Devotion to God in Word, Eucharist, Prayer and Neighbour

Homily for 2^nd Sunday of Easter Year A 2014

Acts 2:42-47,Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24, 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31

Introduction

One Sunday morning, a mother went to wake up her Son for Church, as some of you mothers here probably do for your kids.  But the son refused to get out of bed, grumbling: “I don’t want to go to Church.  Why should I go?

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“I will give you two reasons why you should go to Church,” the mother replied. “First, because it is Sunday and Catholics must go to Mass.”  “Second, because you are the priest – they are waiting for you to say Mass.”

Scripture and Theology

Today’s readings help us reflect on how Christians are expected devote themselves to God.  In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles we heard that the first Christians devoted themselves to four important activities.

1.    to the teaching of the apostles,

2.    to the communal life,

3.    to the breaking of bread,

4.    to the prayers.

Did you notice that of these four activities, three of them deal mainly with man’s relationship with God and only one with man’s relationship with his neighbour?  These Christians praised God when they listened to his Word in the teaching of the apostles, when they celebrated the breaking of bread and when they participated in the prayers. And the communal life took care of their neighbour.

In listening to the teaching of the apostles the first Christians were listening to the Good News of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who revealed God’s love and mercy to the world.  After all, the apostles were eye-witnesses to the life and teaching of Jesus, and especially to the saving events of his life.  So they passed on this teaching, both to non-believers so as to evangelise or convert them, and to those already converted, so as to catechise or explain deeper the teachings of Jesus.  They must have repeated the sayings of Jesus and incidents of his life, just as we have them in the gospels today.  And as they reflected on that teaching, the apostles also wrote various letters, which we have in the New Testament.  This is the teaching to which the first Christians devoted much of their time.

But that is not all they did; we heard that they also were devoted to the breaking of bread, what we call today, the Eucharist or the Mass.  In celebrating the Eucharist, they were experiencing and making present the death and resurrection of Christ, which is really God’s love for us.  At Mass we recall this truth every time we say or sing the acclamation: “When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death until you come again.”  And they broke bread gladly and generously, because for them the Eucharistic celebration was the closest experience of the heavenly banquet, on this side of heaven.

The third activity was their devotion to the prayers.  For some time the early Christians, who were Jews, continued to go to the Temple for daily prayers.  But they also prayed in private as any faithful Jewish person would.

But in devoting themselves to loving God in his Word, Eucharist and Prayer, the first Christians did not forget to love their neighbour.  And so the fourth activity was the communal life in which they lived together in harmony and mutual generosity, ensuring that no one was left in need.  And the inspiration for this communal life came from their devotion to God.

Christian Life

If the writer of the Acts of the Apostles or any writer for that matter, were to describe us the Christians of today, would he also say of us: “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers?”

·        Of course we can point to our readings and homilies at Mass and our religious education classes as listening to the Teaching of the Apostles.

·        Of course we also break bread when we come to Mass every Sunday.

·        Of course we also pray, not only privately in our homes, but sometimes together in Church as when we do the Way of the Cross or the Rosary or the Adoration we heard this past week.

·        And of course what are our Friday fish fries, our donations to the poor, our other social activities, if not building community life?

But before we quickly pat ourselves on the back for all these things, we need to ask we are really as devoted as the first Christians.

How many Catholics just don’t come to Church on Sunday, clearly not you, because you are here?  In today’s gospel we heard Thomas the Apostle playing hooky on Sunday.  When the community gathered together on the “first day of the week,” he was absent.  Thankfully he cared enough to show up “a week later.”  On the Sunday that he was absent, he missed out on the opportunity to see the Lord.  Now he might have had legitimate reasons to be absent: perhaps his mother was sick or his only means of transport, his horse, was at the vet’s.  But Thomas could also have had our excuses: perhaps the Saints were playing at home that Sunday and he had front-seat tickets; or he was travelling and did not find out the Mass times at the local churches ahead of time; or like our priest-friend, he just did not feel like getting out of bed that day.

But even when we show up, sometimes our devotion to God leaves something to be desired, because we don’t give ourselves completely to the Mass.

·        Do we participate fully by reciting the responses and prayers, and singing the songs, not only with our mouths but also with our hearts?

·        Do we listen attentively to God speak to us in the readings, the homily and the prayers or do we read the bulletin, newsletter or smartphone?

·        Do we arrive early enough before Mass starts to compose and ready ourselves to meet the Lord?

·        Do we stay until the end of Mass, which less than an hour, about half the length of a movie and a third of the time it takes to watch a football game?

Of course we might have good reasons for leaving early, such as rushing back home to care for a patient or getting to work on time; but if our only reasons for leaving right after communion are to beat the parking lot traffic or to get the best table at our favourite restaurant, we would do well to remember that such was the behaviour of another apostle: it was after he had taken the morsel of bread from Jesus that Judas Iscariot left the meal early, to go and betray Jesus!

As descendants of the first Christians we heard about in the reading, should our devotion to God in his Word, in the Eucharist and prayer be just as exemplary?

Conclusion

In a few hours, Popes John XXIII and John Paul II will be canonized as saints; in other words they will be proposed to us Catholics as models of holiness.  Perhaps you and I will not be canonized as saints, but we certainly are also called to be saints, like John XIII and John Paul II.

The essential path of holiness is the same for all Catholics, those first Christians and those of us who live today; popes, bishops, priests, as well as lay men and women.  This same path is one of devoting ourselves: “to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.”

