Memorial of St. Pius V
(John 10)
Fr. Raymond Brown spent a major part of his life studying the Gospel and Letters of St. John. You will find his two volume commentary on the Gospel on the bookshelves of most preachers. He observes that in all the Johnanine works very almost nothing is said about different functions in the Christian community. Where St. Paul writes of apostles, prophets, and teachers, St. John speaks of only Jesus and his disciples or Jesus, the shepherd, and his sheep. Fr. Brown further points out, however, that a small exception to this rule is found in the final chapter of John’s Gospel. In that passage, that we all know well, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him. With each affirmation Jesus tells Peter to care for his sheep.
In John the Evangelist’s mind there is little need for many roles and no need at all for people ruling over one another. What is critical is that everyone loves Jesus and loves one another. For this reason Jesus emphasizes that Peter love him before he assigns him the duty of watching over the sheep.
Today the Church remembers a successor of Peter who tended Jesus’ flock in the perilous time after the major Protestant reformers. St. Pius V faced several daunting challenges: corruption in the Catholic Church, withdrawal of whole nations from the Church’s guidance, the threat of Turkish Muslim invaders seizing control over a sizeable portion of Christian Europe. He met the demands of the office with firmness tempered by prayer. Certainly we can say of him that he loved Christ as was, is, and always will be necessary of successors of Peter.
Homilette for Friday, April 27, 2007
Friday, III Easter
(Acts 9)
Every once in a while a report about intelligent design breaks into the news. Intelligent design is the evolutionary theory that claims that the Creator has left His tracks on nature in guiding the development of the species. Most scientists claim that random chance controls evolutionary development with no evidence of the hand of God at work. Some Christian thinkers have taken a middle position -- God works through chance even if He doesn’t reveal Himself in nature.
Even if God doesn't reveal His hand in nature, does He do so in history? I suppose many historians would argue no. They would see the course of history as meandering as aimlessly as students the first hours after final exams end. Yet this is not how St. Luke, the New Testament writer most concerned about history, sees Salvation History. For Luke God’s work is evident everywhere. He turned the martyrdom of Stephen into the apostolic impetus to take the gospel to different lands. Today in the reading we listen to Luke narrating the story of how Christ personally intervenes in Saul’s life to direct him to preach to non-Jews.
Why, we can ask ourselves, does God have such an elaborate plan for Saul? The answer is contained in the gospel message itself. God loves each of us – most of us here are of non-Jewish lineage – more than we can ever appreciate. Out of this love He wants us to have the privilege of knowing His son Jesus Christ!
(Acts 9)
Every once in a while a report about intelligent design breaks into the news. Intelligent design is the evolutionary theory that claims that the Creator has left His tracks on nature in guiding the development of the species. Most scientists claim that random chance controls evolutionary development with no evidence of the hand of God at work. Some Christian thinkers have taken a middle position -- God works through chance even if He doesn’t reveal Himself in nature.
Even if God doesn't reveal His hand in nature, does He do so in history? I suppose many historians would argue no. They would see the course of history as meandering as aimlessly as students the first hours after final exams end. Yet this is not how St. Luke, the New Testament writer most concerned about history, sees Salvation History. For Luke God’s work is evident everywhere. He turned the martyrdom of Stephen into the apostolic impetus to take the gospel to different lands. Today in the reading we listen to Luke narrating the story of how Christ personally intervenes in Saul’s life to direct him to preach to non-Jews.
Why, we can ask ourselves, does God have such an elaborate plan for Saul? The answer is contained in the gospel message itself. God loves each of us – most of us here are of non-Jewish lineage – more than we can ever appreciate. Out of this love He wants us to have the privilege of knowing His son Jesus Christ!
Homilette for Thursday, April 26, 2007
Thursday, III Easter
(Acts 8, John 6)
The movie “The Mission” tells the story of a settlement of Indians in upriver Paraguay. Spanish Jesuits converted the Indians to Christianity. Under their influence the Indians reached harmony of life, what we would call peace, shalom or even a golden age. Then the area is ceded to the Portuguese who come to enslave the Indians. Of course, the natives resist, and with the assistance of the Jesuits, are at least temporarily successful in turning back the invaders.
We see in the movie how the word mission has different meanings. The mission is the settlement of Indians on the outskirts of civilizations. Mission also represents the efforts of Jesuit missionaries to convert the Indians. There are several levels of meaning for mission in our lives as well.
We can call our coming together to be inspired by the Word of God and to be energized by Christ’s body and blood a mission. It is a retreat from the hustle-bustle of our everyday activities to the sanctuary of church, a mission of God in the world always compromised by sin. We should also see our time together as preparation for our going forth – still another kind of mission -- to loved ones and, indeed, the whole sin-pocked world.
In the first reading today the apostle Philip begins a mission. With the martyrdom of Stephan the whole church in Jerusalem undergoes persecution. The trials cause the apostles to take news of Jesus Christ to other places. Philip meets an Ethiopian eunuch on his way. The black man may stand out in Palestinian society but he represents our society today. He is rich and successful, sincere in his desire to believe but not sure of what the Scriptures mean. So too are many among whom we live. They have some decent tendencies but have been indoctrinated in the need for success – bringing home a six-figured salary, driving a SUV. They are attracted to the idea of love, but often mistake the authentic version seeking union with the beloved for the eternal benefit of all with its cheap imitations concerning themselves with immediate self-gratification. Like Philip our mission is to open the eyes of those whom we encounter with the love of Jesus.
Jesus accompanies us as we go forth to fulfill our mission. He calls himself in the gospel reading “the bread of life.” The words are deliberate and deeply meaningful. Bread is one of the most portable foods. For this reason we pack sandwiches for lunch. Made with care, bread also gives the body many of its essential nutrients so we call it “the staff of life.” The Eucharist – the bread transformed into the body of Christ and the wine changed into his blood – then not only signifies Jesus’ presence but embodies it. Participating in the Eucharist together as we have done for the last five days, we have become the food that we have consumed. We are the body of Christ with the mission of announcing God’s love to the world. So let us go forth this evening more determined and more enabled than ever to announce God’s love to the world.
(Acts 8, John 6)
The movie “The Mission” tells the story of a settlement of Indians in upriver Paraguay. Spanish Jesuits converted the Indians to Christianity. Under their influence the Indians reached harmony of life, what we would call peace, shalom or even a golden age. Then the area is ceded to the Portuguese who come to enslave the Indians. Of course, the natives resist, and with the assistance of the Jesuits, are at least temporarily successful in turning back the invaders.
We see in the movie how the word mission has different meanings. The mission is the settlement of Indians on the outskirts of civilizations. Mission also represents the efforts of Jesuit missionaries to convert the Indians. There are several levels of meaning for mission in our lives as well.
We can call our coming together to be inspired by the Word of God and to be energized by Christ’s body and blood a mission. It is a retreat from the hustle-bustle of our everyday activities to the sanctuary of church, a mission of God in the world always compromised by sin. We should also see our time together as preparation for our going forth – still another kind of mission -- to loved ones and, indeed, the whole sin-pocked world.
