Homily: 3rd Sunday of Easter 2016 - "For the sake of the name"

Each Sunday of the Easter season, our first reading is taken from the Acts of the Apostles, while our second reading is taken from the Book of Revelation. There is a beautiful connection between these two books of the New Testament, if you think about it. The Acts of the Apostles describes the first steps of the Church in time and history, Revelation describes the Church that will last forever. Acts of the Apostles takes place in the earthly Jerusalem, Revelation takes place in the new and eternal Jerusalem. Acts of the Apostles describes the Church’s pilgrimage, with all of its difficulties and trials, Revelation reveals the Church having reached her destination—the reward for her faithful perseverance.

In Acts we read how the Apostles, having witnessed the Resurrection of Christ, and having been filled with the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, go out into the streets of Jerusalem, the very town where Jesus was arrested and crucified, and preach his Resurrection.  “Jesus, whom you killed, has been raised, just as he promised” Peter preached on that first Pentecost Sunday. For their preaching of Jesus’ Gospel, the Apostles quickly gain the attention of the Sanhedrin and other Jewish leaders, the same men who conspired against Jesus, to put the Savior to death.

Today’s passage from Acts sees Peter and the gang, having been imprisoned, brought before the Jewish high court. The Sanhedrin demand that Peter and the Apostles immediately cease and desist preaching about Jesus.  Peter says, you don’t understand, this task has been given to us by God himself, and “we must obey God rather than man.”

Here stands Peter before these corrupt Jewish leaders, knowing that they have the power to totally ruin people’s lives, even to have them put to death, as they did to Jesus.  Peter had already been arrested and thrown into jail, and he knew there could be dire consequences for resisting their threats.

But after courageously proclaiming Christ, Peter and the Apostles, “left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.” Bleeding and wounded after having been whipped and humiliated, they left rejoicing. Would you or I be rejoicing after that? We find it hard enough to put up with morning traffic! To rejoice in suffering for the sake of Christ is a sign of Christian maturity.

Immature love will do anything it can to flee from any sort of hardship, any demand for commitment or self-sacrifice.  Think of the immature love in our own culture: how many people go from one romantic relationship to another because they are not willing to do the hard work of a serious mature relationship. In fact, studies show how many in the younger generation cannot hold down serious jobs because they are so used to being coddled, babied and overprotected.  Hence, their dangerous attraction to socialism. Grave immaturity permeates our culture.

Mature Love, on the other hand, embraces hardship and sacrifice for the greater good.  Mature love is not only open to generous giving, it looks for opportunities to give. When our love for Christ is mature, we are glad to suffer for his sake, just as he was glad to bear his cross for our sake.

Throughout Church history there have been many times and places where Christians were persecuted.  1000s of Christians were martyred in those early centuries.  When the narcissistic Roman emperors were forcing people throughout the empire to renounce their personal faiths and offer burnt offerings in worship of the emperor, the true Christians were those who refused to compromise their faith.

When I was thinking of a modern day example of this type of faith, I thought of the parents of Pope Benedict XVI.  Pope Benedict, Joseph Ratzinger, grew up in Germany as the Nazi party was coming to power.  Joseph Ratzinger, Sr. the Pope’s father was a police officer in Bavaria.  The Ratzinger family experienced great hardships because they would not support the Nazis.  The pope's brother Georg said: "Our father was a bitter enemy of Nazism because he believed it was in conflict with our faith." The family knew first-hand how dangerous the Nazi philosophy was. In the late 1930s, the Nazis had implemented a euthanasia program for the handicapped. Pope Benedict had a cousin with Down’s Syndrome, and in 1941, the Pope’s cousin was taken by Nazi authorities for “therapy” as they called it.  Not long afterwards, the family received word that the cousin was dead, labeled as an “undesirable” by the Nazi party. Mr. Ratzinger spoke out publically against the evils of Nazism, and for this, he faced demotions and the family had to move several times.

