn to eternal life.

As we come to the end of the Christmas season, celebrating the birth of our Savior, we consider the importance of baptism, and its implications. At his Baptism, God testified to Jesus’ identity. Our baptism impels us to do the same: to testify that eternal life can be found through faith in the Son of God for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
For Pope Francis and all the clergy: that they will draw many to the mystery of baptism and inspire the faithful to live their baptismal promises with great devotion.

For leaders of nations: that they will govern with virtue and integrity, helping to build society in conformity with the teachings of Christ. 

For non-believers and for those preparing for baptism: that they may be open to the grace of conversion and the joy of the followers of Christ. 

For the sick, suffering, persecuted, and underemployed, and all those facing hardships. 

For all those who have died, for all the poor souls in purgatory, for those who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, and for X, for whom this Mass is offered. 

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

34th Week in OT 2019 - Wednesday - Testimony in Pagan Courts and Thanksgiving Tables

Jesus’ final Temple discourse continues in our weekday Gospel readings with a description of the end times, the era of the Church. The Lord explains how our faith will lead us to giving testimony before the pagan governors and kings.

This certainly came to pass in the lives of the apostles. I think of the Apostle Thomas preaching against polygamy in the court of the King of India, Simon and Jude preaching against the false gods of Persia, the Apostle Matthew being martyred in Ethiopia.

And then of course the Roman martyrs like Paul and Saints Perpetua and Felicity, St. Agnes, St. Agatha, and Lucy. And John Fischer and Thomas more martyrs for Christ because the opposed the British king’s claim as head of the Church. St. Charles Lwanga who opposed the pederasty of the King of Uganda.

Simple people, mostly: fishermen, maidens. They gave testimony to Christ with their words and convictions and they gave testimony to Christ with their lives.

In the first reading, Daniel foreshadows Jesus’ teachings and the role that Christians will have in the world in giving testimony before kings. Daniel interprets this strange vision of the hand of God writing on the wall of the final Babylonian King, Belshazzar. Daniel interprets that the Babylonian Kings have been on the wrong side of history. They have opposed the One True God, the have defaced his Temple and oppressed his people.

Notice that Daniel has not prepared some systematic defense; his ability to speak for God comes from this spiritual gift he has nurtured through a life of holiness, his vibrant relationship with God cultivated even while in exile.

So, too, our ability to witness to Christ in the courts of the kings and governors of the world, not to mention at thanksgiving dinners, doesn’t come so much from preparing our intellectual arguments ahead of time, but from the gifts of God that we have cultivated in the course of the spiritual life.

The pagans, the godless, the nones, as they are called these days, those who practice no religion, are, like Belshazzar, on the wrong side of history. But, the Lord wishes to use us, as he did Daniel, and so many of the Apostles and martyrs, to give testimony to Christ by the integrity of our lives for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Lord, sanctify your bishops and priests, and grant them courage to preach the Gospel in its fullness.
Make the lives of parents examples of faith to inspire their children to seek first your heavenly kingdom.

Bring all those who have fallen away back to the sacraments, help them to repent of their sins and desire the life that can only come from you.

That the Wisdom of Christ may preside over our thanksgiving gatherings tomorrow, for safety for all travelers, and protection from food-born illnesses.

Bring comfort to the sick and suffering, charity and care to the destitute and down-trodden, be present through your church to the miserable.

Welcome into your kingdom all the faithful departed, those whose names are written in our parish necrology, all clergy and religious, and X for whom this mass is offered.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

6th Week of Easter 2018 - Monday - Called to Testify

In many of the stories of the saints, the holy ones are brought before judges, governors, kings, even emperors, to give testimony for their Christians faith.

In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus taught how on His account, his disciples would be “brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.”

I think of the Apostles being brought before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, or the first martyrs of Rome, saints like Felicity and Perpetua and Agatha, I think of that wonderful scene from the Man for All Seasons, of St. Thomas More standing before the English tribunal or the Ugandan St. Charles Lwanga and his companions refusing the perverted desires of the Ugandan King.

 Where are we to get such courage, such eloquence of word and deed?

As we near the end of the Easter season and the Great Feast of Pentecost, our readings speak of the Advocate, the Paraclete, who comes to the aid of Christians in testifying to Jesus.

In the Greco-Roman courtroom, your paraclete or advocate was the one who stood at your side and gave you help and assistance as your court case was tried.  Your advocate gave you counsel, pleaded your case, and interceded on their behalf, to teach them what they most know, to give them the words the must speak, when called upon to testify.

I think this is why some Christians back-off from or are hesitant to form a vibrant relationship with the Holy Spirit. We sense the Holy Spirit wants to impel us out of our comfort zones to witness to Christ. And that’s terrifying. So we “fall-away” from forming that deep powerful relationship with the Advocate.

But, Christians are to be witnesses to Jesus Christ in the courtroom of this world. Many will form their judgments about the truth of Christianity based on our testimony. And if they find us cowering in fear of witnessing to our faith, why should they convert? If we don't show conviction for Christ, why should they?

May we grow in our trust in the aid of the Holy Spirit, who helps us to be faithful to our vocation to boldly witness to Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all bishops, priests, catechists, and parents may be faithful in preaching and teaching the saving Gospel of Christ.

For those who do not believe in God and for those who have fallen away from the Church.

For an increase in the gifts of the Holy Spirit among all Christians, and for all who are persecuted for the faith.