In the first reading today the apostle Philip begins a mission. With the martyrdom of Stephan the whole church in Jerusalem undergoes persecution. The trials cause the apostles to take news of Jesus Christ to other places. Philip meets an Ethiopian eunuch on his way. The black man may stand out in Palestinian society but he represents our society today. He is rich and successful, sincere in his desire to believe but not sure of what the Scriptures mean. So too are many among whom we live. They have some decent tendencies but have been indoctrinated in the need for success – bringing home a six-figured salary, driving a SUV. They are attracted to the idea of love, but often mistake the authentic version seeking union with the beloved for the eternal benefit of all with its cheap imitations concerning themselves with immediate self-gratification. Like Philip our mission is to open the eyes of those whom we encounter with the love of Jesus.
Jesus accompanies us as we go forth to fulfill our mission. He calls himself in the gospel reading “the bread of life.” The words are deliberate and deeply meaningful. Bread is one of the most portable foods. For this reason we pack sandwiches for lunch. Made with care, bread also gives the body many of its essential nutrients so we call it “the staff of life.” The Eucharist – the bread transformed into the body of Christ and the wine changed into his blood – then not only signifies Jesus’ presence but embodies it. Participating in the Eucharist together as we have done for the last five days, we have become the food that we have consumed. We are the body of Christ with the mission of announcing God’s love to the world. So let us go forth this evening more determined and more enabled than ever to announce God’s love to the world.
Homilette for Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Feast of St. Mark
(Mark 16)
The Feast of St. Mark is the first required celebration of a saint during the Easter Season. This fact explains why we hear in the gospel reading today Mark’s account of Jesus’ resurrection appearance to his disciples. Interestingly, we see St. Mark symbolized by a lion because only in his gospel is Jesus pictured among wild beasts in the desert.
The Gospel According to Mark emphasizes the humanness of Jesus more than the other gospels. Only in Mark is Jesus called a carpenter. Also, only in this gospel does Jesus use both fingers and spittle at the same time to cure the deaf mute. Mark also quotes Jesus healing in Aramaic, Jesus’ original tongue when he tells the dead girl to arise, “Talita koum.”
The Gospel of Mark treats the disciples as dull and cowardly. After Jesus feeds the five thousand and walks on water, Mark says that the disciples still do not understand him. They further abandon Jesus like thieves in the night when he is arrested in the garden. The disciples await the grace of the resurrection in order to understand who Jesus is and to carry out his mission. In other words, they need the Holy Spirit. And that’s where we are today – waiting for the Spirit. We also need the Holy Spirit to announce to all God’s love and his desire that we truly love one another.
(Mark 16)
The Feast of St. Mark is the first required celebration of a saint during the Easter Season. This fact explains why we hear in the gospel reading today Mark’s account of Jesus’ resurrection appearance to his disciples. Interestingly, we see St. Mark symbolized by a lion because only in his gospel is Jesus pictured among wild beasts in the desert.
The Gospel According to Mark emphasizes the humanness of Jesus more than the other gospels. Only in Mark is Jesus called a carpenter. Also, only in this gospel does Jesus use both fingers and spittle at the same time to cure the deaf mute. Mark also quotes Jesus healing in Aramaic, Jesus’ original tongue when he tells the dead girl to arise, “Talita koum.”
The Gospel of Mark treats the disciples as dull and cowardly. After Jesus feeds the five thousand and walks on water, Mark says that the disciples still do not understand him. They further abandon Jesus like thieves in the night when he is arrested in the garden. The disciples await the grace of the resurrection in order to understand who Jesus is and to carry out his mission. In other words, they need the Holy Spirit. And that’s where we are today – waiting for the Spirit. We also need the Holy Spirit to announce to all God’s love and his desire that we truly love one another.
Homilette for Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Tuesday, III Easter
(Acts of the Apostles 7)
Cecil Post was a Benedictine priest and pastor in a small North Texan town near the Oklahoma border. He was a kind, gentle man and progressive in his own way. At about the age of retirement, a cancerous tumor invaded his brain to claim his life. As he was dying, he was asked if he was afraid. No, he said, he had counseled so many people to trust in God that he had to follow his own advice.
Fr. Cecil showed half of what it means to die a Christian death. By exhibiting trust on his deathbed he, like Stephen in the reading from Acts, was asking God to receive his spirit. Of course, Stephen is only imitating Jesus whose last words on the cross are, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” The other half of a Christian death is to die forgiving one’s offenders. As Jesus asks his Father to forgive his crucifiers, Stephen asks Jesus to pardon those who heaping stones on him.
Many people talk about the quality of life of those who are in their final years. They often measure quality of life by the abilities to communicate with loved ones, to live without excruciating pain, and to enjoy simple pleasures like chocolate ice cream. We might pray to maintain these standards as death closes in on us. But let our prayer include as well that God accept our spirits and that He forgive all who have offended us. These inclusions will raise our quality of life to its highest level.
(Acts of the Apostles 7)
Cecil Post was a Benedictine priest and pastor in a small North Texan town near the Oklahoma border. He was a kind, gentle man and progressive in his own way. At about the age of retirement, a cancerous tumor invaded his brain to claim his life. As he was dying, he was asked if he was afraid. No, he said, he had counseled so many people to trust in God that he had to follow his own advice.
Fr. Cecil showed half of what it means to die a Christian death. By exhibiting trust on his deathbed he, like Stephen in the reading from Acts, was asking God to receive his spirit. Of course, Stephen is only imitating Jesus whose last words on the cross are, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” The other half of a Christian death is to die forgiving one’s offenders. As Jesus asks his Father to forgive his crucifiers, Stephen asks Jesus to pardon those who heaping stones on him.
Many people talk about the quality of life of those who are in their final years. They often measure quality of life by the abilities to communicate with loved ones, to live without excruciating pain, and to enjoy simple pleasures like chocolate ice cream. We might pray to maintain these standards as death closes in on us. But let our prayer include as well that God accept our spirits and that He forgive all who have offended us. These inclusions will raise our quality of life to its highest level.
Homilette for Monday, April 23, 2007
Monday, III Easter
(Acts 6)
A mother comes forth. “What do you do,” she asks, “when your daughter doesn’t listen to you?” The woman feels persecuted by her own family! Probably she is not an isolated case. We may not be threatened anymore with death from persecutors. But many are frustrated by the difficulty they have in passing on the faith to the next generation.
Stephen provides us with at least a hint of a response. He has the face of an angel because he does not become upset with those whom he is debating. He merely speaks to them the truth in love. In his gospel St. Luke, the author of the Acts of the Apostles as well, quotes Jesus twice as saying that when persecuted, his disciples are not to prepare an elaborate defense. No, Jesus will give them the necessary wisdom to proclaim.
In speaking to a younger generation on their obligations to God the best we can do is to be calm and gentle. Blinded by the dazzling lights of fame, fortune, and fun which our culture flashes at every turn, they may not be able to understand our desire to please God. Nor may they appreciate our fear of being separated from God. But how could they fail to be impressed if we tell them of our love for God and show it by treating them with respect? Along with our prayers, our words of love related with goodwill may turn rebellious youth into true believers.
