Love: seeking the good of the other, without expecting a return

Homily for 4^th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C 2016

Jeremiah 1:4-5,17-19; 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13; Luke 4:21-30

Introduction

If today's second reading sounded familiar, it is probably because you have heard it read before, at several weddings.  Because it speaks about love, it is the go-to reading for many weddings.

This reading comes from Paul's first letter to the Corinthian Church, the most troublesome of his daughter-Churches.  This community had all kinds of divisions and factions.  Part of his answer to these problems, is to teach them about love.

Scripture and Theology

But the kind of love that Paul is describing, is not exactly the love we celebrate at weddings, but a much broader love.

The English language, with limited success tries to express three quite different feelings with this one word "love."

·        First, we use "love" to refer to that romantic feeling between a man and a woman, a desire and longing based in physical attraction.

·        Second, we speak of love to refer to friendship and general affection, even our desire for knowledge, art and other abstract things.

·        But the love that Paul is talking about is called by the Greek word, Agape.

Agape is "to will the good of another and to act concretely on that desire," expecting nothing in return.  It is more than erotic love; it is more than philosophical love.  This is the love that God has for us, the kind of love that Jesus displayed so generously on the cross, when he gave his life for the life of the world.  He willed our good, he actively sought our good and he gave it without expectation.

Paul dedicates several verses to describing this agape, this love.

·        "Love is patient, love is kind" Paul says.  True love waits and readily gives up righteous anger or outrage, for example towards someone who is slow or imperfect, because such love wills the good of that other person.

·        Paul says "love is not jealous." Someone once said: "when a friend of mine succeeds, something in me dies."  Does this feeling sound awfully familiar?  But as Paul continues to say: love is not pompous, not inflated, not rude; love does not seek its own interests.  Selfishness and love do not go together; selflessness is the true quality of love.

·        Paul goes on: "love is not quick-tempered, does not brood over injury." If we will the good of the other, we cannot hold grudges.  We cannot hold on to old wounds for decades, opening the scars once in a while to brood over them.  Agape requires forgiveness and letting bygones be bygones. 

·        "Love does not rejoice over wrongdoing, but rejoices with truth" says Paul.  The Germans have a word for this; schadenfreude is the morbid revelling in the pain of others.  Love cannot rejoice at another's misfortune, even the pain of our enemies.  Jesus already teaches as much when he says "love your enemies, and do good to those who persecute you" (Lk. 6:27).

·        Paul ends his description of love by saying: "love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things."  Such love does not pick and choose what is convenient, but what serves the good of another.

Besides describing the kind of qualities that make up Christian love, Paul also compares agape with the spiritual gifts, especially since the Corinthians were fighting over whose gifts were more important.

·        He says: "If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal."  In other words, even spiritual gifts like the gift of tongues, the gifts of prophecy, understanding and knowledge, mean nothing, if not used for the good of another.

·        Paul goes on to say: "If I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."  Even faith, profound belief, does not count, if such belief does not will the good of others.  This can happen, for example, when of our deep faith goes to our heads and we automatically exclude others from God's love: the Protestants, Jews, and especially the Muslims.

·        "If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing," Paul says.  Imagine that!  Even charitable giving and martyrdom don't count if they are done for selfish reasons like showing off.  In true love, like Jesus, one has to give something of theirs, without expecting anything in return.

Christian Life

It is interesting that the reasons for which Paul wrote this letter, the problems of division in the Corinthian community are still with us today.

1.    In the first four chapters of First Corinthians, the problem is cliques and camps with some people saying, "I am for Paul," and others "I am for Apollos," instead of "I am for Christ."  Today we say: "I am for Pope Francis," "I am for Pope Benedict."  Or "I am for Father so-and-so" and not "Father-so-so."

2.    In Chapter 5 of the same letter, the problem is the community's failure to deal with a church member who is committing incest.  Aren't we guilty of similar indifference to the promiscuous license of our society today, even in small things like a lack of modesty in dress?

3.    In Chapter 6, church members are taking each other to pagan courts, participating in religious prostitution, and in Chapter 10 in pagan sacrifices.  Again aren't we often guilty of similar sins, when we substitute the values and practices of Christ, with the pagan ones of society, when we allow secular courts and the media, rather than Christ, to dictate our moral values? 

4.    In Chapter 11 the problem is segregation at the Eucharistic celebration,.  between rich and poor.  Thankfully, gone are the days when different classes and races were assigned different seats at Mass.  And yet we still have all kinds of subtle divisions in the Body of Christ even today! 

5.    Finally, in Chapter 12 the Corinthians are fighting over which spiritual gifts are more important; tongues, prophecy, knowledge?  Sadly, we too do this when we jealously protect our turf in the parish or church group.  Our society promotes this attitude, at school, at work – the zero-some game that always seeks to put down others, so that I can be lifted up, impressing whom we can, destroying whom we must.  For all these problems, love is the answer.