Friends, similar evil philosophies are growing again in this country, and Christians who speak up against the growing evils are facing great hostility.  Just this week, a man named David Daleiden, who had exposed the illegal and disgusting practices of Planned Parenthood, had his home raided by the pro-abortion Attorney General of California. His home was ransacked, his property confiscated because he stands up for the Christian Gospel of Life.

Enemies of the Gospel are gaining positions of very high influence. Parents are beginning to be penalized for opting their children out of the secular state’s indoctrination programs. The Church’s teaching on sexual morality and marriage is labeled as bigoted, intolerant, hate-speech. Those in authority are seeking to silence the Gospel, as they did in the first reading, and in the life of Jesus himself. But we, like the Apostles, “must obey God rather than man.”

And that’s why today’s Second Reading is so important.  In the second reading we are given a vision of heaven, the reward for those who are willing to suffer for the sake of the name.  On the throne of heaven is not some earthly king who never suffered a day in his life.  On the throne of heaven is a lamb who was brutally slain by his enemies.  And surrounding the lamb were those who suffer for him.  This is the fulfillment of Jesus promise in the beatitudes: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for my name, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

How might we be called upon to suffer for the sake of Christ? Well, how are we being called in this 21st century to witness to the truth of Christ? With only 20% of Catholics attending weekly Mass, we certainly are being called upon to reach out to our fallen away family members, to speak to them of the importance of weekly Mass attendance.  We are certainly called to stand up for life and campaign to enact laws for the protection of the innocent and vulnerable.  We might be called upon to refuse to engage in immoral business practices, perhaps even to quit a job where there is institutionalized corruption.

You may have seen in the news yesterday, Pope Francis new document on the dignity of marriage and the family.  In a world which seems to glorify and celebrate unhealthy and immoral sexual practices, Pope Francis gave beautiful clear teaching on the importance of healthy, holy families. He speaks against adultery—calling Christians to witness to the truth of marriage.  As well as condemning abortion, Pope Francis’ document contains many references to Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae and John Paul II’s writings on the sinfulness of artificial contraception, as well as the teaching that marriage can only be understood as being between a man and a woman.

For this reaffirmation of Catholic teaching, the Holy Father may experience ridicule, backlash, and threats from those with different agendas. Yet, he also equips us with the language we need, forming our faith, for the challenges of spreading the faith in this secular age.

Each of us are called to whole-heartedly embrace the truth of Christ as taught by the Church, and to spread that truth with patience, courage, and compassion.  This might bring the attention of our enemies, but it also might lead others to embrace Christ.  Let us not be afraid to stand rooted in the truth of Christ, for the sake of the name, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Friday - 2nd Week of Easter 2016 - An unstoppable Spirit for a never-ending job.

As we’ve heard this week from the Acts of the Apostles, the untiring preaching of the Resurrection of Jesus by the Apostles infuriated the Sanhedrin.  Remember, the Sanhedrin had conspired to put Jesus to death. Remember, on Easter how we also heard how they conspired against the Apostles, claiming that the Apostles had stolen the body of Jesus from the tomb to make it look like he had risen.

Yet, on the Sanhedrin was a Pharisee named Gamaliel. This is the same Gamaliel who was the teacher of St. Paul. Gamaliel argues that if the message of the Apostles is not from God, it will eventually die out…” But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.”

The Gospel message has endured, two thousand years. We’ve survived every attempt to destroy us.  The Roman Empire, the Nazi Regime, the Communist Party.  Yesterday, I spoke of our current secular State’s attempts to silence the Gospel message. In the end the State will lose; the Church will endure until the end of time, for she is from God.

The Church is not a man-made institution, though she is made of men. Really, she is not an organization, but an organism—a living being, with a soul.  Just as our soul animates our body, the Holy Spirit animates the Church. The Church is the most powerful force on earth not only because she has the highest ideal—the glory of God, but above all because she has the greatest power within her.  The gates of hell shall not prevail against her, for Jesus died for her, rose for her, gave the Spirit to her, for the most important mission of all time: the salvation of souls.

