Easter Octave 2018 - Tuesday - Grace-filled encounters with the Risen Christ

Listen again to the words of the Entrance Antiphon for this Tuesday within the Easter Octave: “He gave them the water of wisdom to drink; it will be made strong in them and will not be moved; it will raise them up for ever, alleluia.”  These three beautiful lines remind of us of the three sacraments of initiation which the neophytes receive on the easter vigil. The water of baptism, the strengthening oil of confirmation, and the Holy Eucharist, of which Jesus says, “whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Remember, during these first days of easter, the Church shows special care for the newly initiated. They would attend daily mass often garbed in their baptismal garments, and afterwards, they would meet with their catechists to continue to unpack what they experienced at the Easter Vigil.

And not so much “what" they experienced but, “WHO” they experienced. For the Sacraments are “grace-filled encounters with the Risen Christ.”

Mary Magdalene in the Gospel today serves as a sort of model for all those who encounter Christ--for those who encountered Christ for the first time at Easter, and for all of us.

Firstly, when Mary Magdalene “encounters Christ” in the garden,  at first she does not recognize Him. Often we do not recognize the ways Jesus appears to us. Even in the Sacraments, for the un-initiated, all you see is water, oil, bread, or a grizzled old priest.

But as the Catechism teaches, in the sacraments, it is Christ who baptizes, Christ who confirms, Christ who feeds us with his body and blood, Christ who heals the sick, Christ who absolves our sins, Christ who unites in marriage.

Next, Mary’s tears are changed for sorrow into joy as she begins to understand and believe that Christ is alive. Similarly, as we grow in faith, as we allow the grace of the sacraments to grow within us, sorrow over earthly realities is transformed into joy over heavenly ones.

Finally, Jesus tells Mary “stop holding onto me.” Each of the Sacraments, particularly those of initiation, help us to stop living in the past, as they help us to embrace the present mission Christ gives us. Mary is sent to bring the good news to the rest of the disciples, and so are we.

This Easter Season, may the grace of the sacraments continue to be unleashed in our lives: the wisdom that comes from turning away from the world and turning to the Risen Christ in baptism, the strength and fortitude for resisting temptation and spreading the Gospel that comes from confirmation, and the new life that comes to us under the appearance of bread and wine in the Eucharist, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.

For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.

For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ.

For our own community, that it may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ, and that the newly initiated hold fast to the faith they have received.

For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness through the Christian faith.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.

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

Easter Octave 2018 - Monday - Newness of faith

Recall the entrance antiphon this morning: “The Lord has risen from the dead, as he said; let us all exult and rejoice, for he reigns for all eternity, alleluia.” The entrance antiphon reminds us that we are to continue our Easter celebration with great joy.

The Church celebrates the “Easter-event” for an Octave of days, each day reading a different Gospel passage from that first Easter Sunday.

In the early Church, those baptized at the Easter Vigil would attend Mass every day this week, to continue to joyfully celebrate their new life in Christ, and meet for post-baptismal catechesis.
This is why the opening collect prays especially for the newly initiated. Listen to these words again: “O God, who give constant increase to your Church by new offspring, grant that your servants may hold fast in their lives to the Sacrament they have received in faith.”

Just as the Easter Sacraments brought new life to the newly initiated, Easter rejuvenates the entire Church. These Easter days are to renew in us that conviction that Jesus rose from the dead. Like St. Peter bursting out of the Upper Room, filled with the Spirit, Easter is to energize us into bursting into the world to preach with our lives.

The Lord sends us anew, as he did Mary Magdalene, to bolster the faith of the brethren, to our fellow Christians, who don’t quite get it, right? Who have not allowed the Good News to change them, to convert them, who continue to trust in the ways of the world rather in the ways of God. We do well, like the Magdalene, to fall to the Lord's feet in homage, to deepen our love for him, and to plead for souls who are lukewarm.

And perhaps there are dark corners of our own hearts that the light of Christ has yet to penetrate, cold areas of our hearts that the fire of the resurrection has yet to set-aflame.

May our Easter celebrations rejuvenate, renew, and set-us aflame with zeal for the good news. For “He is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn to earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.

For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.

For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ.

For our own community, that it may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ, and that the newly initiated hold fast to the faith they have received.

For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness through the Christian faith.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.

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

Easter Sunday 2018 - Easter Laughter & The Joy of the Gospel

During the 15th century in southern Germany, a delightful custom sprung up in many parishes. At the end of the Easter church service, the priest would leave the altar and come down among the people and lead the congregation in what was called the “Risus Paschalis”, which roughly translates as “the Easter laughter.” The priest would tell funny stories and sing comical songs to evoke Easter laughter. Eventually this evolved into a regular annual practice, and the Sunday after Easter became known as Risus Paschalis Sunday. Priests would include jokes and funny stories in their sermons, and would sometimes even play practical jokes on their parishioners.