Conclusion

St. Paul concludes his lesson on love by saying: "Love never fails;" and then "So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

In other words, at the end of time, because we shall see God as he is, all other good things will pass away, but not love.

·        The spiritual gifts of prophecy, tongues and knowledge are only tools to help us see and know God.  Paul says: "At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face.  At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known."  We will not need them in heaven.

·        Even the two theological virtues of faith and hope will no longer be needed; when  I am seeing God face to face, there is no more need for faith; when I am seeing God face to face in heaven, there is no more need for hope.

But in heaven, love will still be needed, because God is love and because life with God means love.  

As the Baltimore Catechism taught us: "God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next."  That's why we must start loving while we still can learn.

The Jubilee Year: resetting and rebooting my relationships

Homily for 3^rd Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C 2016

Nehemiah 8:2-6,8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

Introduction

When a public leader such as a mayor, governor or president is taking office, he or she usually states their manifesto, saying what they hope to achieve.

Scripture and Theology

In today's gospel, as Jesus begins his ministry, he states his program of action: "to bring glad tidings to the poor, . . . to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."  Jesus borrows these words of Isaiah to introduce himself and his mission.  Isaiah had said these words to give hope to the people of Israel, as they prepared to return from exile.  But Jesus says: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”  He is fulfilling Isaiah's promise.

But what is "proclaiming a year acceptable to the Lord" or as other translations put it, "a year of the Lord's favour?" This is the year we know as a jubilee year, prescribed in the Book of Leviticus Chapter 25.  The Lord instructs the people of Israel to celebrate the jubilee year.  Just as the Lord had rested on the seventh day when he created the world, so he asked the people to rest on the seventh day, the Sabbath.  But he went further and asked them to rest also during seventh year, which they called the sabbatical year.  And further still, after seven times seven years, that is 49 years, the 50^th year would be a very sacred year of rest – a jubilee year, a year in which liberty would be given to all (Lev. 25:10).

While our silver jubilee today celebrates the 25^th anniversary and the golden jubilee the 50^th anniversary of something, the jubilee year of Leviticus served to return everything to its pristine condition, to restore all relationships.  The jubilee year was like reset feature on our smartphones or the rebooting feature on the computer, to give them a fresh start, especially when they have been corrupted.

·        And so, during the jubilee year, family relationships were to be restored; family members that had split or sent away were to return home.

·        Debts were to be cancelled, much like we do today with bankruptcy protection.  For example, if a relative owed you a large debt and the only way they could pay it back was by becoming your indentured servant, this debt was cancelled when the Jubilee year came around. Lev. 25:39-41).

·        Even the land was to be given a rest during the Jubilee year, a kind of fallow that farmers even today give to the land to allow it regain its nutrients.  The people could not farm any crops, but would only eat what the fields provided naturally.

The Jubilee year, therefore was aimed at resetting relationships among people and relationships to property.  In this way the jubilee year stopped unchecked selfishness and refocused people on God and the community.

And so, when Jesus wants to describe what he has come to do, he uses this familiar image of the jubilee year, the year of the Lord's favour.  But while Isaiah had invoked the jubilee to speak to the exiles about freedom from political oppression, Jesus used this image to speak about the freedom of God's eternal Kingdom.  Jesus came to bring the good news of salvation, freeing people not only from their physical shackles of illness, materialism, oppression, but especially freeing them from the captivity of sin and ignorance of the Lord.

Christian Life

The Church has inherited this mission of Jesus, of preaching freedom and salvation to the whole world.  Every day the Lord uses the Church to bring glad tidings to you and me who are poor; he proclaims liberty to you and me who are captive to sin; he restores sight to our blindness caused by sin and hatred; in the Church's sacraments, especially confession, he sets us free.

But the Church has also continued to periodically set aside a jubilee year, like the Book of Leviticus prescribed, to help us do a full or partial reset of our lives.

·        The first Christian jubilee year was in 1300.  At a time of much suffering from war and the plague, many people had come to Rome, to the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul, as a sign of repentance.  And so Pope Boniface VII called a jubilee year for the forgiveness of sins.  Thereafter, jubilee years were to be called every 50 years, like in the Old Testament.

·        But soon it was realized that if the jubilee year was only every 50 years, with the short lifespan of people at that time, those born in between would miss out on the benefits of the jubilee experience.  So it was decided to call a jubilee every 25 years, in other words, once every generation.  Many of us probably remember the great jubilee in the year 2000; some might remember the jubilee of 1975, some few the jubilee year of 1950.

·        But besides the ordinary jubilees every 25 years, some popes have also called extraordinary jubilee years for special purposes.  In 1933 Pope Pius XI called an extraordinary Jubilee to mark 1900 years since the death of Christ, since our redemption.  Fifty years later in 1983, Pope John Paul II did the same thing, marking 1950 years of our redemption.  As we know,  Pope Francis has made 2016 an extraordinary jubilee year of mercy.