The secret of the Church’s enduring power throughout the centuries, through the persecution of her martyrs and saints, the source of the truth of her doctrines, her infallibility and consistency in faith and morals throughout two thousand years is not dumb luck.  Nothing less than God could perform this miracle in history. 

However, this does not give us the right to relax our efforts.  Evil prevails when good men do nothing.  So our efforts of spreading the Gospel must be constant, like the Apostles. 

In the Gospel reading, Jesus feeds the hungry crowd of 5000 with 5 loaves and two fish. There are souls who are hungering to know Jesus, to know his truth, to be fed by his word and his body and blood.  Our Lord wants to feed the hungry souls of the world through us. For us to neglect our mission of evangelization is to allow hungry souls to starve. God gives us an unstoppable Spirit for never-ending job.

Bringing the food of God’s word and sacraments is not someone else’s job, it’s our job.  We can never give the excuse “well, I’m too ordinary, I have nothing to offer.” For the same Spirit which animated the Apostles has been given to us—the same Gospel message, the same Sacraments.

May we be faithful and courageous in our mission bringing hungry souls to the table of the Lord, to be fed as we are by Word and Sacrament for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Thursday - 2nd Week of Easter 2016 - "We must obey God rather than men"

Since Easter Monday we’ve heard day after day in the Acts of the Apostles about the apostles’ unflagging determination to spread the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yet, very early on in their preaching mission, Peter and the Apostles’ began to face the same hostility Jesus faced in his ministry.  Yesterday, we heard how the Sanhedrin and the high priest had the apostles imprisoned for their evangelical activity, but God sent an angel to free the Apostles from prison and told them to continue to preach about the new life available in Jesus Christ. Upon being freed from prison, they went right back into the marketplace to begin preaching again.

Today, we heard how they were brought back before the high priest and Sanhedrin and threatened, but we heard the Apostles boldly say: “We must obey God rather than men.”  And they resumed their preaching.

We are all called to the same courageous conviction of the apostles: preaching the truth without compromise. “We must obey God rather than men.” When the earthly powers seek to silence the message of the Gospel, we must preach it all the more fervently.

In America, the Gospel message is under attack by the earthly powers.  We see the message of life silenced.  Parents are beginning to be penalized for opting their children out of the secular state’s indoctrination programs. The Church’s teaching on sexual morality and marriage is labeled as bigoted, intolerant, hate-speech.  And, unfortunately, we see many Catholics buying into the secular agenda. Many Catholics claim that the Church’s 2000-year-old message is wrong, and that we must change our teaching to fit the secular philosophy. 

Jesus explains the consequences for abandoning his teaching; we read today: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.” Woe to us, if we preach anything other than His Gospel.

We must not be afraid to engage our fallen away Catholic family members. It is not sinful or judgmental to teach Christian morality, or to correct those who are in error—it is an act of love to help someone in error to return to the truth.

In order for us to be like Peter, Paul, and the apostles, we must be courageous and competent. Sometimes we don’t pass on the faith as effectively, because we really don’t understand the faith as well as we should.  Study the faith, study not just what the Church teaches, but why she teaches us: read the catechism, listen to solid lectures on the faith, discuss the finer points of Church teaching with each other. So many of us know that the Church’s message leads to moral and spiritual freedom, but we lack the confidence in spreading that message. 

Don’t be afraid. Study the faith, pass on the faith, for it is the message that leads to eternal life, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Easter 2016 - Spiritual Rebirth

The prophet Ezekiel, about 600 years before Christ, taught that God would one day cleanse his people with “clean water” and put his “spirit within them” and that God’s redeemed people would receive “a new heart…and a new spirit.”