(Acts 6)
A mother comes forth. “What do you do,” she asks, “when your daughter doesn’t listen to you?” The woman feels persecuted by her own family! Probably she is not an isolated case. We may not be threatened anymore with death from persecutors. But many are frustrated by the difficulty they have in passing on the faith to the next generation.
Stephen provides us with at least a hint of a response. He has the face of an angel because he does not become upset with those whom he is debating. He merely speaks to them the truth in love. In his gospel St. Luke, the author of the Acts of the Apostles as well, quotes Jesus twice as saying that when persecuted, his disciples are not to prepare an elaborate defense. No, Jesus will give them the necessary wisdom to proclaim.
In speaking to a younger generation on their obligations to God the best we can do is to be calm and gentle. Blinded by the dazzling lights of fame, fortune, and fun which our culture flashes at every turn, they may not be able to understand our desire to please God. Nor may they appreciate our fear of being separated from God. But how could they fail to be impressed if we tell them of our love for God and show it by treating them with respect? Along with our prayers, our words of love related with goodwill may turn rebellious youth into true believers.
Homily for Sunday, April 22, 2007
Sunday, III Easter
(John 21)
Peter is not the model disciple. That distinction belongs to the “disciple whom Jesus loved.” But Peter is the disciple with whom most of us identify. This is so for several reasons. The four gospels picture Peter in a variety of situations – from earning his livelihood to questioning the Lord about his teaching. Also, Peter presents himself as a frustratingly fallible person like most of us. He begins to doubt when walking on water and falls asleep when Jesus asks him and two others to pray. Perhaps the Gospel of John includes the positive encounter between Jesus and Peter as its last scene in order to shore us up in our struggle of faith.
Peter, of course, denied Jesus three times when he was in need of support. It was a dismal display of cowardice because Peter had bragged that he would lay down his life for Jesus. As a way for Peter to compensate for his failure, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him. We should view each question as an opportunity to probe who Jesus is. We should also hear Jesus make a distinctive demand on us at each level of our understanding.
First, Jesus asks Peter if he loves him “more than these.” “These” may refer to the other disciples. Or Jesus’ question may ask whether Peter loves him more than he loves his fishing gear. Let’s assume this latter meaning and ask ourselves if we love Jesus more than the things that bring us satisfaction. Do we love him more than our jobs – selling real estate or providing physical therapy? Do we love him more than our pleasures – watching football or ballroom dancing? Do we love him more than our joys – coming home in the evening or sharing coffee with a trusted friend? Of course, we do, so Jesus tells us along with Peter to feed his lambs. We do so by always treating people as ends in themselves with their own needs and limitations. We should never look on another human being as a stepping stone to our own gratification.
Jesus’ second question is simpler but deeper. He asks, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He may want Peter to consider carefully the particular human being standing before him. Does he love Jesus, the man who taught the thousands, breaded the bread-less, and healed the helpless? As remote as the biblical times are, we still love Jesus for all his virtue. It may sound strange to have a love relationship with a person that walked the earth two thousand years ago. Yet many people have an affection for a spouse that outlives death. Some keep a similar devotion for a personality like Elvis or Marilyn. Why can we not harbor such unwavering affection for Jesus? We express our love for Jesus by imitating his goodness. Jesus wants us as well as Peter to tend his sheep. Like Jesus we are to enlighten and encourage those around us by always speaking the truth in love.
The third time Jesus questions Peter he fathoms the depth of his own identity. Does Peter love Jesus as God? This inquiry challenges us when we consider all the evil in the world that God seems to permit? The tragedy this past week at Virginia Tech has raised the question again in the hearts of many. If God exists, they ask, how could He allow such massive suffering? Maybe God exists, but He doesn’t care about the massacre of thirty-two innocent people and the self-slaughter of one pitiful maniac. Then is he worthy of our love? However, neither the option that God doesn’t exist nor that He doesn’t care is tenable for us. No, we believe in a gracious and all-powerful God and love Him with all our hearts even though we do not completely understand His ways. In fact, we believe in and love Him because He is a mystery beyond our understanding. If we could understand Him fully, then He would not really be worthy of our awe and worship. We only know that He has gifted us with life and shared our suffering on the cross! He wants us in turn to feed his sheep, i.e., to be a Samaritan to each person we meet out of our love for Him.
We look forward to a positive encounter between Jesus Christ and ourselves at death. We can imagine ourselves coming before the heavenly throne. There Christ asks us something like, “Do you love me?” We have a question for him as well. “Why,” we will ask, “is there such massive suffering in the world?” He will look on us with the joy of one coming home in the evening. Then he will answer us with the tenderness of a trusted friend over coffee. But we won’t understand Him anymore than before. In his divinity Christ will always remain a mystery worthy of our awe and worship. Christ always remains worthy of our awe and worship.
(John 21)
Peter is not the model disciple. That distinction belongs to the “disciple whom Jesus loved.” But Peter is the disciple with whom most of us identify. This is so for several reasons. The four gospels picture Peter in a variety of situations – from earning his livelihood to questioning the Lord about his teaching. Also, Peter presents himself as a frustratingly fallible person like most of us. He begins to doubt when walking on water and falls asleep when Jesus asks him and two others to pray. Perhaps the Gospel of John includes the positive encounter between Jesus and Peter as its last scene in order to shore us up in our struggle of faith.
Peter, of course, denied Jesus three times when he was in need of support. It was a dismal display of cowardice because Peter had bragged that he would lay down his life for Jesus. As a way for Peter to compensate for his failure, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him. We should view each question as an opportunity to probe who Jesus is. We should also hear Jesus make a distinctive demand on us at each level of our understanding.
First, Jesus asks Peter if he loves him “more than these.” “These” may refer to the other disciples. Or Jesus’ question may ask whether Peter loves him more than he loves his fishing gear. Let’s assume this latter meaning and ask ourselves if we love Jesus more than the things that bring us satisfaction. Do we love him more than our jobs – selling real estate or providing physical therapy? Do we love him more than our pleasures – watching football or ballroom dancing? Do we love him more than our joys – coming home in the evening or sharing coffee with a trusted friend? Of course, we do, so Jesus tells us along with Peter to feed his lambs. We do so by always treating people as ends in themselves with their own needs and limitations. We should never look on another human being as a stepping stone to our own gratification.
Jesus’ second question is simpler but deeper. He asks, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He may want Peter to consider carefully the particular human being standing before him. Does he love Jesus, the man who taught the thousands, breaded the bread-less, and healed the helpless? As remote as the biblical times are, we still love Jesus for all his virtue. It may sound strange to have a love relationship with a person that walked the earth two thousand years ago. Yet many people have an affection for a spouse that outlives death. Some keep a similar devotion for a personality like Elvis or Marilyn. Why can we not harbor such unwavering affection for Jesus? We express our love for Jesus by imitating his goodness. Jesus wants us as well as Peter to tend his sheep. Like Jesus we are to enlighten and encourage those around us by always speaking the truth in love.