For the sick, the suffering, those in nursing homes, hospitals, and hospice care, for the underemployed and unemployed, for the imprisoned, those with addictions, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, that the Spirit of Consolation may comfort them.

For the deceased members of our families, friends and parish, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for all those who fought and died for our freedom.

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

4th Week of Lent 2018 - Thursday - It's no secret

In the Gospel of Mark, we often read of Jesus guarding his identity. For example, when he asks the disciples that famous question, “who do you say that I am?” and Peter replies, “You are the Messiah”, Jesus warns the disciples not to tell anyone about him.

Again, after healing the leper, Jesus tells the leper, “tell no one who I am, but go and show yourself to the priest.”

Scholars call Jesus’ elusiveness about his divine identity in Mark’s Gospel, the Messianic Secret. Many, in Jesus’ times, were looking for the Messiah to be a political revolutionary, who would launch a military campaign against the enemies of Israel. So, likely Jesus was mysterious at times about his identity so not to feed into this earthly notion of Messiahship. He had a job to do—the Father’s Will—and these erroneous preconceptions about the Messiah mustn’t get in the way.

And perhaps, the mysteriousness of Jesus’ identity in Mark, could have brought some comfort to the Christians of Rome, for whom the Gospel was originally written. For they had to often be a bit secretive or mysterious about their Christian identity, lest they be arrested and sent to their death. But there is a point, in Mark, where the Messianic Secret is unveiled. During His Passion, Jesus is asked by the high priest, “are you the Messiah, the son of the Blessed One?” And Jesus answers, “I Am.” His identity is further revealed, as the obedient Son of the Father, as he lays down his life on the cross.

Well, in John’s Gospel, the secret is unveiled from the beginning. As we read today, John portrays Jesus standing before large groups of Jews, saying things like, “my works testify to who I Am, why the Father sent me, His Son.” John’s Gospel is unambiguous about the identity of Jesus from the prologue: From the beginning the Word was with God, and the Word was God; Jesus is the Word made flesh, the source of life and truth for mankind; and only those who rightly believe in Him and his Truth and His Works can rightly be called “God’s children”.

And we read from John, especially in the latter part of Lent, because this is the time for unambiguous conviction, that Jesus has the power to cleanse us of our sins and transform our lives. Lent is the time that we are to show that we are God’s true children, by performing good works, fasting and prayer.
Our Lenten tests prepare us for Easter testimony. In a sense, we are to be the works of Jesus, testifying to his divine identity, to his power to transform lives, and his mission to bring forgiveness and eternal life to the repentant, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That God may be pleased to increase faith and understanding in the catechumens and candidates who approach the sacraments of initiation in the coming Paschal Solemnity.

That those in need may find assistance in the charity of faithful Christians and that peace and security may be firmly established in all places.

For strength to resist temptation, and the humility to sincerely repent of sin.

That through fasting and self-denial, we may be ever more conformed to Christ.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Mercifully hear, O Lord, the prayers of your Church and turn with compassion to the hearts that bow before you, that those you make sharers in your divine mystery may always benefit from your assistance.

Homily: Thursday - 4th Week of Lent 2017 - Humility is living in the Truth

At the end of the Gospel on Tuesday, we heard how after curing the man born blind, “the Jews tried all the more to kill him”. Jesus, seeming to know their intentions, begins this long testimony, as if he had been put on the stand at a trial.

A successful lawyer was once asked to name the most essential factor for a winning case. He said, more important than a fair judge, a sympathetic jury, or a truthful client, is a credible witness. In the gospel readings yesterday and today, Jesus presents various credible witnesses to the Jews that he is the Son of God.

John the Baptist testifies to His identity, the heavenly father testifies to His identity, Jesus’ works and deeds testify to His identity, the scriptures, the old testament, testify to His identity, and Moses testifies to His identity.

With all of these credible witnesses to Jesus’ identity, why do they not believe? The failure to recognize truth is typically a failure of humility. St. Theresa of Avila said that humility is living in the truth, andar en la verdad, in her Spanish.

Those hostile to Jesus in the Gospel are so often putting themselves in the place of God, they forget the most important truth, that God is God and we are not.

The Lenten journey is one of humility.  We began Lent sprinkling our foreheads with ashes while hearing the words, “Remember, you are dust, and to dust you will return.”  The word humility derives from the word meaning “earth”.  The key to regaining lost humanity is through he humble recognition that we are not God, but that we need God, and must conform ourselves to the words and ways of God.

Theresa of Avila says it is a “cowardly soul” which runs from humility and runs from the truth. I think we see so many people falling away from the Church and resistant to the teaching of the Church, because they fear the change  that Christ demands. They prefer, like the Israelites in the first reading, their golden idols to the living God, because golden idols do not challenge them.

I think even faithful Catholics resist deep conversion because they are afraid to give up worldly attachments, familiar worldly ways of thinking.

Lent is so wonderful because God leads us cowards by the hand, through our Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving he leads us to give up the non-essential, to find life in Him. May we trust God on this Lenten journey, to allow God to humble us, to convert us, and to lead us to living truth, for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That our Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving may humble our earthly pride and bring about conversion and renewal within the Church.

For all those preparing to enter into Christ through the saving waters of Baptism and those preparing for full initiation this Easter, may these final Lenten weeks bring about purification from sin and enlightenment in the ways of holiness.

For those who have fallen away from the Church, who have become separated through error and sin, for those who reject the teachings of Christ, for their conversion and the conversion of all hearts.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation, addiction, or illness: may they experience the healing graces of Christ.