In his conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus teaches that those promises are being fulfilled through the spiritual rebirth available through Him.  In Baptism, each of us has experienced a spiritual rebirth.  Yet, the Christian life requires constant rebirth and renewal.  Our rebirth isn’t just a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, we are to have an openness to the change God wants for us, constantly growing in the virtues of fortitude, temperance, prudence, and justice, constantly growing in patience, and generosity, and joy.

This rebirth brings a new relationship with God’s Spirit.  Yet this relationship can be challenging for us. “The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Our Christian life, the new life of Christ entails an openness to God’s Spirit. But, that spirit can’t be controlled by us, just like the wind can’t be controlled. It can propel us, it can empower us, but it can’t be controlled by us; in the spiritual life, we aren’t the ones in charge.

In the Acts of the Apostles we get a glimpse into the life of the early Church, what attentiveness to the Holy Spirit looks like—we read how the Holy Spirit was guiding and empowering this community.  “The community of believers was of one heart and mind.” That’s the work of the Holy Spirit, to make believers of one mind and heart—God’s thoughts and God’s love guided and unified this community.  And one of the marks of this love and unity was that no one claimed their possessions as their own.

That is certainly not to say that they had adopted Communism as their form of government.  They weren’t compelled by some Communist Dictator—forced to own nothing.  Yet, they had this profound willingness to sacrifice for each other, and use their own goods for the good of the other because they really loved each other—so much so that if anyone had a need, each one considered themselves responsible to meet that need.

Here’s the challenge for us today: Is your love for the people in this parish community so profound that you are willing to sacrifice everything for them? If not, why not? Are we here at St. Clare of one mind and one heart with the universal Church, with the Bishop, with the Pope, with the Holy Spirit? If not, why not? What needs to change in us? We are called to new life, and attentiveness to the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

May each of us consider how the Holy Spirit is propelling and empowering us to greater generosity and patience and faith for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Annunciation 2016 - Combating Spiritual Amnesia

The Feast of the Annunciation celebrates one of the most important events in human history: the Incarnation of Our Savior in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Had Christ not taken on our flesh, our flesh could not be saved.

The Church's celebration of the Annunciation is believed to date to the early 5th century, possibly originating at about the time of the Council of Ephesus (c 431). Earlier names for the Feast were Festum Incarnationis—The Feast of the Incarnation, and Conceptio Christi—the Conception of Christ.  In the Eastern Churches, the Annunciation is a feast of Christ, but in the Latin Church it is a feast of Mary. The Annunciation has always been celebrated on March 25, exactly nine months before Christmas Day, except when it is displaced by the Sacred Triduum or the Octave of Easter, as it was this year.

One of the great spiritual maladies that afflicts us, even devout Christians, is spiritual amnesia, we forget, we fail to keep in mind, what God has done for us.  The fact that the Eternal Word has become flesh for our salvation should fill us with such constant joy, and yet, we forget this fact, and allow worldly concerns take away our joy.

Well, one way that Catholics have attempted to keep in mind the great mysteries—to combat this spiritual amnesia, is through the development of devotions.  For example, devotions like Eucharistic adoration help us to keep in mind the Lord’s Eucharistic presence with the Church, a daily examination of conscience help us to keep in mind our need for God’s mercy. The praying of the rosary helps us to remember our Mother Mary’s great care for us.

A millennia-old devotion which helps us keep in mind the great mystery of the incarnation, which we celebrate today, is of course the praying of the Angelus. Traditionally, prayed at morning, noon, and night, the Angelus helps us to remember this most important event in our salvation history, the incarnation of the savior through the virgin’s acceptance of God’s will.

At my first parish assignment, the school children one year, committed to praying the Angelus every day at noon.  Our Church bells here at St. Clare chime every day at noon and at six pm, echoing throughout the surrounding neighborhood, reminding us to pray the Angelus.

When we keep the divine mysteries before our eyes and hearts, their power to shape our lives becomes unleashed, and we endeavor all the more to seek heavenly things rather than becoming distracted by earthly things.