The third time Jesus questions Peter he fathoms the depth of his own identity. Does Peter love Jesus as God? This inquiry challenges us when we consider all the evil in the world that God seems to permit? The tragedy this past week at Virginia Tech has raised the question again in the hearts of many. If God exists, they ask, how could He allow such massive suffering? Maybe God exists, but He doesn’t care about the massacre of thirty-two innocent people and the self-slaughter of one pitiful maniac. Then is he worthy of our love? However, neither the option that God doesn’t exist nor that He doesn’t care is tenable for us. No, we believe in a gracious and all-powerful God and love Him with all our hearts even though we do not completely understand His ways. In fact, we believe in and love Him because He is a mystery beyond our understanding. If we could understand Him fully, then He would not really be worthy of our awe and worship. We only know that He has gifted us with life and shared our suffering on the cross! He wants us in turn to feed his sheep, i.e., to be a Samaritan to each person we meet out of our love for Him.
We look forward to a positive encounter between Jesus Christ and ourselves at death. We can imagine ourselves coming before the heavenly throne. There Christ asks us something like, “Do you love me?” We have a question for him as well. “Why,” we will ask, “is there such massive suffering in the world?” He will look on us with the joy of one coming home in the evening. Then he will answer us with the tenderness of a trusted friend over coffee. But we won’t understand Him anymore than before. In his divinity Christ will always remain a mystery worthy of our awe and worship. Christ always remains worthy of our awe and worship.
Homilette for Friday, April 20, 2007
Friday, II Easter
(John 6)
A Jewish friend whom I saw on the day before Passover remarked how the feast is an excuse for a party. He was being a bit irreverent, but what he said was on the mark. Passover gives reason to rejoice as it celebrates Israel’s release from Egyptian slave gangs to Sinai’s song of freedom.
John the Evangelist notes that Jesus feeds the crowds at Passover time. This is not just a minor detail to add realism to the story. Rather, it frames the story in gold. It tells us that Jesus’ feeding the five thousand men and an untold number of women and children has a liberation theme. The people’s attention to Jesus frees them from helpless attachment to sin and inspires a responsive life of virtue. The fact that the people sate themselves and still find abundant leftovers illustrates Jesus’ accomplishment.
We can find ourselves involved in this same development at Mass. The Word of God prunes our vices while the Eucharistic bread and wine charge our lives with grace. We find ourselves increasingly free of egotistic concerns. Indeed, we can more readily give ourselves to the Lord in love.
(John 6)
A Jewish friend whom I saw on the day before Passover remarked how the feast is an excuse for a party. He was being a bit irreverent, but what he said was on the mark. Passover gives reason to rejoice as it celebrates Israel’s release from Egyptian slave gangs to Sinai’s song of freedom.
John the Evangelist notes that Jesus feeds the crowds at Passover time. This is not just a minor detail to add realism to the story. Rather, it frames the story in gold. It tells us that Jesus’ feeding the five thousand men and an untold number of women and children has a liberation theme. The people’s attention to Jesus frees them from helpless attachment to sin and inspires a responsive life of virtue. The fact that the people sate themselves and still find abundant leftovers illustrates Jesus’ accomplishment.
We can find ourselves involved in this same development at Mass. The Word of God prunes our vices while the Eucharistic bread and wine charge our lives with grace. We find ourselves increasingly free of egotistic concerns. Indeed, we can more readily give ourselves to the Lord in love.
Homilette for Thursday, April 19, 2007
Thursday, II Easter
(Acts 5)
Although he may not have said it, we can easily imagine Cho Seung-Hui using Peter’s defense in the first reading today. Deranged people have often asserted, “We must obey God rather than men,” to warrant ghastly activities. Of course, God never commands killing innocent people or any other immoral activity.
Furthermore, any “private revelation” must be scrutinized with utmost care for legitimacy. Claiming God’s direction for weird behavior -- as Jim Jones and Osama bin Laden have done -- makes religion increasingly suspect. Despite the overwhelmingly positive contribution religion has made to civilization, many today are ready to dismiss it as detrimental to human well-being.
St. Joan of Arc claimed to have revelations from God through the saints. Some thought that she too might be deranged and her revelations folly. She, however, provided a test that would legitimate what God had told her. When she was asked if she knew that she was in God's grace, she replied: “If I am not, may it please God to put me in it; if I am, may it please God to keep me there.” Such humility – and not the illusion of grandeur and power – indicates the true presence of God.
(Acts 5)
Although he may not have said it, we can easily imagine Cho Seung-Hui using Peter’s defense in the first reading today. Deranged people have often asserted, “We must obey God rather than men,” to warrant ghastly activities. Of course, God never commands killing innocent people or any other immoral activity.
Furthermore, any “private revelation” must be scrutinized with utmost care for legitimacy. Claiming God’s direction for weird behavior -- as Jim Jones and Osama bin Laden have done -- makes religion increasingly suspect. Despite the overwhelmingly positive contribution religion has made to civilization, many today are ready to dismiss it as detrimental to human well-being.
St. Joan of Arc claimed to have revelations from God through the saints. Some thought that she too might be deranged and her revelations folly. She, however, provided a test that would legitimate what God had told her. When she was asked if she knew that she was in God's grace, she replied: “If I am not, may it please God to put me in it; if I am, may it please God to keep me there.” Such humility – and not the illusion of grandeur and power – indicates the true presence of God.
Homilette for Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Wednesday, II Easter
(John3)
Why did it happen? Most everyone today wants to know how such a massacre as that at Virginia Tech could take place in America today. There will be no shortage of predictable answers.
Many have already pointed their fingers at school administrators. They criticize the failure to close down the school and send out a warning after the first shots were fired.
Moralizers will have their say. From the left they will charge that permissive gun laws make every meeting place in the country a potential blood bath. From the right they will argue as forcefully that sex and violence in music and movies start time bombs ticking in many individuals.
God certainly will be accused for not intervening. Some will come to his defense noting that Virginia Tech is a classic case of free will running amok. Others will rebut, “Whose will is really free?” And, they will add, “Does not God’s power transcend human freedom?”
The Gospel of John does not provide a detailed answer to why Virginia Techs take place. It merely says that people prefer darkness to light. From almost the very beginning the world has been marred by wickedness, and it is not about to stop.
The gospel then goes to some lengths to show God acting to relieve the suffering. He sends His son to teach the world better ways than the narrow self-interests most people pursue. He also gives His son on the cross, at least as cruel a death as that rendered by an automatic pistol. He does this, first, to show solidarity with the suffering around the world and through the ages. But much more significantly, His gift provides us the opportunity to stand with him in death so that we may experience the resurrection which inevitably follows.
(John3)
Why did it happen? Most everyone today wants to know how such a massacre as that at Virginia Tech could take place in America today. There will be no shortage of predictable answers.
Many have already pointed their fingers at school administrators. They criticize the failure to close down the school and send out a warning after the first shots were fired.
Moralizers will have their say. From the left they will charge that permissive gun laws make every meeting place in the country a potential blood bath. From the right they will argue as forcefully that sex and violence in music and movies start time bombs ticking in many individuals.
God certainly will be accused for not intervening. Some will come to his defense noting that Virginia Tech is a classic case of free will running amok. Others will rebut, “Whose will is really free?” And, they will add, “Does not God’s power transcend human freedom?”
The Gospel of John does not provide a detailed answer to why Virginia Techs take place. It merely says that people prefer darkness to light. From almost the very beginning the world has been marred by wickedness, and it is not about to stop.