But what does this have to do with you and me?  Let me offer two thoughts.

First, we must take Jesus at his word, when he says that he has come to proclaim a year of jubilee, to free us from all captivity.  Sometimes we are too bogged down with the weight of our daily sufferings and our daily sins, to experience this freedom of the children of God.  Like Martin Luther King said, we are free at last, thank God almighty, we are free at last.  Do we realize that?

And if we are free, then we must celebrate our freedom.  Jubilee is not just about liberation; it is also about jubilation.  In fact, both words, jubilee and jubilation, come from the Hebrew word "jobel," the ram's horn that was joyfully sounded, to kick off the jubilee year.  Like the Jewish people in today's first reading, celebrated their return home after the exile, with the reading of Scripture, with rich foods and sweet drinks, we Christians must go about our daily lives with joy and gratitude, for the amnesty that the Lord has given us.

Secondly, as we rejoice in our liberation, we share that fruit of jubilee with others as well, particularly as we cancel debts and restore relationships.  You may have heard about the atrocious civil war that raged on in my native Uganda for nearly twenty years.  Joseph Kony and his men committed untold atrocities against the people of his own tribe.  But when the war ended, the victims and their families did not want the perpetrators tried in court; they wanted them returned to their villages to undergo a community system of justice.  Basically they would have to confess their sins publicly, take on some form of community punishment and then be restored to the community.  This same way of resetting relationships was used in Rwanda after the genocide as well as in the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions of Northern Ireland and South Africa.  As difficult as it was for these victims, somehow they embraced the meaning of jubilee.  They decided that letting bygones be bygones was the best way to reboot their communities.

Conclusion

May this Jubilee year when Jesus proclaims mercy give you and me a fresh start. 

·        Does your relationship with God need resetting?  Why not go to confession, pass through the Holy Door and perhaps make a pilgrimage?

·        Does your relationship with a family member or friend need rebooting?  What about making a phone call or writing them an email or a letter?

May this jubilee year not go to waste.  May it be truly a year of the Lord's favour.

I am my brother's keeper - Remembering MLK

Homily for "In Times of War or Civil Disturbance" (MLK) 2016

R1 = Lect. 897 #1 (Gen 4:3-10), Resp = 899 #2 (Ps. 85), Gosp = 901 #1 (Matt 5:20-24)

Introduction

"Am I my brother's keeper?"  That's what Cain says when God asks him where his brother Abel is.

Today this nation remembers Martin Luther King whose life and legacy fought against the kind of hatred that Cain had towards his brother.  Unlike Cain, King's dream was that all Americans, indeed all men and women would one day "sit down together at the table of brotherhood," and the discords of the nation transformed into "a beautiful symphony of brotherhood."

Scripture and Theology

But we don't have to give Martin Luther King the last word.  The Scriptures have plenty to teach against anger and hatred and in favour of peace and brotherhood.

Today's reading about Cain and Abel, follows the story of the fall of their parents, Adam and Eve.  As they say, the apple does not fall far from the tree.  Cain, who inherited the human condition of original sin, was led to commit other sins.

·        His first sin was offering unworthy worship to God, because he was rather lazy.  While Abel's sacrifice was well thought out, Cain's was "in the course of time," an afterthought.

·        That sin cascaded into the sin of envy, when he saw his brother's sacrifice accepted while his was not.

·        Envy then fomented anger that led Cain to murder his brother.

·        The final sin was the cover-up and lies.  He denied knowledge of his brother's whereabouts and said: "Am I my brother’s keeper?”

For these sins, God punished Cain, by making him a constant wanderer.

Jesus warns that even worse punishment awaits those who in anger call a brother "Raqa" which means "imbecile" or those who call him "Fool."  They "will be liable to fiery Gehenna."  He warns that because murder is the fruit of anger, one must take care to avoid that anger against a brother in the first place.  The righteousness of the disciple must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, which teaches among other things "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."

Christian Life

Cain's sin of fratricide has been repeated throughout history, in the European World Wars, in the Northern Ireland Troubles, in the Rwandan genocide to mention but a few.  Today brothers are still killing each other in Ukraine, South Sudan, and Syria – in fact in Syria, it is no longer one brother against another, but each brother against every other brother, a free-for-all slaughter.

Back here at home, we have the sins of violence and racism, islamophobia and xenophobia.  These sins, like Cain's cascade of sins, start with the cardinal sin of sloth.  A slothful person does not take the trouble to get the correct information and thus makes judgements based on half-truths, idle speculation and stereotypes.  This sloth therefore leads to prejudice.

• Prejudice generates racial hatred, both the more obvert kind, but also the very subtle and covert type.
• Prejudice attribute the sins of some Muslims to all Muslims and foments islamophobia. 
• Prejudice sees all immigrants and refugees as a threat to the nation and stirs up xenophobia.

