Ascension 2024 - Awaiting the Spirit

 

Ohioans have certainly had reason to look to the sky lately! A month ago we witnessed a rare celestial event: a total solar eclipse. I remember sitting in the church parking lot back on April 9, gazing up at the sky. And in that moment of totality—of total eclipse--I could form no other words except “wow.”

Last night there was another very rare celestial event, for this part of the globe at least: the Aurora borealis also known as the Northern Lights could be glimpsed. I must have missed the news about this, as I didn't find out about the northern lights until this morning when I opened up Facebook and saw these beautiful pictures of the ribbons of blues and purples and greens of the Aurora borealis all throughout my Facebook feed.  From the pictures, it really looked like a site to behold.

What a coincidence that our readings this weekend depict the apostles gazing skyward. Before their very eyes, on the 40th day after his resurrection on Easter Sunday, the Lord Jesus ascended skywards. 

No doubt, the reaction of the Apostles was even more intense than our reaction to the eclipse and the aurora. Not just “wow”—look at that spectacle. But, the Lord’s ascension meant something for the rest of their lives. You saw the eclipse or you didn’t see the eclipse…we went on with our lives It was a marvel to see, it’s a lovely memory. But it didn’t really change anything for us, right? Likewise, last night, you saw the aurora borealis, you didn’t see the aurora. Again: a really neat spectacle. A wondrous phenomenon of God’s creation. But hardly life changing. 

But for the Apostles, witnessing the Lord’s Ascension meant something. The course of their life would now be quite different. For one, it was further proof of the Lord’s divinity and that God was at work in a major way. Secondly, it was a powerful reminder for them, as it is for us, to remain focused on heaven. Not just the sun and moon and stars, of course, but God’s heavenly domain, our eternal homeland. Reaching heaven and serving heaven is to be the main impetus of our life. We are to remain vigilant against anything that might distract us from our earthly journey toward heaven. As we reflect upon often in Advent, we are to be prepared for the Lord’s final Advent—his return from heaven. Thirdly, since the Lord Jesus was no longer going to be physically present, the apostles’ leadership of the Church had truly begun. They were responsible for passing on what they received and ensuring that the Church remained faithful to her mission. 

And of course, the Ascension meant that their mission to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth was about to begin. Over the course of 40 days after Easter, the Lord had appeared to them many times, proving that he was truly risen from the dead. He proved that God was truly victorious. Life is triumphant over death. He made them witnesses of his resurrection so that they would be prepared to go out and share the good news with the world.

And yet, notice, that just prior to his ascension, the Lord tells the apostles that they still aren’t ready to begin the mission. Even with everything they’ve witnessed—everything they’ve seen. They won’t be ready until they receive the Holy Spirit. 

Preaching the Gospel is going to change the world. The apostles are going to speak to kings and princes and emperors, rich and poor, sick and healthy, learned and unlearned, Jew and Gentile. They are going to speak about the things they’ve heard and seen and witnessed. In fact at the last supper the Lord told the apostles that they “will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these.” The Lord healed the sick of Galilee, and His Apostolic Church has gone on to found hospitals spanning the globe. The Lord taught the ignorant of Galilee, His Apostolic Church has gone on to found schools and universities and teach people of every tongue. The Lord gathered in his earthly ministry, lets say, a few dozen followers. His Apostolic Church has baptized millions upon millions. The Lord fed a few thousand in the multiplication of the loaves, His Apostolic Church has fed and clothed and healed and taught billions.

We’ve done great things, by not by our own power. The Holy Spirit has impelled us into the world, has animated, guided, empowered, uplifted, emboldened, enlightened, and gifted the Church with those spiritual gifts necessary for the mission.

The Ascension is a marvel to celebrate—one of the great events in salvation history. But, in a sense, it was a means to an end. The Lord said, I have to go, so that the Holy Spirit may come. The event prepared them for Pentecost. And they did as the Lord commanded. The apostles spent the next nine days from Ascension Thursday to Pentecost Sunday: waiting for the Holy Spirit through prayer together. As we’ll hear next Sunday, they gathered in the upper room with the mother of Jesus and prayed. 

And as they did, so should we. During this next week, pray to be more and more open to the Holy Spirit: to be guided, empowered, uplifted, embolded, enlightened and gifted with spiritual gifts for the mission God has planned for you and for this parish.