The gospel then goes to some lengths to show God acting to relieve the suffering. He sends His son to teach the world better ways than the narrow self-interests most people pursue. He also gives His son on the cross, at least as cruel a death as that rendered by an automatic pistol. He does this, first, to show solidarity with the suffering around the world and through the ages. But much more significantly, His gift provides us the opportunity to stand with him in death so that we may experience the resurrection which inevitably follows.
Homilette for Monday, April 16, 2007
Monday, II Easter
(John 3)
Raymond used to drink a lot. We would say he had a drinking problem. He might have even called himself an alcoholic bound to nowhere except, perhaps, an early death. One day, however, he decided to stop drinking. The decision came in the midst of prayer and was supported by prayer. Since that moment Raymond has never been drunk again. In fact, he never takes a drink although he will sip the Precious Blood when it is offered at Mass.
Such a radical turnabout seems to be what Jesus has in mind when he speaks of being born again. He does not intend to say that one has merely to submit to the Baptism ritual to see the kingdom of God. No, he seems to have a more fundamental experience in mind. He seems to mean undergoing a transformation so that the person lives in a completely new way. Like Raymond those who experience such a change know that it is primarily not their doing. Rather it is a work of grace. Many in the early Church evidently were so tranformed as they were preparing for Baptism.
What about those baptized at a tender age? People like most of us – are we squatters in the kingdom of God? Perhaps. We can test ourselves. Do we see radical change for the better in ourselves? Do we find ourselves becoming more God-like? If we liked to talk about ourselves, are we now ready to listen to others? If we used to look at others as objects of sexual fancy, are we now seeing them as God’s children? Such transformation is what water and the Spirit is all about.
(John 3)
Raymond used to drink a lot. We would say he had a drinking problem. He might have even called himself an alcoholic bound to nowhere except, perhaps, an early death. One day, however, he decided to stop drinking. The decision came in the midst of prayer and was supported by prayer. Since that moment Raymond has never been drunk again. In fact, he never takes a drink although he will sip the Precious Blood when it is offered at Mass.
Such a radical turnabout seems to be what Jesus has in mind when he speaks of being born again. He does not intend to say that one has merely to submit to the Baptism ritual to see the kingdom of God. No, he seems to have a more fundamental experience in mind. He seems to mean undergoing a transformation so that the person lives in a completely new way. Like Raymond those who experience such a change know that it is primarily not their doing. Rather it is a work of grace. Many in the early Church evidently were so tranformed as they were preparing for Baptism.
What about those baptized at a tender age? People like most of us – are we squatters in the kingdom of God? Perhaps. We can test ourselves. Do we see radical change for the better in ourselves? Do we find ourselves becoming more God-like? If we liked to talk about ourselves, are we now ready to listen to others? If we used to look at others as objects of sexual fancy, are we now seeing them as God’s children? Such transformation is what water and the Spirit is all about.
Homily for Sunday, April 15, 2007
II SUNDAY OF EASTER
(John 20)
Today, the second Sunday of Easter, used to be called Low Sunday. The rather unspectacular reason for this name was that the first Sunday of Easter was called the “high feast of Easter.” The second Sunday, when the people were still celebrating the resurrection of the Lord, was then named the “low feast of Easter.”
The gospel today relates Jesus’ appearances to his disciples both on the day he rose from the day and a week later. We all know the story well since we hear this same gospel on the second Sunday of Easter every year. Thomas is not present when Jesus first appears to his followers. But there he stands before Jesus the second time around. Since Thomas has insensitively said that he would not believe unless he touches Jesus’ wounds, Jesus invites him to do just that! The scene ends with Jesus blessing all those who believe without seeing. We can conclude then that this gospel passage is meant to confirm our faith in Christ’s resurrection.
Seven years ago, Pope John Paul II declared that this second Sunday of Easter would be known as “Divine Mercy Sunday.” The reason for this title may also be found in the same gospel passage. On the evening of his resurrection when Jesus appears to his disciples, he breathes on them the Holy Spirit. Sending them into the world with the power to forgive sins, Jesus makes them agents of God’s mercy.
With all the talk of a “crisis of faith,” we might think that most people no longer believe in life after death. Likewise, we might want to proclaim divine mercy since many people seem to reject God because they see Him as a task master. However, Americans overwhelmingly believe in an afterlife and also that they will experience heaven! A poll taken a few years ago showed that eight out of ten Americans accept life after death and another one in ten is at least uncertain about it. When asked whether they expect to get to heaven, almost two Americans in three said “yes.” Not surprisingly, therefore, only one person in two hundred sees herself or himself as literally damned.
Since so many people already accept the resurrection of the dead and believe in God’s mercy, why bother repeating this gospel year after year? We might find another reason in what Thomas proclaims after Jesus challenges his disbelief. Thomas calls Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas speaks on behalf of all of us, doesn’t he? Jesus is our Lord and our God. This means that we submit our will to his; we will keep his commandments. The one commandment that he emphasizes, at least in the Gospel of John, is that we love one another as he has loved us.
Such love sounds as simple as “2+2” but many make it as complex as calculus. A man is taking care of his wife with Alzheimer’s disease. He asks his children to help out by calling their mother from time-to-time. Of course, he tells them, it is hard to carry on a conversation, but she so much enjoys hearing their voices. Still, they resist – at least, three of the four siblings. Loving one another at least demands that we care for the people whom God has put close to us.
When the new king is proclaimed at the end of Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, all characters make a grand bow. He is their “lord,” the one whose commands they will keep. We recognize Jesus as someone greater. He is for each of us “my Lord and my God.” To him we bow not just our bodies but our wills as well. To him we bow our wills.
(John 20)
Today, the second Sunday of Easter, used to be called Low Sunday. The rather unspectacular reason for this name was that the first Sunday of Easter was called the “high feast of Easter.” The second Sunday, when the people were still celebrating the resurrection of the Lord, was then named the “low feast of Easter.”
The gospel today relates Jesus’ appearances to his disciples both on the day he rose from the day and a week later. We all know the story well since we hear this same gospel on the second Sunday of Easter every year. Thomas is not present when Jesus first appears to his followers. But there he stands before Jesus the second time around. Since Thomas has insensitively said that he would not believe unless he touches Jesus’ wounds, Jesus invites him to do just that! The scene ends with Jesus blessing all those who believe without seeing. We can conclude then that this gospel passage is meant to confirm our faith in Christ’s resurrection.
Seven years ago, Pope John Paul II declared that this second Sunday of Easter would be known as “Divine Mercy Sunday.” The reason for this title may also be found in the same gospel passage. On the evening of his resurrection when Jesus appears to his disciples, he breathes on them the Holy Spirit. Sending them into the world with the power to forgive sins, Jesus makes them agents of God’s mercy.
With all the talk of a “crisis of faith,” we might think that most people no longer believe in life after death. Likewise, we might want to proclaim divine mercy since many people seem to reject God because they see Him as a task master. However, Americans overwhelmingly believe in an afterlife and also that they will experience heaven! A poll taken a few years ago showed that eight out of ten Americans accept life after death and another one in ten is at least uncertain about it. When asked whether they expect to get to heaven, almost two Americans in three said “yes.” Not surprisingly, therefore, only one person in two hundred sees herself or himself as literally damned.