Eventually Pope Clement X outlawed the practice due to severe abuses of the practice: perhaps the medieval equivelant of putting whoopie cushions under the pews or itching powder in the holy water for the sprinkling rite.

But, why did this practice arise? Why did priests start telling jokes on Easter? Laughter is a sign of the joy that should mark this day. Joy is to bubble up in us like laughter after a good joke, as we celebrate the great victory of Jesus Christ over the powers of death.

In a sense, the greatest, most elaborate, most memorable prank in history took place that first Holy Week. Think of it…everyone was convinced Jesus was gone, dead, done away with for good. Pontius Pilate and the Roman soldiers thought so; with Jesus dead, they wouldn’t have to worry about an insurrection. The crowds that called for Jesus’ crucifixion thought so, in their minds, Jesus was a charlatan and got what he deserved. The Pharisees and Sanhedrin thought so; they had done everything in their power to be rid of Jesus who they thought to be guilty of the most heinous of blasphemies—claiming to be God. Satan himself must have thought that he had pulled off his great triumph in frustrating the plans and purposes of God.

But then the surprise. Then the punchline. Death was not the end, rather suffering and death became the instruments of God’s greatest victory. Death and violence do not get the last laugh, the last word. , The work of the evil one is undone by turning his own weapons against him. Suffering and death, which entered the world as a consequence of sin, were to become the very means by which sin was vanquished.

Easter is the morning when the Lord laughs out loud, laughs at all the things that snuff out joy, all the things that pretend to be all-powerful, like cruelty and madness and despair and evil, and most especially, the great pretender, death. All these pretenders are swept away by the truth and joy of the Resurrection.

As the good news of Jesus’ resurrection spread among his disciples, no doubt, surprise and joy and laughter must have bubbled up within them.

Joy is to mark the lives of Christians, especially in the Easter season when we focus on spreading the good news of Jesus rising from the dead. A glum, sour Christianity attracts few disciples.
Friedrich Nietzsche famously quipped, “If you Christians want me to believe in your Redeemer, you need to look more redeemed!”  Not that we should necessarily take advice from an atheist philosopher.  But he is certainly onto something: a truth that has been echoed often by the current holy Father, Pope Francis.

In his encyclical, “Evangelium Gaudium”, the Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis writes of how complaining and pessimism can often turn Christians into “sourpusses”, which is probably the first time the word “sourpuss” appeared in a papal document in 2000 years. Actually, the Pope’s original Spanish version of the encyclical used the phrase, “cara de vinagre” faces of vinegar, to describe Christians who have allowed pessimism and defeatism to rule over their hearts. A Christian who is complaining is not attracting anyone to Christ.

Rather, we are called to radiate with a Christian joy that bubbles up in us from our faith: that Christ is risen, he is truly risen.  Conviction that whatever powers of evil and death are left in the world, they’ve been defeated. Faith that human suffering and human death have been transformed into instruments for the sanctification of Christians. Faith that resurrection will come for all those who live and die in communion with Christ.

Christian joy is not an act. When you meet a truly joyful Christian, he is not pretending. He’s allowed the truth of the Gospel to transform his heart. And that joy is sustained through daily prayer, regular charitable service, fidelity to the commandments, and the humility to repent of his sins.

Pope Francis wrote “The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ, joy is constantly born anew.”

Easter is not just a day, it’s an entire season of 50 days. So, how can we sustain and nurture our easter joy over the next 50 days? I encourage you to read through and reflect upon the Acts of the Apostles and to imitate what you find there.

In the Acts of the Apostles we read that the first Christians “ate their food with joyful and generous hearts” (2:46). A family sitting down to breakfast or dinner, before saying grace, can recall Easter joy. Have one person say, “He is Risen!” and the rest respond “Indeed, he is risen!”

Acts of the Apostles tells us that wherever the disciples went, “there was great joy” (8:8); even amid persecution they continued to be “filled with joy” (13:52). When something doesn’t go your way, instead of complaining or cursing, recall the resurrection. Say to yourself, “He is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!”

In Scripture we find the Blessed Mother rejoicing, the apostles rejoicing, the woman at the empty tomb rejoicing, the newly baptized rejoiced, those who were persecuted for being Christians rejoicing. “Why should we not also enter into this great stream of joy?”

But again, joy is not an act. It’s not pretend. It comes from the real conviction, real faith, real belief, that Jesus is risen from the dead, and this changes everything.