If our righteousness is to surpass that of the scribes and pharisees, indeed that of the secular world, we Christians must return to the teaching of the Master who teaches that only the truth will set us free.  For unlike prejudice, truth relies on facts, data, evidence.  If our actions towards others rely on truth rather than prejudice, we shall discover that individuals often are nothing like the stereotype of their racial, religious or national group.  If we rely on truth, then we can administer justice, punishing the guilty, but not the innocent, sorting out the Islamic terrorists from the innocent Muslims, the Trojan horses from the innocent refugees and immigrants.  Like the Psalmist told us, truth will thus cascade into justice and justice in turn will bring about peace and harmony.

Conclusion

Christians can celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, because he upheld these biblical principles of truth and justice by which we can be our brother's keepers.

King espoused these values, not only in fighting for the civil rights of black people, but in fighting against all hatred.  In his now famous I have a Dream speech he warned his fellow black people against hatred.

. . . In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.  . . .

A little later, he warns them not to "distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. . . ."

Martin Luther King ended his famous speech by dreaming about a world of brotherhood, where "little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

What can you and I do, to bring about this brotherhood of all men and women? We can start by judging people, not by the colour of their skin, or by their religious attire, or by their country of origin, or even by their accent, but as King said, by the content of their character.  What better way to be my brother's keeper, except in the first place, by simply treating others as sisters and brothers?  Even though their mother might belong to a different race, religion or nationality, we are our sisters and brothers' keeper.

Requiting the Love of the Lavish Bridegroom

Homily for 2^nd Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C 2016

Isaiah 62:1-5; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-12

Introduction

Weddings are generally joyful occasions.  You get teary-eyed when you see the lovely bride and her fine-looking bridegroom.  You enjoy the copious amounts of food and the bountiful supply of drink, unless of course you are paying for it all.

It is no wonder that Jesus often uses the image of wedding banquets in his teaching about our relationship with God.  And in today's gospel he actually goes to a wedding and performs his first miracle there.  This wedding image teaches us to see God as a bridegroom who provides generously for his bride.

Scripture and Theology

Whenever the Old Testament asks the question: “Why is God interested in human beings?” the answer almost always has something to do with marriage. 

• That is why in Genesis God creates, Adam and Eve "and the two of them become one body."  It is to them both that he entrusts care of the world.
• When that plan fails, because they sin, God turns to Plan B, by choosing Israel as his own people.  Even here marriage is front and centre.  God's plan of salvation is centred around the marriage between Abraham and Sarah, between Isaac and Rebecca, between Jacob and Rachel.
•  Perhaps the clearest use of the marriage image comes from the Prophets. Hosea and Jeremiah remind Israel that she has been an unfaithful bride.  Isaiah, from whom our first reading of today came, paints a brighter picture.  He tells Israel that the bridegroom has forgiven her.  God is coming to take his wife Israel back, to resume the joy and love of newlyweds.  Isaiah prophesies that this is going to happen very soon.

Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of that promise.  He is the one who has come to restore the marital relationship between humanity and God. 

That is why John's gospel places this incident of the Wedding at Cana and miracle of the wine, at the very beginning of Jesus' ministry.  His presence at the wedding is no accident.  John says: "Jesus did this . . . and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him."  In other words, Jesus' being at this wedding points back to the spousal relationship of God and Israel and now announces that God has decided to take back his bride, Israel and all of us.

But besides his presence at the wedding, what Jesus does there by providing more wine is equally meaningful. Archbishop Fulton Sheen used to joke that perhaps the reason the wine ran out was because Jesus and the disciples had crashed the party.  Jesus did not understand that "plus one" does not mean that you can bring all your friends.  But more seriously, by providing the wine, Jesus shows God as the bridegroom who provides so generously for his bride.

• God's providence can be seen in the number of jars.  There were six jars filled with water for purification, one number short of the perfect number seven.  By changing these fewer than perfect number of water jars into wine, Jesus is suggesting that he has come to improve upon the Old Testament purification rituals.  His work is going to cleanse the people in a more complete way and fill them with the full joy of the new wine.
• Even the quantity of the new wine is significant.  Each of the six jars held about 20 to 30 gallons of water.  I did some math and when changed into wine, those jars contained 120 to 180 gallons or 600 to 900 bottles of wine and as the headwaiter testified, really good wine.  Perhaps only celebrity weddings today could manage such extravagance.  But the prophets had foretold that when the Messiah came, God would lavish good things upon his people as a bridegroom takes care of his bride.  Like the feeding of the five thousand and the plentiful leftovers, this miracle of the wine at Cana signifies the lavishness of the new life, of the new way of Jesus.

The Wedding at Cana, is therefore the sign of a completely new relationship between God and humanity, a new relationship brought about by Jesus Christ.

Christian Life

And so, Jesus has played match-maker between us and God.  And in baptism, we each said "Yes, I will marry you."  What remains for us now is to live out this marriage-like relationship, by fulfilling our marital obligations to God.  Let me offer three qualities that should define our response: love, humility and gratitude.