Since so many people already accept the resurrection of the dead and believe in God’s mercy, why bother repeating this gospel year after year? We might find another reason in what Thomas proclaims after Jesus challenges his disbelief. Thomas calls Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas speaks on behalf of all of us, doesn’t he? Jesus is our Lord and our God. This means that we submit our will to his; we will keep his commandments. The one commandment that he emphasizes, at least in the Gospel of John, is that we love one another as he has loved us.
Such love sounds as simple as “2+2” but many make it as complex as calculus. A man is taking care of his wife with Alzheimer’s disease. He asks his children to help out by calling their mother from time-to-time. Of course, he tells them, it is hard to carry on a conversation, but she so much enjoys hearing their voices. Still, they resist – at least, three of the four siblings. Loving one another at least demands that we care for the people whom God has put close to us.
When the new king is proclaimed at the end of Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, all characters make a grand bow. He is their “lord,” the one whose commands they will keep. We recognize Jesus as someone greater. He is for each of us “my Lord and my God.” To him we bow not just our bodies but our wills as well. To him we bow our wills.
Homilette for Thursday, April 12, 2007
Thursday, I Easter, April 11, 2007
(Luke 24)
The German Renaissance master Mathis Grünewald portrayed Christ’s life on what is called the Isenheim Altarpiece. The paintings of the crucifixion and the resurrection stand out. One can hardly imagine a more pathetic scene than Christ tortured on the cross. He is writhing in pain. His body is hideously contorted. And thorns from a beating with reeds cover his body. As atrocious as Jesus looks here, his resurrected body is glorious. His skin glows, and his wounds sparkle. There is not a hint of the agony he went through just two days before.
Thomas Aquinas would find the magnificent portrait of Christ’s glorified body entirely appropriate. He writes, according to one commentator, that the incorruptible soul bestows on the body “something glorious or luminous” in the resurrection. The gospel narrative today seems to attest to this transformation. Jesus’ disciples can’t believe what they are seeing as the resurrected Lord stands before them. They mistakenly believe that he is a ghost because the last time they saw him was hanging on the cross.
Aquinas does not leave such a glorification of the body solely to Jesus’ case. No, he says that everyone who dies with Christ are bound to experience this same transformation. It will not happen on the day we die, but at the resurrection of the dead on the last day. Our bodies will have all the beauty of robust youth whether we die at ninety days or ninety years. This is just another example of how God shows his love for us. It provides us still another reason to love God in return.
(Luke 24)
The German Renaissance master Mathis Grünewald portrayed Christ’s life on what is called the Isenheim Altarpiece. The paintings of the crucifixion and the resurrection stand out. One can hardly imagine a more pathetic scene than Christ tortured on the cross. He is writhing in pain. His body is hideously contorted. And thorns from a beating with reeds cover his body. As atrocious as Jesus looks here, his resurrected body is glorious. His skin glows, and his wounds sparkle. There is not a hint of the agony he went through just two days before.
Thomas Aquinas would find the magnificent portrait of Christ’s glorified body entirely appropriate. He writes, according to one commentator, that the incorruptible soul bestows on the body “something glorious or luminous” in the resurrection. The gospel narrative today seems to attest to this transformation. Jesus’ disciples can’t believe what they are seeing as the resurrected Lord stands before them. They mistakenly believe that he is a ghost because the last time they saw him was hanging on the cross.
Aquinas does not leave such a glorification of the body solely to Jesus’ case. No, he says that everyone who dies with Christ are bound to experience this same transformation. It will not happen on the day we die, but at the resurrection of the dead on the last day. Our bodies will have all the beauty of robust youth whether we die at ninety days or ninety years. This is just another example of how God shows his love for us. It provides us still another reason to love God in return.
Homilette for Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Wednesday, I Easter
(Luke 24)
A disappointment of the gospel is that we find no physical description of Jesus. Try as we might, we never see a word about his stature, his complexion, or any distinguishing mannerism, other than that he spoke with authority. Once a journalist wrote that he was short since the Gospel of Luke mentions that Zacchaeus had to climb a tree to see him. However, the more common interpretation of this story is that Zacchaeus was the little guy.
Perhaps since Jesus is so nondescript in the gospels, it should not strike us as peculiar that his disciples cannot recognize him at first glance after the resurrection. Both Mary in yesterday’s gospel from St. John and the two disciples today in Luke’s gospel don’t expect Jesus to be alive so without any outstanding characteristic they fail to distinguish him from a gardener or another passer-by. Until he speaks with his old authority, that is. Then his words go straight to the heart. Mary is lifted out of her fog of grief when he mentions her name. The disciples too achieve insight as he blesses and breaks the bread.
James Caviezel-images aside, we still have no idea of what Jesus looks like. But we recognize his words. He calls us by name in Baptism. He pronounces the same blessing over the bread and wine in Eucharist. He accompanies us as surely as he revisited his disciples after the resurrection. We want to lift ourselves from the fog of concerns that envelope us to achieve insight of him.
(Luke 24)
A disappointment of the gospel is that we find no physical description of Jesus. Try as we might, we never see a word about his stature, his complexion, or any distinguishing mannerism, other than that he spoke with authority. Once a journalist wrote that he was short since the Gospel of Luke mentions that Zacchaeus had to climb a tree to see him. However, the more common interpretation of this story is that Zacchaeus was the little guy.
Perhaps since Jesus is so nondescript in the gospels, it should not strike us as peculiar that his disciples cannot recognize him at first glance after the resurrection. Both Mary in yesterday’s gospel from St. John and the two disciples today in Luke’s gospel don’t expect Jesus to be alive so without any outstanding characteristic they fail to distinguish him from a gardener or another passer-by. Until he speaks with his old authority, that is. Then his words go straight to the heart. Mary is lifted out of her fog of grief when he mentions her name. The disciples too achieve insight as he blesses and breaks the bread.
James Caviezel-images aside, we still have no idea of what Jesus looks like. But we recognize his words. He calls us by name in Baptism. He pronounces the same blessing over the bread and wine in Eucharist. He accompanies us as surely as he revisited his disciples after the resurrection. We want to lift ourselves from the fog of concerns that envelope us to achieve insight of him.
Homilette for Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Tuesday, I Easter
(John 20)
In its beginning the Gospel According to John states that Jesus empowered all who accept him to become God’s children. Now at the end of the gospel the words are seen fulfilled. Jesus tells Mary Magdalene to go to his “brothers” and say that he is going to my Father and their Father, my God and their God.
The disciples believed in Jesus since his turning water into wine at Cana. Now, however, they are brought to a greater realization of what their faith means. Jesus not only has power over death but can use death to bring people to glory. It is like a baseball rivalry, say between the Giants and the Dodgers. One team, say the Giants, not only beats the Dodgers in every series the two teams play but turn the Dodgers into their most rabid fans. For this reason St. Paul will write that he never wants to boast of anything except the cross of Jesus Christ.
Death remains fearful in so far as we lack perfect faith. But we are not failures if we fear it. No, we are only displaying the frailty of our nature. Just as seven weeks ago we were wondering how we would do without chardonnay or chocolate during Lent, we hesitate to embrace death now. But when it is time and we accept death as the door to eternal life, we will see that it is not the beast we fretted. On the contrary, it will allow us to be happier than we ever dreamed.