Now, if you were waiting for me to tell an Easter joke at some point in this homily, I apologize, the only jokes I know are about Jesuits and lawyers, so, if you know a good easter joke, I could use one for next year.

May each of you come to know and experience great Easter joy today and throughout this holy season, for He is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen! For the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Good Friday 2018 - The Wood of the Cross on which hung the salvation of the world

In a few minutes, the cross will be processed up the aisle of the Church. It will be held aloft and the priest will chant, “Behold the Wood of the Cross, on which hung the salvation of the world.” To which each of us will respond “Come let us adore.”

There is an ancient Christian legend, concerning the wood of the cross,
dating all the way back to the 3rd century, the Legend of the Holy Rood: that when Adam fell sick, he sent his son Seth to the gates of the Garden of Eden to entreat God for an elixir from the Tree of Life to restore immortality to Adam, lost through Original Sin. Seth easily found his way to the garden, as no grass had grown over the footprints of Adam and Eve since their expulsion.

While Seth prayed at the gate, the Archangel Michael appeared to him, refusing Seth access to Eden and to the Tree of Life. However, Michael gave Seth a seed from the Tree of Knowledge from which Adam and Eve had eaten. On his return, Seth found his father dead, but placed the seed under Adam’s tongue and buried him.

From that seed sprang a tree, which had absorbed the blood of Adam. Generations later, Noah dug up this tree by the roots along with the body of Adam and took them onto the Ark to save them from the flood. And after the waters subsided, he buried the skull of Adam on what became Mount Calvary, or Golgatha, the place of the skulls. He planted the tree on the summit of Mount Lebanon. Centuries later, King Solomon cut down the tree, and cut it into a cross beam for his temple, but it wasn’t the right size. So Solomon cast aside the beam and buried it, and from the place where it was buried there bubbled forth a spring of water, which came to be known as the pool of Bethesda. To it the sick came to be healed.

Centuries later, that cross-beam floated to the surface of the pool. It was used as a bridge over which Jesus crossed into Jerusalem, and was finally used to fashion the cross upon which the Son of Man was crucified.

Is the legend of the Holy Rood true? Perhaps!

What is certainly true is that death came from a tree, and death was destroyed on a tree. From a tree, all the suffering of man can be traced. And from a tree, the suffering Son of Man, would redeem us. From a tree, division between God and man was wrought. And by a tree, God bridged the gap, he filled the chasm, he fashioned a bridge for Him and man to be reconciled.

Through God’s providence, the work of the evil one is undone by turning his own weapons against him. Suffering and death, which entered the world as a consequence of sin, were to become the very means by which sin was vanquished.

And yet, today, we are here not to worship a dead piece of wood, we worship the One who saved us through it. Though by venerating the cross, we honor the suffering of Christ. We approach the cross we such reverence, that we may revere the one who died for us. That his suffering may be imprinted upon us, that it may mark our lives, and mark us for salvation.

We bring to the cross today all the needs of the world and the church, all the needs of our families, all of our sufferings, all unbelievers, and all who suffer for the faith. That through the cross, we may experience the salvation Christ won for us, the defeat of sin and death, the healing of our deepest wounds, the fulfillment of all justice, the overflowing mercy of God

We turn our eyes to the cross, that we may one day see the one who suffered upon it face to face. We touch the cross, that we may feel his gentle caress when we are called to face our own, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Holy Week 2018 - Thursday Morning - Passover Preparations

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke each tell us how Jesus sent his disciples to make preparations for the Last Supper: they were to inspect the room in which it was to be celebrated, and to ensure that it was furnished for the ritual meal.

Just as we’ve already begun to prepare for the evening mass of the Lord’s supper, by filling the communion cups, filling the ciboria with hosts, placing the chairs for the washing of the feet, so too the disciples would ensure the cups and plates and utensils and bowls for the ritual washings were in place for the Passover meal.

Part of their inspection was to ensure that the room was swept clean of leaven. Throughout the Scriptures leaven is consistently a symbol for what is sinful, false, and evil. Jesus refers to the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees: their false teaching, their greedy attachments, their spiritual blindness.

Today is a good day to inspect the houses of our hearts, to sweep them clean of leaven: to identify anything that might distract us from truly experiencing the solemnity of the Sacred Triduum, to ensure that we’ve set aside time for plenty of prayer, reflection, gratitude, and repentance over the next three days.

The Psalms of the Church’s Morning Prayer this morning speak of God as Savior. God is invoked as the “God of Hosts”—the leader of a heavenly army who brings victory over the evil in the lives of his people. The Paschal Triduum is a celebration of God’s great victory over sin, but we know that victory comes at a price, the cross. And to share in the victory, we must renounce sin and selfishness and take up our cross as well.