May the celebration of these great mysteries of faith, confirm us and strengthen us in obedience to the Divine Will of God and trust in his saving mercy for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Divine Mercy Sunday 2016 - Pope Francis & Mercy Incarnate

If Pope Francis is remembered by historians for anything, likely, he will be remembered for his emphasis on the mercy of God.  As we all know, Pope Francis, now three years into his pontificate opened for us and the whole world, this Jubilee Year of Mercy. Yet, really, he was speaking about Mercy from very early on in his pontificate.

Pope for just about a month, he celebrated today’s special feast, the feast of Divine Mercy, back in 2013.  He spoke at that time of how "true peace ... comes from the experience of God's mercy," of Jesus Christ revealing Himself to us as "Mercy Incarnate," and of our call to boldly "proclaim Christ the Risen Lord" by "trusting in the mercy of the Lord forever." And I’d like to talk today about those three points: that peace comes from experiencing God’s mercy, that Jesus is Mercy incarnate, and that God calls upon all us to proclaim that mercy.

So, first, let’s talk about peace. Pope Francis explains that the words of Jesus heard in the Gospel today, “Peace be with you!” is not a simple greeting. Jesus offers peace that the world cannot give.  Peace is a precious gift truly offered by God through Jesus Christ.  The Pope said, “Peace is the fruit of the victory of God over evil, it is the fruit of forgiveness. And so it is: true peace, profound peace, comes from the experience of God's mercy.” Over the last two weeks we’ve celebrated the Passion, death, and resurrection of Christ.  All that he suffered on Good Friday, the scourging, the mockery, the torture, the exhaustion, the pain, he suffered that we may know peace—that peace that comes from experiencing the forgiveness of God.

This time of year, priests often spend a lot of time celebrating the sacrament of confession.  In confession, the Christian soul which has fallen from grace through sin, experiences peace in hearing those words “your sins are forgiven.” Whenever we make a good confession, we emerge from the confessional full of peace and joy, knowing that we are truly forgiven by God. And this time of year, in confession, I often give as a penance some sort of reflection or meditation on the suffering and death of Jesus, because it is his suffering and death which makes the confession possible. So if you want to know God’s peace more fully in your life, celebrate frequently the sacrament of confession, and meditate on his saving Passion and death.

Secondly, Pope Francis called Jesus “Mercy Incarnate”.  Here Pope Francis echoed the teaching of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI who said, “Jesus Christ is divine mercy in person: Encountering Christ means encountering the mercy of God.  Jesus willingly gave himself up to death so that we might be saved and pass from death to life.  Mercy has a name, mercy has a face, mercy has a heart.”
Mercy is not just an abstract teaching.  Mercy can be touched, mercy can be seen.  In the Gospel today, Jesus invited Thomas to look at his wounds, to touch them. Mercy can be seen and touched. Jesus is the face and heart of Mercy. And each of us, like Thomas, are called to have a personal relationship with Him.

Jesus said: "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." And who were those who believed without seeing? We are.  We see and touch Jesus through faith.  Pope Francis is saying that the key to our personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is our faith and trust in Him, as we are called to live by faith and not by sight. Through the eyes of faith, we are invited to a personal encounter with Him as Mercy Incarnate.
If deeper relationship comes through deeper faith, we must nurture our faith.  And we do that by daily prayer, reading of Scripture, studying the faith, reading the lives of the saints, reception of the Sacraments. We are also to avoiding everything that wounds our faith: sins of the flesh, worship of the false gods of power, prestige, prosperity, pleasure, neglect of the poor.

Each of us do well to consider the ways that we are nurturing our faith.  When is the last time you picked up a rosary? When is the last time you read through the Gospels? When is the last time you engaged in any voluntary charitable work? When’s the last time you went to confession? Daily devotions like the rosary, the chaplet of divine mercy, daily Mass, stations of the cross, the scapular, lectio divina, are powerful ways to help us encounter “Mercy Incarnate”.