(John 20)
In its beginning the Gospel According to John states that Jesus empowered all who accept him to become God’s children. Now at the end of the gospel the words are seen fulfilled. Jesus tells Mary Magdalene to go to his “brothers” and say that he is going to my Father and their Father, my God and their God.
The disciples believed in Jesus since his turning water into wine at Cana. Now, however, they are brought to a greater realization of what their faith means. Jesus not only has power over death but can use death to bring people to glory. It is like a baseball rivalry, say between the Giants and the Dodgers. One team, say the Giants, not only beats the Dodgers in every series the two teams play but turn the Dodgers into their most rabid fans. For this reason St. Paul will write that he never wants to boast of anything except the cross of Jesus Christ.
Death remains fearful in so far as we lack perfect faith. But we are not failures if we fear it. No, we are only displaying the frailty of our nature. Just as seven weeks ago we were wondering how we would do without chardonnay or chocolate during Lent, we hesitate to embrace death now. But when it is time and we accept death as the door to eternal life, we will see that it is not the beast we fretted. On the contrary, it will allow us to be happier than we ever dreamed.
Homilette for Monday, April 9
Monday, I Easter
Acts 2, Matthew 28)
The gospel mentions a refutation of the resurrection that evidently was circulated in apostolic times. Apparently some Jews claimed that Jesus did not rise from the dead but that his tomb was found empty because his disciples stole his body. We might find the explanation given of why Romans soldiers would admit to negligence-on-duty – that they were paid off and that the Jewish leaders would handle any fallout with the procurator -- as hardly plausible. However, this line of reasoning probably goes beyond what Matthew intended by telling the story.
More topical today is a question about the resurrection that the first reading suggests. Peter tries to show his Jewish listeners that Jesus’ resurrection was foretold in Scripture. Some modern skeptics have opined that the passion, death and resurrection narratives were invented by early Christians with the Old Testament in hand. According to these theorists, the apostles gleaned tidbits from the Jewish Scriptures and inserted them into the story of Jesus’ ordeal. That may be possible, but it is hardly likely. Catholic scholar Fr. Raymond Brown has written it is far more probable that the early Christians noted facts surrounding Jesus death and resurrection that corresponded with Scripture. This is why we have the emphasis on casting lots for the garment, the wine being offered to Jesus, and other details.
Skeptics can and will always raise doubts about Jesus’ resurrection. It remains a singular event in history (unless we count the Assumption of Mary for which there appears to be far less testimony). We accept it in faith because of the credibility we give to the apostolic witness, because it satisfies the longing of the human heart which God has created, and also because we have experiences the effects of his resurrection such as God’s love filling our hearts.
Acts 2, Matthew 28)
The gospel mentions a refutation of the resurrection that evidently was circulated in apostolic times. Apparently some Jews claimed that Jesus did not rise from the dead but that his tomb was found empty because his disciples stole his body. We might find the explanation given of why Romans soldiers would admit to negligence-on-duty – that they were paid off and that the Jewish leaders would handle any fallout with the procurator -- as hardly plausible. However, this line of reasoning probably goes beyond what Matthew intended by telling the story.
More topical today is a question about the resurrection that the first reading suggests. Peter tries to show his Jewish listeners that Jesus’ resurrection was foretold in Scripture. Some modern skeptics have opined that the passion, death and resurrection narratives were invented by early Christians with the Old Testament in hand. According to these theorists, the apostles gleaned tidbits from the Jewish Scriptures and inserted them into the story of Jesus’ ordeal. That may be possible, but it is hardly likely. Catholic scholar Fr. Raymond Brown has written it is far more probable that the early Christians noted facts surrounding Jesus death and resurrection that corresponded with Scripture. This is why we have the emphasis on casting lots for the garment, the wine being offered to Jesus, and other details.
Skeptics can and will always raise doubts about Jesus’ resurrection. It remains a singular event in history (unless we count the Assumption of Mary for which there appears to be far less testimony). We accept it in faith because of the credibility we give to the apostolic witness, because it satisfies the longing of the human heart which God has created, and also because we have experiences the effects of his resurrection such as God’s love filling our hearts.
Homilette for Sunday, April 8, 2007
Easter Sunday
(Colossians 3)
Tom Monaghan is a multimillionaire. He says, however, that he wants to die a poor man. So he is giving away his fortune to projects that help others and that give glory to God. He financed the great cathedral built in Managua, Nicaragua, after an earthquake devastated the city. Now he is donating heavily to a Catholic university in Florida that will live up to the faith it proclaims.
We can call Tom Monaghan an “Easter person.” Easter people practice the advice which St. Paul gives in the second reading. They think about what is important to God and not what the world sees as important. We can see the latter by flipping through the television channels with the remote. Very likely we will see images of crude people wielding guns, of salespeople selling jewels, and of attractive people showing off muscle-toned bodies. These things may not be bad in themselves but they are hardly the good that God most desires of us. No, God wants us to take care of one another with our resources, to pursue the truth with our minds, and to trust in Him for our needs.
Throughout the world today we welcome new Catholics into the Church. They have learned what it means to be an Easter people by a long period of formation. We have relearned the same lesson by the forty days of Lent that we have just completed. We no longer set our hearts on fame, fortune, and fun. Rather, we give them to goodness, truth, and love of God.
(Colossians 3)
Tom Monaghan is a multimillionaire. He says, however, that he wants to die a poor man. So he is giving away his fortune to projects that help others and that give glory to God. He financed the great cathedral built in Managua, Nicaragua, after an earthquake devastated the city. Now he is donating heavily to a Catholic university in Florida that will live up to the faith it proclaims.
We can call Tom Monaghan an “Easter person.” Easter people practice the advice which St. Paul gives in the second reading. They think about what is important to God and not what the world sees as important. We can see the latter by flipping through the television channels with the remote. Very likely we will see images of crude people wielding guns, of salespeople selling jewels, and of attractive people showing off muscle-toned bodies. These things may not be bad in themselves but they are hardly the good that God most desires of us. No, God wants us to take care of one another with our resources, to pursue the truth with our minds, and to trust in Him for our needs.
Throughout the world today we welcome new Catholics into the Church. They have learned what it means to be an Easter people by a long period of formation. We have relearned the same lesson by the forty days of Lent that we have just completed. We no longer set our hearts on fame, fortune, and fun. Rather, we give them to goodness, truth, and love of God.
Homily for Holy Thursday, April 5, 2007
HOLY THURSDAY
(John 13)
Lent begins in the dead of winter. But the word doesn’t mean “winter.” It means “springtime.” Lent should take us from winter to springtime, from slavishness and selfishness to self-control and consideration of others. Some say that we shouldn’t give up anything for Lent but rather concentrate our efforts on charitable works. But we need to do both: deprive ourselves of things we enjoy, things that can preoccupy us with our own comfort. And we should also attend to others’ needs so that we might become more sensitive human beings.