We must, love one another as Christ commands his disciples to do at the Last Supper.
And all this begins by sweeping our house of leaven, sweeping it clean of the smallest little lies that we tell ourselves to justify selfishness, preparing our heart as a vessels for the Lord to fill with the wine of charity.

May we use the time we have given wisely and diligently, to prepare for the high holy days of our faith, in which the Lord will teach us, feed us, cleanse us, and raise us for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Holy Week 2018 - Tuesday - The Greed of Judas and the Love of Jesus

When Jesus announced that one of his disciples would betray Him, the 12 were befuddled. How could one of their own be responsible for betraying the master? Each of the apostles had their flaws, of course. Some were a bit hotheaded or slow to understand Jesus’ mission and identity. But, who would willingly and knowingly place their own will in competition with Christ’s? No one would be that arrogant, would they?

The Apostle Judas was likely a very capable young man. He was given a position of some importance, to carry the money purse. He was trusted by his fellow apostles. He had been sent out, by Jesus, just like the others: to heal the sick and cast out demons and preach repentance and the coming of the Kingdom of God. He was trusted, loved, he was called “friend” and “brother.”

How did Judas go from trusted apostle to committing the worst of betrayals?

Yesterday, we heard how Judas objected to the extravagant display of affection for Jesus, when Mary anointed the Lord’s feet with expensive oil and dried them with her hair. The oil, Judas explained, could have been sold for much and the money given to the poor. St. John tells us, his objection was not because Judas actually cared for the poor, but because he was a thief—he stole, he was greedy.
Judas’ selfishness and greed became the opening for Satan to enter Judas, to use Judas as his instrument. Satan, who himself betrayed God, who sought to obstruct the plans of God, attempted to use Judas for the same end.

If it can happen to an apostle, it can happen to us. The devil will always try to exploit our selfishness. He uses human selfishness to cause divisions in marriage, friendships, faith communities anywhere there is good, he will try to pervert--through even the small acts of selfishness you try to justify to ourselves.

Judas’ greed is contrasted in the Gospel with the lavish love that should flow from faith, as seen yesterday in Mary of Bethany’s generosity in anointing Jesus, which is seen ultimately, in Jesus’ self-donation on the Cross, his embrace of suffering for us poor sinners.

Judas “cared not for the poor,” only for himself.

In these final days of Holy Week, may we acknowledge our selfishness, our failure to emulate Jesus’ outpouring of love, and pray and do penance for those times, those relationships in which we’ve allowed greed to reign.

We trust the Lord does forgive us, when we repent, as Judas failed to do, because the Lord loves us, and desires not the death of the sinner, but his conversion.

May we open our hearts to growing in the selfless charity of Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For our Bishop, priests, and all of the faithful who will gather this evening for the Chrism Mass, and that the Charity of the Church of Cleveland may overflow like precious oil.

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.

Holy Week 2018 - Monday - Charity in the house of Bethany

The Gospel presents two very different attitudes towards Jesus: symbolized by Mary, Martha and Lazarus on one hand, and Judas Isacriot on the other.

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus recline with Jesus, serve Him and anoint Him. Lazarus is gratefully aware that Jesus had raised him from the dead and wants to share that joy with others as he invites everyone to a banquet in his home to meet Jesus. Mary lavishly shows her love and affection for Jesus by anointing his holy feet with expensive perfumed oil and drying his feet with her hair.

But not Judas. Judas snickers, Judas sneers, Judas mocks. Judas wants to get rid of Jesus.

The Church is to embody the spirit of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary: serving Jesus, bringing people closer to Jesus that they may share with him in the banquet of life, lavishly pouring out our very best, our very selves to honor and love Jesus.

And very often, the world is like Judas Iscariot. Sneering and snickering at the Church, mocking the Church, trying to turn people away from the Church’s lavish worship of the Lord.

But we must not be embarrassed in our lavish worship of Him, we must not hold back from lavishly serving him, and we must not be hesitant in inviting those who hunger for his goodness, his truth, and his beauty, to the table of the Lord.

What seems like an incredible waste of time and money to the world—our service, our worship, our efforts, is an expression of our immense gratitude for what the Lord has done for us, the blessings he bestows upon us, and the immensity of what he suffers for us, which we meditate upon later this week.

Each of us does well today to reflect upon how we can show our gratitude to the Lord, how we can serve the Lord, and how we can bring others to know the Lord, even perhaps to soften the hearts of the Judases of the world, 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.