The apostles gathered in the upper room with Mary, this is a good week to pray the rosary every day. Our Mother wanted what was best for her sons, the apostles, and she wants what’s best for us, all her spiritual children—and that’s profound openness to the life and gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

Now, yes, we have all received the Holy Spirit at Baptism. The day of our Baptism for every Christian is Pentecost Sunday. But, today’s feast of the Ascension reminds us of the need to constantly be cultivating that readiness for the Holy Spirit to move us and gift us and fill us and send us. At the direction of the Lord Jesus, the Apostles waited for the wind of the spirit to blow, and like them we are to unfurl the sails of our minds and souls, constantly, through daily prayer and mindfulness of God, so that we will respond with faith when the Holy Spirit so moves us.

Last night (Friday evening) we had a beautiful event. You see lined up on at the foot of the communion rail, candles. Each one of those candles is a soul who moved by the Spirit entered this church to pray. Parishioners and folks who just happened to be walking by last night from 7 to 8pm felt the Lord calling them to pray. It was truly a sight to behold. I’m deeply proud of our brothers and sisters who made last night a success. 

May these final solemnities of the Easter season animate us in joy in our share of the Gospel mission, guide us and open us more deeply to the gifts of the Lord, and help us to remain intent on the pursuit of heaven, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

2nd Sunday of Advent - Holy Waiting

 Waiting. We’re not very good at that anymore. Maybe we never were. In this age of instant-gratification, we get frustrated if we have to wait for any length of time. Waiting in traffic, waiting in the doctor’s office, waiting in line at the grocery check-out. Waiting feels like time wasted. And who can afford to waste time these days? We have too much to do. Every second counts.

Christmas is such a joyous time—the joyous songs, the presents, the food. But Mother Church, intuiting that we need to learn how to wait, we are given the season of Advent, as a sort of buffer to the gratification of Christmas. To teach us to wait. Which is why we don’t sing Christmas hymns in Church like Joy to the World and silent night during Advent, even though you hear them at coffee shops and department stores. We don’t put out the nativity scene here in Church yet. Because it’s not time, we are still waiting. We light the Advent candles as a sign of keeping vigil—remaining mindful of the one we are waiting for.

Pope Benedict XVI spoke one Advent about the importance of waiting, he said: 

“Our whole personal, familial and social existence passes through this dimension of waiting. Waiting is something that is present in a 1,000 situations, from the smallest and most banal to the most important, which draw us in completely and in the deepest way. Among these, we think of a husband and wife waiting for a child; of waiting for a relative or friend who is coming from far away to visit us; we think of a young person waiting to know his grade on a major exam or the outcome of a job interview; in romantic relationships, of waiting to meet the beloved person, of waiting for a letter, or of receiving forgiveness... One could say that man is alive so long as he waits.”

Scripture is filled with stories of waiting. Abraham and Sarah waited through decades of infertility for the birth of Isaac. Moses and the Israelites waited 40 years before reaching the promised land. Jacob waited seven years for Rachel, only to be tricked into marrying her sister, and had to wait seven more before he could marry his beloved. From Malachi — the last book of the Old Testament — to the writing of the New Testament was a span of 400 years called the silent period. So, the people of God waited 400 years to hear from God. Even the Lord Jesus waited—he waited 30 years to begin his public ministry. From the moment of Original Sin, humanity waited for a savior. 

Continuing his reflection, Pope Benedict said,” Every one of us especially in this season [of Advent] in which we prepare for Christmas, can ask himself: What am I waiting for? For what, in this moment of my life, does my heart long for? And this same question can be posed at the level of the family, of the community, of the nation. What are we waiting for, together?”

It’s a great question. What am I waiting for? For those of you who just thought, “I’m waiting for this homily to be over”…you are getting coal for Christmas. 

Waiting, it’s even a part of our liturgy. Long readings, long eucharistic prayers. Long communion lines. Periods of Silence. They are good for us. If we are in a hurry to fulfill our religious obligations…have we begun them with the right spirit? I’m not saying we should rejoice when Mass goes an extra five minutes…but I hope you WOULD be upset if we simply rushed through Mass just to “get it over with”.