First, like a faithful bride, we should love God back deeply.  God's love should not remain unrequited.  Each of us needs to ask himself or herself: "Am I really in love with God or am I merely in love with what he says and what he asks me to do?"  Like an arranged marriage, perhaps it was our parents who brought us to the faith.  But eventually, we have to personally fall in love with our bridegroom.

In the movie, Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye asks his wife Golde: “Do you love me?”  She brushes off this question, saying that with all the trouble going on in the town, with their daughters getting married, why talk about love? Besides, "For twenty-five years I've washed your clothes, cooked your meals, cleaned your house, given you children, milked your cow. After twenty-five years, why talk about love right now?"  But Tevye presses her; he wants to know.  "Do you love me?"  Finally she admits:  "I suppose I do [love you]."  And so, must we.

Second, if we truly love God as a bride loves her man, this love will be shown in how we pray.  Mary has shown us how to pray.  All she does is go to Jesus and appraise him of the situation, saying, "They have no wine."  She does not badger him or demand anything from him.  And when he seems to brush her request aside, she is quietly persistent, telling the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Similarly when we pray to God, mere mention of our needs is enough.  It is okay to cry, lament, persist in our prayer, but there can be no bribing, no cajoling, no demanding that God does this or else.  As our loving spouse he knows what is good for us and he will act accordingly and in our best interests.

Our third response to God's love should be gratitude.  From childhood we are taught to say "thank you" for all favours done for us.  Even more must we say "thank you" to God for his love, which we don't deserve.

• We say "thank you" at the Eucharist, a word which itself means "Thanksgiving."  When we come to Mass, we are coming, not only to ask and receive things from God; we are also coming to offer him our words, songs and actions of praise and thanksgiving.
•  These Eucharistic words of gratitude must then be accompanied by actions of gratitude.  That is why the priest dismisses us saying: "Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life."  In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, we might consider showing our gratitude by carrying out the corporal works of Mercy: feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty; clothing the naked and welcoming the stranger; visiting the sick and the prisoner, and finally burying the dead.  Like a married couple do not love just each other, but love their children and their neighbours as well, we share with others the abundance God has lavished upon us.

Conclusion

Finally, did you notice that Jesus called his mother as "Woman."  If I said this to my mother, well let's just say I might not be here to tell you about it.

But in the case of Jesus, by calling her "Woman" both here and on the Cross, he is pointing out that she is the new Woman, the new Eve.  While first Eve was unfaithful, Mary is faithful.  Mary is the best example of how to be a bride.  May we follow her example, as we respond to God's abundant and generous love for us.

The meaning of our own baptism

Homily for Baptism of the Lord Year C 2016

Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11; Titus 2:11-14;3:2-7; Luke 3:15-16,21-22

Introduction

A few months ago I asked my students on a pop quiz, to write down the date of their baptism.  I am sorry to say that although they all knew their birthday, less than half of them knew the date of their baptism.

Thankfully the Church recognizes both the birth of the Lord at Christmas and his baptism in today’s feast.  Today’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord is as good an occasion as any other, for us to reflect on the meaning of our own baptism.  For this reflection, let us look at four symbols from the baptism ceremony.

Scripture and Theology

Most of us, baptised as infants, don’t remember our own baptism.  But we have certainly been to the baptisms of our children, nieces and nephews and others. 

The first symbol is water, which is either poured on the baby’s forehead or in which the baby is immersed.  Have you ever considered that before we leave the house in the morning we use water for five things?

1. We wash our faces
2. We brush our teeth
3. We shower
4. We drink water or coffee
5. We flush the toilet

As you may have noticed, four of these uses of water have to do with cleaning.  It is no wonder then that when God wanted to give us an external sign that would indicate interior cleaning, he chose the sign of water, washing with water.

1.  John the Baptist used the water of the River Jordan, to symbolize the repentance of the people who came to him, after hearing his preaching.
2. This is the same baptism that Jesus underwent, even though he had no need of repentance; he wanted to fulfil all righteousness.
3. And when Jesus returning to the Father, he also commanded his disciples to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit . . .” (Mt. 28:19).
4.  And since then the Church has never stopped carrying out this ritual sign of washing people with water externally as a real sign of their sins being forgiven.  Baptism really takes away our sins: it takes away the original sin that we inherit with this broken human condition, but if we have committed any other sins, they are also completely wiped out.  And so, the washing with water signifies this spiritual cleansing, the first effect of baptism.

The second thing we get from baptism is that it gives us new life as children of God.  Remember when Nicodemus came to Jesus at night?  Jesus told him that no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born from above, without being born again, without being born of the water and Spirit (Jn. 3).

That is why as the priest is baptising with water, he says: “Michael or Susan, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

·        If the washing signifies the taking away of sins, these words signify that the baptized is being claimed by God the Father, the Son and the Spirit.