On Holy Thursday we receive a similar dual mandate. In the second reading, St. Paul’s tells us how Jesus instituted the Eucharist on the night before he died. He took bread and wine, gave thanks for both, said, “This my body…This cup is the new covenant of my blood. Do this…in remembrance of me.” For this reason in the Church we celebrate mass today and everyday with the one exception of tomorrow, Good Friday.
The washing of feet is the second of Jesus’ commands made on Holy Thursday. Interestingly, the foot-washing tradition appears only in the Gospel of John where Jesus does not offer the bread and wine on the night before he dies. Does this gospel then ignore the Eucharist? Not at all. In the Gospel of John Jesus gives a long discourse about the necessity of eating his body and drinking his blood. We all remember his words: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”
In the Gospel of John instead of taking the bread and the cup Jesus takes a towel and ties it around his waist. Instead of pouring wine in a cup, he pours water into a basin and begins to wash his disciples’ feet. Finally, he tells them something much like, “Do this in remembrance of me.” He says, “…as I have done for you, you should do for each other.” Of course, Jesus does not mean here that one day a year the priest at mass should wash a few parishioners’ feet. Or even that all of us wash each other’s feet everyday. No, he means that we should serve one another.
How do we do that? You workers should not let the desire to make more money prevent you from giving the best performance possible. You employers should try to provide health care benefits and other essentials for human dignity. You retired people should not just think of your time as your own but donate some to organizations helping others. You parents should take care in providing the right mix of discipline and supports so that the children grow into conscientious and caring persons.
At the end of last year a man traveling from Florida to Colorado was having car problems near Fort Worth, Texas. It was a rainy night when he met Willie Dancer, an African-American car repairman, at a convenience store. The repairman had the stranger’s car towed to his shop and drove the man to a motel. The next day he repaired the car which had a shredded belt and the stranger was on the road again by noon. His fee for tow, parts, and service – just $65. Why did Mr. Dancer do so much for so little? He explained, “Everybody should be helped when they are in need....It’s just the right thing to do.”
We’ve all heard the slogan: “you are what you eat.” It reminds us to watch the cals and the carbs. But we Catholics can take that slogan a big step forward. When we eat the flesh of Christ and drink his blood, we have his life within us. This life moves us from slavishness and selfishness to self-control and consideration of others. It enables us to fulfill Christ’s command to serve one another. His life enables us to serve.
(John 13)
Lent begins in the dead of winter. But the word doesn’t mean “winter.” It means “springtime.” Lent should take us from winter to springtime, from slavishness and selfishness to self-control and consideration of others. Some say that we shouldn’t give up anything for Lent but rather concentrate our efforts on charitable works. But we need to do both: deprive ourselves of things we enjoy, things that can preoccupy us with our own comfort. And we should also attend to others’ needs so that we might become more sensitive human beings.
On Holy Thursday we receive a similar dual mandate. In the second reading, St. Paul’s tells us how Jesus instituted the Eucharist on the night before he died. He took bread and wine, gave thanks for both, said, “This my body…This cup is the new covenant of my blood. Do this…in remembrance of me.” For this reason in the Church we celebrate mass today and everyday with the one exception of tomorrow, Good Friday.
The washing of feet is the second of Jesus’ commands made on Holy Thursday. Interestingly, the foot-washing tradition appears only in the Gospel of John where Jesus does not offer the bread and wine on the night before he dies. Does this gospel then ignore the Eucharist? Not at all. In the Gospel of John Jesus gives a long discourse about the necessity of eating his body and drinking his blood. We all remember his words: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”
In the Gospel of John instead of taking the bread and the cup Jesus takes a towel and ties it around his waist. Instead of pouring wine in a cup, he pours water into a basin and begins to wash his disciples’ feet. Finally, he tells them something much like, “Do this in remembrance of me.” He says, “…as I have done for you, you should do for each other.” Of course, Jesus does not mean here that one day a year the priest at mass should wash a few parishioners’ feet. Or even that all of us wash each other’s feet everyday. No, he means that we should serve one another.
How do we do that? You workers should not let the desire to make more money prevent you from giving the best performance possible. You employers should try to provide health care benefits and other essentials for human dignity. You retired people should not just think of your time as your own but donate some to organizations helping others. You parents should take care in providing the right mix of discipline and supports so that the children grow into conscientious and caring persons.
At the end of last year a man traveling from Florida to Colorado was having car problems near Fort Worth, Texas. It was a rainy night when he met Willie Dancer, an African-American car repairman, at a convenience store. The repairman had the stranger’s car towed to his shop and drove the man to a motel. The next day he repaired the car which had a shredded belt and the stranger was on the road again by noon. His fee for tow, parts, and service – just $65. Why did Mr. Dancer do so much for so little? He explained, “Everybody should be helped when they are in need....It’s just the right thing to do.”
We’ve all heard the slogan: “you are what you eat.” It reminds us to watch the cals and the carbs. But we Catholics can take that slogan a big step forward. When we eat the flesh of Christ and drink his blood, we have his life within us. This life moves us from slavishness and selfishness to self-control and consideration of others. It enables us to fulfill Christ’s command to serve one another. His life enables us to serve.
Homily for Monday, April 2, 2007
Monday, Holy Week
(John 12)
Today we remember Pope John Paul II who died exactly two years ago. The world mourned his passing because he was human like everyone else and still so holy like almost no one else. He certainly was not afraid to demonstrate his concern for physical well-being. After his election he had a swimming pool installed at his summer residence. When some cardinals wondered if the pool were not an extravagance, he responded that it was cheaper than another conclave.
In the gospel Judas criticizes Mary’s anointing Jesus in a much harsher way than the cardinals’ questioning of John Paul’s prudence. No motive is given for Judas’ condemnation, but we might suppose that pride keeps him from seeing anything good about the one he will betray. We can imagine him thinking that if Jesus allows such lavishness for himself, it might be socially more beneficial if he were eliminated.
Mary probably uses so much costly ointment because Jesus has done her the great favor of bringing her brother back to life. But she is definitely onto something significant. Jesus can perform such an act because he is God’s son. His restoring Lazarus to physical life is just a sample of his divine mission. He is about to win for everyone who cares to believe in him a share in eternal life. For this he deserves not only our choicest possession but also our whole heart and soul.
(John 12)
Today we remember Pope John Paul II who died exactly two years ago. The world mourned his passing because he was human like everyone else and still so holy like almost no one else. He certainly was not afraid to demonstrate his concern for physical well-being. After his election he had a swimming pool installed at his summer residence. When some cardinals wondered if the pool were not an extravagance, he responded that it was cheaper than another conclave.
In the gospel Judas criticizes Mary’s anointing Jesus in a much harsher way than the cardinals’ questioning of John Paul’s prudence. No motive is given for Judas’ condemnation, but we might suppose that pride keeps him from seeing anything good about the one he will betray. We can imagine him thinking that if Jesus allows such lavishness for himself, it might be socially more beneficial if he were eliminated.
Mary probably uses so much costly ointment because Jesus has done her the great favor of bringing her brother back to life. But she is definitely onto something significant. Jesus can perform such an act because he is God’s son. His restoring Lazarus to physical life is just a sample of his divine mission. He is about to win for everyone who cares to believe in him a share in eternal life. For this he deserves not only our choicest possession but also our whole heart and soul.
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