Holy Waiting, can teach us many things: I’d like to propose five lessons from waiting:

One. Waiting reminds us that we are not the center of the universe. It’s so easy to get caught up in our own plans, convinced that everything we do is absolutely, crucially important. Being forced to wait is humbling—it gives us the opportunity to remember that other people have plans and priorities as well. Waiting is good for ego. Waiting reminds us that God is in control. When we are tempted to give up hope, or turn to God and say, God, who are you to make me wait, who are you to make demands on me, we remember the words God spoke to Job: Where were you when I made the cosmos? Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? So waiting helps us to remember who is in charge of the universe. Waiting is humbling.

Secondly, waiting teaches us perseverance. Sometimes, in our prayer lives, when we pray and pray and pray for a particular intention, and we don’t see our petition granted, the temptation is to give up on our prayer, to give up on God. St. Monica, remember prayed 40 years for the conversion of her son…she patiently but actively waited for her heart’s desire.  Sometimes waiting is the penance needed to obtain the particular grace, or simply the way God wishes to strengthen us in virtue—in perseverance. 

Thirdly, Waiting reminds us that life is a gift. God didn’t have to make us. Every day, every hour we have in this life is a gift. Forced to sit at a stop light for several precious minutes, I have a choice. I can choose to grumble and gripe about the loss of my precious time, or I can remember that those very minutes were a gift God gave me so that I might have the opportunity to live for his glory. Sure, this wasn’t how I’d planned to use them. But that doesn’t change the gift of life—of time.

Fourthly, waiting reminds us that the present matters. Sometimes waiting frustrates us because we’re too future-oriented, focused on what comes next. We hurry through Mass, we hurry through a meal, we hurry through our prayers, in order to get to the next thing. But when we hurry through our tasks, we fail to savor the present. God is in the present and waiting helps us to encounter him in the present.

Something I’ve been doing for years is that I like to go through the Old Testament psalms and pray them very slowly, meditating on the meaning of each word—the Lord…is…my….shepherd: savoring what God is saying through the sacred text. We don’t read Sacred Scripture just to get to the end of the story. We know how it ends. With victory! God’s victory, God’s glory.  Reading through the 31,000 verses of the bible is not as important as taking the meaning of those verses to heart. In order to understand the scriptures sometimes we need to wait, to chew on them slowly.

Finally, waiting reminds us to live recollectedly. Waiting can be uncomfortable because it forces us to think about what really matters in our lives. It causes us to confront our doubts and questions. And some of us live so un-reflectively that waiting, questioning, doubting, is uncomfortable—terrifying to some. Waiting causes us to confront the fact that we only have a finite amount of time on this earth. And maybe, just maybe, I haven’t been using the time wisely—I’ve been wasting time—pursuing things that really don’t matter.  

In the Gospel for this second Sunday of Advent, John the Baptist is sent by God to announce that the period of Israel’s waiting has almost come to an end. The deliverer, the Savior’s arrival is near at hand, so repent in order to prepare for his coming. Waiting provides us with time to think about what needs to be reformed, in order for our lives to be handed over all the more to God. 

Pope Benedict concluded his reflection on waiting, by pointing to the example of the Blessed Mother. Mary was a women who waited patiently and with grace. And when she did God accomplished something in her life even she didn’t expect. She gives us the final lesson on waiting. When we wait on God with open minds and hearts, he fills us with grace and self-knowledge and peace and joy that we never expected. 

Let us learn from her, the woman of Advent, to live with a new spirit of a profound expectation that only the coming of God can fulfill, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

December 30 2019 - Christmas Octave - "A certain prophetess "

The first two chapters of St. Luke’s Gospel contain what are known as the “Infancy Narratives”. They are familiar stories to us, including the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity of Our Lord, and his Presentation in the Temple.

Today, we read the concluding verses of the infancy narratives—of a woman named Anna. Anna is described by Luke as a prophetess, a widow, and a woman of advanced years. Her husband had died after only seven years of marriage, and since his death, for about sixty years, Luke tells us “she never left the temple.”

She, like Simeon, is a representative of faithful Israel who awaited the Messiah, who prepared for him through prayer and fasting and an enduring hope, and was now blessed to witness his coming. Here was a woman, whose life had become focused on patiently awaiting the promises of God. Can we even begin to comprehend her joy upon meeting Christ?

Notice, how after encountering Jesus, she begins to speak about the encounter, she becomes an evangelizer.