·        If before baptism Susan and Michael were little pagans, after baptism Susan and Michael are children of God, an adopted daughter and son of God, a sister and brother to the Lord Jesus.

Imagine you are painting an old house.  If you want the finished product to look really good, first you strip away the old mouldy and dirty paint, sand paper the wall, and then put on a new coat of paint.  That is what baptism does: The stripping and sand-papering is the taking away of sin, while the new coat of paint is the new life in Christ.  The first effect of baptism is negative, taking away something bad, sin; but the second effect of baptism is positive, giving us something good, new life.

Christian Life

What are we to do with baptism once we receive it? What are we to do with our new sinless state, our new status as children of God?  Two more signs from the baptism ceremony, the white cloth and the lighted candle, tell us what to do.

As he clothes the child with the white cloth, the priest says:

Michael or Susan, you have become a new creation, and have clothed yourself in Christ.  See in this white garment the outward sign of your Christian dignity. With your family and friends to help you by word and example, bring that dignity unstained into the everlasting life of heaven.

And so, the white garment is a sign of our new sinless state.

Think of that expensive tuxedo or evening gown that you wear only occasionally.  You try not to stain it with pasta sauce or wine, so that you don’t have to clean it and probably ruin it.  If you do stain it, then you must take it to a good dry cleaner, to take that spot out.

Our baptismal garment, our new life in baptism is just as precious; but we have to wear it every day.  All the more reason why we must seek God’s grace to keep it clean, by cultivating the virtues and avoiding vices.  But if we sin, we can restore this garment of our life to its purity, the state of innocence received at baptism, by approaching the sacrament of Confession.  In confession, God has provided detergent and bleach, to blot our sins, so that we can return to being his children

The other sign is the lighted candle.  If the white garment points to our own holiness and purity, the lighted candle points to what our baptismal state does for others.  As he gives the lighted candle to the newly baptised the priest says:

You have been enlightened by Christ.  Walk always as children of the light and keep the flame of faith alive in your hearts. When the Lord comes, may you go out to meet him with all the saints in the heavenly kingdom.

At our baptism, these words commission us to go out and make use of our baptism, by being a light to the world.  We do this both by what we say and especially by what they do.  The new condition brought about by baptism must not remain stale; must not die; we must keep the flame of faith alive.

In many Ugandan villages, families use firewood for cooking.  Because they often don’t have matchboxes, they have a tried and tested method of obtaining fire.  First, they preserve hot coals or embers in ash from their last fire.  And then, several hours later when they need to cook or provide lighting, all they have to do is to blow on the glowing coal and fan it until it produces a flame.

And so, like the African mother who blows onto a glowing coal, to produce a flame with which to cook a meal or to provide light for her family, we the baptized person are asked to continually fire up the new life we have received in baptism.  We cannot just it on it nor worse we cannot let die out.

Conclusion

Let this celebration of the Baptism of the Lord remind us of our own baptism.  If like my students you don’t know the date of your baptism, try to find out the date on which you were born anew spiritually.  You don’t have to celebrate this date with candles and cake like you celebrate your natural birth.  But on this special day you might go to confession or to Mass, to renew the white garment you received at baptism.  On this special day you might do some extra work of charity or evangelization to share and keep alive the light received at baptism.

When we come to the end of our earthly journey, having kept our garment clean and our light lit, may God the Father say to us those words he says Jesus at his baptism: “You are my beloved Son/Daughter; with you I am well pleased.”

Are you searching and searching in the right place?

Homily for Epiphany Year C 2016

Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:2-3a,5-6; Matthew 2:1-12

Introduction

A popular saying goes: "There is no such thing as a stupid question." For it is only in asking and seeking that we know and learn more.

Scripture and Theology

The three wise men or Magi in today’s gospel are doing exactly that, searching for meaning and truth.  That is why on arriving in Jerusalem they asked: “Where is the newborn king of the Jews?”

Now this at first might appear like a stupid question.

·        First, these men were foreigners, non-Jews.  So what business did they have asking about the birth of the king of the Jews?

·        Secondly, for nearly forty years the Jewish Kingdom had been taken over a usurper, King Herod.  So why risk charges of treason by asking about a newborn King of the Jews?

But these men are not asking as stupid question.  They are searching for meaning and have been doing so for a long time.  These three men were on a quest; and being astrologers, they had put their trust in the star that would lead them to the object of their quest.

The gospel told us that they had to make a stop in Jerusalem, to make some inquiries.  As you can imagine the star was not like our modern GPS, that gives you turn by turn directions.  And so like we used to do in the old days of using maps, they stopped at the gas station to ask for clearer directions: “Where is the newborn king of the Jews?”

When King Herod hears about their quest, he offers to help them.  Herod calls the religious leaders and sends them off the library to do some research.  They search the Bible and in the prophecies of Micah and Samuel, they found that the promised Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

With this information Herod sends the men off to Bethlehem, asking them to return to him after they find the newborn King.  We heard that they followed the star to Bethlehem, and "On entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother.  They prostrated themselves and did him homage.  Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh."