Finally, Pope Francis says God calls us to boldly witness to our faith in God’s Divine Mercy. Each of us has a story tell how our relationship with Christ has changed our life.  How has trusting in God changed your life? What were the dark times in your life, when having faith mattered? How does the faith continue to shape your life now? This story is meant to be shared.  Jesus himself in his sermon on the mount tells us not to hide the light of faith under a bushel basket.

Friday, at daily Mass, I talked about how the Easter season always means a renewal in our commitment to spreading our faith. We, as Pope Francis says are to boldly witness to our faith.  So, each of us does well to get consider to whom does God want me to share my faith.  Who will be this fall’s RCIA class? Each of us needs to set a soul or two in our sights: focus your prayers, your fasting, your preaching on one or two souls, and over the next couple months, reach out to them, invite them, minister to them, share with them words of challenge and words of comfort, treat them as your spiritual children requiring strict attention. They could be unbaptized adults, never having stepped foot in a church, they could be adult children who spent 12 years in Catholic school but who have fallen away from the faith, they could be someone struggling with addiction, or some serious sin; walk with them, share with them your story of how faith has changed you, instruct them, lead them to a deeper encounter of Mercy Incarnate.

“... the Spirit of the Risen Christ” Pope Francis says, “casts out fear from the hearts of the apostles and pushes them out of the Upper Room, to bring the Gospel. We also must have more courage to witness to faith in the Risen Christ! Let us not be afraid to be Christian and live as Christians! We must have the courage to go out and proclaim Christ the Risen Lord, for he is our peace. "Trusting in the mercy of the Lord forever, because he is waiting for us, he loves us."

May each of us come to a deeper knowledge and experience of the peace that comes through the Mercy of Christ and recommit our lives to sharing and spreading that peace and mercy for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Easter Friday 2016 - Children, have you caught anything?

At the last supper, Jesus referred to his apostles as “friends”, other times in St. John’s Gospel, he called them disciples—students. In the many “I AM” statements of John’s Gospel, Jesus said, I AM the vine, you are the branches, I am the good shepherd, you are the sheep.  In this morning’s Gospel, he doesn’t call them friends, disciples, apostles, or sheep, he calls them, “children”: “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” The greek word, Jesus uses is paidia—little boys, boys who are still learning how to be men. One greek dictionary says: a child requiring training through strict oversight, emphasizing their ongoing development necessary to reach their highest destiny.

Perhaps, Jesus called them little boys because they had run away from mature Christian living, mature faith. After all, this was the third time Jesus had appeared to them and they still didn’t recognize him initially; they had been tasked with being fishers of men, and they had gone back to regular fishing—they still hadn’t embraced their new identity. They had been made priests, bishops, witnesses of the resurrection, exorcists, healers, and they go back to their old way of life..oh, they still required training, learning. And so do we. 

“Children, have you caught anything?” That question is directed to all of us, tasked with the spread of the Gospel.  Have you caught anything? Have you brought any souls into the boat of the Church? Have you shared the good news of the resurrection with anyone?

Peter, James, and John were first called to follow Jesus while fishing on the Sea of Galilee, and, as we heard this morning, after the resurrection, Jesus calls them once again. Easter time is always a time of renewal for the whole Church, where we refocus on our task of spreading the good news. Jesus wants to make a miraculous catch of souls through us.  Who will be this fall’s RCIA class? Each of us do well to get some souls in our sights, focus your prayers, your fasting, your preaching on one or two souls, and over the next couple months, reach out to them, invite them, minister to them, share with them words of challenge and words of comfort, treat them as your spiritual children requiring strict attention. They could be unbaptized adults, never having stepped foot in a church, they could be adult children who spent 12 years in Catholic school but who have fallen away from the faith, they could be someone struggling with addiction, or some serious sin; walk with them, share with them, instruct them.

 May these Easter days fill us with new inspiration and new fervor for the spread of the Gospel, a maturing of Christian faith and freedom from fear, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.