After the death of her husband, Anna could have stayed home, depressed and withdrawn, but after a period of grief and mourning, she devoted her life to God. Anna is a wonderful example for all widows and widowers, who answer the call to come to daily mass, to worship, to pray, to encounter the Lord.

There in the Temple, even in widowhood, her life was filled with Joy, as she encountered God, and that joy translated into evangelization. She is an example for all Christians. Those who celebrate the Lord’s birth on Christmas day, are tasked, like Anna, with sharing the good news of his birth with others.

We are to speak about Him, sharing with others, how he is the fulfillment of all their desires, he is the way by which God’s peace is offered to us, the way joy can fill our lives in this dark world.
May Anna help us to live out the true meaning of Christmas, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the witness of the Church may help all nations come to believe in the Lordship of Jesus.
That our president and all civil servants will carry out their duties with justice and honesty, and for the reversal of any law which permits or leads to the destruction of innocent human life, and that God may protect all unborn babies, and keep them safe from the scourge of abortion, we pray to the Lord.
For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life and a strengthening of all marriages in holiness.
For those oppressed by hunger, sickness, addiction, or loneliness, that through the mystery of the Nativity of Christ, they may find relief in both mind and body.
For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, 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

Homily: December 19 2016 - Quiet and Faithful Waiting

We return to one of the important Advent themes today: the patient waiting of God’s faithful ones. In the first reading we heard of Samson’s mother and father waiting for a child. They remind us of the Jews enslaved in Egypt, or the Jews captive in Babylonian exile, who waited and waited for deliverance—the faithful remnant who trusted that God would be faithful to his promises of salvation.

Zechariah and Elizabeth, too, had waited and waited for a child, even to the point where Elizabeth had been disgraced for her barrenness. At that time, remember, that children were considered as great blessings from God, and to experience barrenness was considered a curse.

Yet, the times of barrenness, the times of waiting, are not so much curses, as opportunities for God to test and strengthen our faith. In times of waiting, God purifies us of superficial desires, and increases our desire for the one thing that really matters: salvation, union with God.

I think the purification that waiting brings is seen in the punishment Zechariah undergoes for his doubt. When the angel announced that he and his wife would conceive, Zechariah initially doubted. Because of his doubt, the angel prescribed a punishment or a penance. Zechariah doubted the Word of God, so he himself was struck mute. But his muteness was medicinal. During those nine months, as he saw his wife show signs of pregnancy, he would ponder again the word of God, to renew his trust in it.

Muteness, silence is one of the wonderful aids for growing in holiness. This 4^th Week of Advent which is characterized by peace should be a quiet week, a week of reflection, pondering the promises of God, treasuring God’s word, like Mary, in our hearts.

This is a good week to make an extra visit to the adoration chapel, to schedule extra quiet time with the Scriptures. To put away the superficial distractions in order to focus on the one thing that matters most. To nurture a peace and calm and quiet akin to the silent night on which Christ is born.

Such silence, quiet, and peace will help us treasure Him above all else, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 2nd Sunday of Advent 2016 - Advent Waiting

Waiting. We’re not very good at that anymore. Maybe we never were. In this age of instant-gratification, we get frustrated if we have to wait for any length of time. Waiting in traffic, waiting in the doctor’s office, waiting in line at the grocery check-out. Waiting feels like time wasted. And who can afford to waste time these days? We have too much to do. Every second counts.

Advent is a time of waiting, not of celebrating Christmas early. To truly enter into the spirit of the Advent season, we meditate upon all those centuries when God’s people awaited the coming of the Messiah and the fulfillment of His promises. And the Jews didn’t just wait a few months or years…they waited generations, centuries. They waited 2000 years for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham God’s promise to Abraham to send a Lamb of Sacrifice—they waited 2000 years for the one John the Baptist called the “Lamb of God”

Pope Benedict spoke one Advent about the importance of waiting, he said:

“Our whole personal, familial and social existence passes through this dimension of waiting. Waiting is something that is present in a 1,000 situations, from the smallest and most banal to the most 

important, which draw us in completely and in the deepest way. Among these, we think of a husband and wife waiting for a child; of waiting for a relative or friend who is coming from far away to visit us; we think of a young person waiting to know his grade on a major exam or the outcome of a job interview; in romantic relationships, of waiting to meet the beloved person, of waiting for a letter, or of receiving forgiveness... One could say that man is alive so long as he waits, so long as hope is alive in his heart…”

One wonders if we lose something essential of our humanity the more impatient we become. Before the over-commercialization of the season, you didn’t see Christmas decorations in the stores in late October like you do now. We don’t sing Christmas hymns in Church like Joy to the World and silent night during Advent. We don’t put out the nativity scene yet. Because it’s not time, we are still waiting. We light the Advent candles as a sign of keeping vigil—remaining mindful of the one we are waiting for.