And so, after a long, treacherous and possibly expensive journey, these three seekers found what they were looking for: Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews and the King of the World.  To the shepherds we read about on Christmas Day, Jesus was revealed as King of the Jews; to the three wise men from the East, Jesus is revealed as King of the World.

Christian Life

You and I can surely relate with the quest of the Magi.  Like inquisitive toddlers, we too have many questions, very important questions.  Let me offer three things that we can learn from the Magi in our own quests and search for meaning.

First, the Magi teach us to always keep searching and never be contented with what we know.  There is a saying that we human beings are like fruits.  If you are green, you can grow, but if you are ripe, you can only rot.

At the seminary I live with Archbishop Hughes and Father Kelly, who never cease to inspire me.  These men are in their eighties and have been priests for nearly 60 years each.  But whenever we have a seminar or workshop or retreat or any opportunity to learn more about the priesthood or the Christian life, they are the first ones to sign up.  These priests are not satisfied with what they have learned in the past sixty years; like the Magi, they are seeking more.

Considering that I am only half their age and have been a priest for less than a third of the years of their priesthood, I cannot but be inspired to keep searching, asking questions and learning more, especially about my relationship with God and my ministry as a priest.

I offer you these two priests as models, so that you too can take to heart the example of the Magi, and never give up searching for answers to our questions.

1.    We have the deep philosophical questions about the meaning of life, death, the universe.

2.    We have the deep religious questions about who God is, what he does, and what he wants us to do?

3.    We have the more immediate and practical questions about our welfare and health, about our families and communities, about the economy and government, about terrorism and immigration.

Besides inspiring us to search, the Magi secondly teach us how and where to search, so that we seek answers in the right places, we follow the right star?

Boudreaux was walking home from the bar and he saw Thibodeaux on his knees under the street light, searching for something.  “What are you looking for?” he asked.

“Oh I am looking for my house keys,” said Thibodeaux.

So his buddy got down on all fours under the light and joined in the search.

After looking for almost half an hour, Boudreaux asked his friend if he was sure that he had lost the keys in this very area.

"Oh, no!” said Thibodeaux.  “I lost them way over there by the Bayou."

Shocked and surprised at that answer, Boudreaux asked him why then he was looking for the keys in this spot.

"Oh", Thibodeaux said, "because the light is better here under the street lamp".

Unfortunately, like Thibodeaux sometimes we also seek answers in the wrong places, just because those places are more attractive and convenient.  Today there is no shortage of such misleading stars, in the media, on the internet and in pop culture.  And yet God in his Son Jesus Christ, has given us some stars to guide us as we look for answers.

1.    The Bible should always be our first port of call, when we need divine inspiration to deal with our often difficult questions.  God's revealed Word has something to say to us about life and death, about how to treat our neighbour, even a neighbour who appears to be an enemy or a stranger and so many other issues.

2.    But we need help in interpreting the Bible.  That is why in his infinite wisdom, God has given us the Church, whose 2000-year tradition and teaching of the Pope and Bishops, can also guide our thinking on these questions.  For a Catholic, surely the Pope's teaching on any social issue should trump the opinion of the Drudge Report or the Huffington Post.

3.    There is a third star, implanted deep within us – our conscience.  After we heard the teaching of the Bible and the Church, through that secret chamber of the heart, God gives us exact answers on practical questions of choosing what to do, choosing between good and evil.

Conclusion

The third and final lesson from the Magi is that after we search in the right places find the truth, we have to do something about our findings.  On finding the child Jesus, the Magi worshipped him and offered him the gifts of gold, incense and myrrh, gifts fit for a king.

In the same way, when you and I seek answers, and find them in the horse's mouth of the Bible and Church teaching, we must act on them.  Our response like that of the Magi usually takes two forms: devout worship of God and good works towards our neighbour.  Thus, our search will not be in vain, but will bear fruit and bear fruit abundantly.

Mary Mother of Jesus, Mother of God, Mother of the Church

Homily for Solemnity of Mary Mother of God Year C 2016

Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21

Introduction

Happy New Year to you all.  As you know, different cultures have different ways of celebrating the New Year.

·        Some do it with champagne and fireworks, as you did last night tonight. 

·        In New York City, they do it with the ball drop in Times Square.

·        And some oriental cultures do it with the dragon dance.

We Catholics also have our own special way of ushering in the New Year.  We celebrate Mass and specifically a Mass in honour of Mary, the Blessed Mother.  Among her many titles, today we celebrate her motherhood, a motherhood that is threefold: Mother of Jesus, Mother of God and Mother of the Church.

Scripture and Theology

That Mary is the mother of Jesus gives well with the Christmas season.  People often argue over when to take down the Christmas tree and Christmas decorations.  For some, the tree is in the trash, the day after Christmas.  Others follow a traditional custom that celebrates Christmas until February 2^nd, marking the day when Jesus was presented in the Temple, 40 days after his birth.