Continuing his reflection, Pope Benedict said,” Every one of us especially in this season in which we prepare for Christmas, can ask himself: What am I waiting for? For what, in this moment of my life, does my heart long for? And this same question can be posed at the level of the family, of the community, of the nation. What are we waiting for, together?”

An interesting set of questions the Holy Father asks us. What am I waiting for? For those of you who just thought, “I’m waiting for this homily to be over”…you are getting coal for Christmas. There is something quite profound in that question there: if we are in a hurry to fulfill our religious obligations…have we begun them with the right spirit? I’m not saying we should rejoice when Mass goes an extra five minutes…but I hope you would be upset if we simply rushed through Mass just to “get it over with”.

Waiting, can teach us something important: I’d like to propose five lessons from waiting:

One. Waiting reminds us that we are not the center of the universe. It’s so easy to get caught up in our own plans, convinced that everything we do is absolutely, crucially important. Being forced to wait gives us the opportunity to remember that other people have plans and priorities as well. Waiting is good for ego.

Two. Waiting reminds us that God is in control. When we are tempted to give up hope, or turn to God and say, God, who are you to make me wait, who are you to make demands on me, we remember the words God spoke to Job: Where were you when I made the cosmos? Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? So waiting helps us to remember who is in charge of the universe. Waiting is humbling.

Sometimes, in our prayer lives, when we pray and pray and pray for a particular intention, and we don’t see our petition granted, the temptation is to give up on our prayer, to give up on God. St. Monica, remember prayed 40 years for the conversion of her son…she patiently waited for her heart’s desire.  Sometimes God waits for us to become as humble as we should…before he grants a petition.

Thirdly, Waiting reminds us that life is a gift. God didn’t have to make us. Every day, every hour we have to enjoy the good things of the earth, to enjoy the gift of family and friends, every day we have to work overcome our sinful tendencies is a gift. Forced to sit at a stop light for several precious minutes, I have a choice. I can choose to grumble and gripe about the loss of my precious time, or I can remember that those very minutes were a gift God gave me so that I might have the opportunity to live for his glory. Sure, this wasn’t how I’d planned to use them. But that doesn’t change the gift.

Forthly, waiting reminds us that the present matters. Sometimes waiting frustrates us because we’re too future-oriented, focused on what comes next. We hurry through Mass, we hurry through a meal, we hurry through our prayers, in order to get to the next thing. But when we hurry through our tasks, we fail to savor the present.

Sometimes, I like to go through the Old Testament psalms and pray them very slowly, meditating on the meaning of each word, savoring what God is saying through the sacred text. Reading through the 31,000 verses of the bible is not as important as understanding the meaning of them. In order to understand the scriptures sometimes we need to wait, to chew on them slowly.

Finally, waiting reminds us to live recollectedly. Waiting can be uncomfortable because it forces us to think about what really matters in our lives. It causes us to confront our doubts and questions. And some of us live so un-reflectively that waiting, questioning, doubting, is terrifying. Waiting causes us to confront the fact that we only have a finite amount of time on this earth. And maybe, just maybe, I haven’t been using the time I’ve been given so wisely, pursuing things that really matter.  Waiting reminds us that we are part of something much larger. A story not of our own creation, but God’s.

So next time you are waiting in traffic, or waiting in line at the supermarket, instead of distracting yourself with your smart phone, consider these truths: I’m not the center of the universe. God is in control. This time is a gift. I need to slow down, anyway. For what or for whom do I long for most deeply?

Pope Benedict concluded his reflection on waiting, by pointing to the example of the Blessed Mother. Mary was a women who waited patiently and with grace. And when she did God accomplished something in her life even she didn’t expect. She gives us the final lesson on waiting. When we wait on God with open minds and hearts, he fills us with grace and self-knowledge and peace and joy that we never expected.

Let us learn from her, the woman of Advent, to live with a new spirit of a profound expectation that only the coming of God can fulfill, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.