Actually the official end of Christmas, at least for Catholics, is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which is a week from Sunday.  Between Christmas and the Feast of the Lord's Baptism, we celebrate various feasts, including today's, that continue to unravel for us the mystery of Christmas – what it really means that the infant Jesus born of Mary, is the Son of God has come into our world:

·        Last Sunday's Feast of the Holy Family, pointed us to home of Joseph and Mary, where Jesus was raised as a man, by Mary his mother.

·        Today's celebration marks the eighth day, when as we heard in the gospel, Jesus was circumcised and given a name according to Jewish custom. 

·        The next two Sundays,  the Epiphany and the Baptism will round of the Christmas Season, by revealing Jesus to the world.

And so, our New Year's Mass, in honour of Mary is part of this litany of Christmas feasts; its specific contribution to the Christmas message is Mary's motherhood of Jesus.

If you lived next door to Mary and Joseph in Nazareth and you saw her passing by and you said, "there goes the mother of Jesus," nobody would bat an eyelid.  Everybody in Nazareth up knew that Mary was the mother of Jesus.  But if you shouted, "there goes the Mother of God," you would be lucky to get away with your life; for according to Jewish understanding, you would be committing blasphemy, suggesting that Jesus, a human being, is God.

But Christians have always believed that Mary is not only the mother of Jesus, but also of the mother of the Son of God.  In this belief we follow the testimony of the shepherds whose story we heard in the gospel of Christmas and today.

·        At Christmas we heard that the angel appeared to the shepherds and announced that in the city of David a Saviour had been born, who was Messiah and Lord.  The angels instructed the shepherds on how to find this Messiah, saying: "you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger" (Lk. 2:10-12).

·        In today's passage we hear that the shepherds did as they were told and they "found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger."  Most importantly, they believed what the angel had told them: that tiny helpless baby carried by his rather poor parents, was truly the Messiah, the Saviour of the world, God’s Son.  We heard in the gospel that even Mary found this news rather too much to grasp at once; "Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart."  The Shepherds went about spreading this Good News about the birth of God's Son, news they had heard and seen.

Let me share with you again a custom from my home country of Uganda, of calling mothers not by their own names or even the names of their husbands, but by names of their children.  A mother is often referred to by a phrase that roughly translates as “mother of so-and-so.”  My mother, for example, is rarely called by her name "Josephine," but is referred to as “Mama Deo,” after me.

Most mothers appreciate this custom, since it emphasizes their role of motherhood.  But spare a thought for mothers whose children turn out bad; no woman would like to be referred to as the "mother of so-and-so," the school bully.

Fortunately for Mary, she has a son, who gives her honour.  Because of who he is, both God and man, he gives his mother the title of "Mother of God."  And so, Mary’s motherhood of the man Jesus and of the Son of God are inseparable.

Christian Life

Finally, we come to the third theme of today's celebration, Mary as Mother of the Church. It is not by coincidence that we celebrate Mary's Motherhood on the very day we begin a new Calendar year.  It is like the Church is asking that we let Mary mother us throughout the year.  But how is she the Mother of the Church?

Let me share with you another family custom from my home country.

·        Your father's brothers, are not called "uncles," but simply "fathers."

·        Your mother's sisters, are also not called "aunts," but are your mothers too.

·        And their children are not your cousins, but are your brothers and sisters.

And so, one has many brothers and sisters, many fathers and mothers, who you have to treat exactly as you would treat your real siblings and parents.  Now if you thought having one mother nagging you all the time was bad, imagine what it is like having seven mothers!

Jesus too has shared his mother with us and allowed us to call her Mother.  As we heard in the second reading, through Jesus Christ we have received adoption as children of God.  We are no longer slaves, but children and heirs.  We are now allowed into the big house, where we can also call the Lady, Mother.

That's why when he is on the Cross about to die, Jesus points to Mary standing there and tells the apostle John: "This is your mother," and pointing to John he tells Mary, "This is your son."  Every one of us who is baptized is John; Mary is our Mother, the Mother of the Church.

1.    Like your mother and my mother gave birth to us, Mary gave birth to the Church by her intimate cooperation with the saving work of her son.

2.    Like your mother and my mother raised us by their example, Mary is an example of a model Christian, who listens to God and does his will.

3.    Like your mother and my mother care for us deeply, Mary in her Assumption, has gone before us, to intercede and prepare for us a place with her Son and the Father in heaven.

Conclusion

And so, on this eighth day after Christmas, which happens to be New Year's Day, let us ask our Blessed Mother, Mother of Jesus, Mother God and Mother of the Church, to intercede for our needs and the needs of others, throughout this year.

And let us ask her to join us as we pray for God's blessings, using the words God gave to Moses and Aaron in today's first reading:

May the Lord bless us and keep us;

may he let his face shine upon us and be gracious to us;

may he look upon us kindly and gives us peace.