The Light of the Resurrection

Homily for Easter Vigil Year A 2014

Introduction

The thing that distinguishes Catholics from other Christians is our use of signs and symbols.  While our Protestant Brethren focus on just the word, we Catholics use the word and much more; the bells, yells and smells as they say.  And during Holy Week, you could say that our use of signs and symbols goes into overdrive.

·        On Palm Sunday we had the procession with palms.

·        On Tuesday morning the Archbishop gathered all his priests in St. Louis Cathedral to bless oils that will be used for baptism, confirmation, ordination and anointing of the sick.

·        On Holy Thursday, we did the washing of the feet and the special procession with the Blessed Sacrament to its altar of repose.

·        On Good Friday, we had the veneration and the Way of the Cross.

·        And today, for the Easter vigil, we have the fire and the Easter candle or as one altar server in another parish put it, “the barbecue service.”

The reason we go into overdrive with symbols: processing with palms, blessing oils, washing feet, venerating the cross, lighting a fire and processing with a candle, is that this week we celebrate the central mysteries of our faith and we need these symbols, as aids, to help us understand what is after all a mystery.

Scripture and Theology

The central symbol of tonight’s celebration is light.  And so, we might ask: Why light the fire?  Why process with candles?  Why sing that long chant about light?

The image of light and darkness cuts across all cultures and generations.  Even in America where we have electricity and lights everywhere, the few experiences without electricity such as during a storm or a hurricane, help us understand the necessity of light.  In fact, some children cannot go to bed with the lights out, because they fear the bogeyman that comes in the dark.  And so, light is the best symbol to explain what the resurrection, which we celebrate today, means.

In our everyday lives, light shows us where we are going, in other words shows us the destination; but light also enables us to get there, by lighting up our way.  A friend who is a pilot told me that when he lands a plane at night, he looks for the runway with white lights, and that is where he directs the plane.  But to taxi to the terminal he still needs lights to guide him, and these are the blue lights.

The resurrection also does both things for us.  The resurrection shows us where we are going, that is, eternal life with God in heaven and also shows us how to get there by filling and touching every aspect of our lives, so that we live like people of light, not people of darkness.

Christian Life

Our Christian life needs a goal to pursue; a purpose to aim for; a destination to arrive at.  What better goal to have than the hope of one day living with God the Father in heaven, with Our Risen Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?  In a world of darkness such as the times in which we live, we need a beacon of light, something to give us hope and point us in the direction of life.  This beacon is the resurrection of the Lord and our own promised resurrection.  St. Paul tells us that just as we were buried with Jesus through baptism into death, so that, like him we shall also be raised from the dead into newness of life.

A story is told about a US Navy Aircraft career that received the following radio message from a light source in its path: “Please divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid collision.”

·        The American ship refused to do so and instead responded to the sender: “You divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.”

·        Another message came back saying: “Negative.  You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.”

·        The Americans, the most powerful naval force in the world, were rather ticked off that anybody could dare ask them to move out of the way and so the captain send back this stern message: “This is the Captain of a US Navy ship.  I demand that you divert YOUR course.”

·        The message came back one more time saying: “Negative.  You need to divert course.  This is a lighthouse.  Your call.”

Don’t we sometimes also want the light of the resurrection to change course, so that it can conform to our ways, rather than we changing course to follow its lead?  How often we fail to let the light of the resurrection guide us, show us how to navigate the turbulent waters of this life, and reach safely to heaven!

But how does the resurrection show us the way to the Father?  If we have the resurrection as our beacon, as our guiding light, as our goal, then our life will have purpose and meaning.  We shall spend our energies and efforts doing nothing else, but to get to heaven.  We shall also avoid sin because we know that at the end, we have to account for our life before God on the Day of the Resurrection.  It is just like students; if they know that there is going to be a final exam, they will usually pay attention in class.  Otherwise they will spend the classtime updating their facebook pages and doing other shenanigans.  When we Christians live and bask in the light of the resurrection, we shall see more clearly the kind of things that lead us to heaven and those that don’t.

Like many people, I like to keep my bedroom dark, so that I can have a good night’s sleep without too much light.  But the problem is that sometimes, when I am dressing, I do not see clearly what I am wearing.  And especially because I a little colour blind, I have been known to come downstairs wearing a black sock in one foot and a navy-blue one in the other.  I have also often committed one of the greatest fashion sins, so I am told, of wearing a navy blue pair of pants and a black jacket.  And this is all because there is not enough light in my bedroom.

The light of the resurrection also prevents us from an even worse fate, by helping us put on the right wedding garment fit for the heavenly banquet.  That wedding garment is having values that go beyond material things; values like preserving the dignity of all life, that of an unborn baby, the life of a poor woman and the life of a sick elderly man.  That wedding garment of the resurrection helps us to endure the hardships of this world, aware that this is not all there is; what we endure on this earth pales in comparison with what we shall receive in heaven.

Conclusion

I will end with a Boudreaux and Thibodeaux type of story.  Boudreaux was walking home from the bar and he saw Thibodeaux on his knees right under the street light, searching for something.  “What are you looking for?” he asked.  “I am looking for my house keys,” said Thibodeaux.  His buddy also 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 them in this very area. "Oh, no!” said Thibodeaux.  “I lost them away over there in the dark alley."  Shocked and surprised at that answer, Boudreaux asked him why he was looking for them in this spot. "Oh", Thibodeaux said, "because the light is better here under the street lamp".

Where are we searching for the key to life, to true happiness?  Are we searching for it in the dark alleys of this world or are we searching for that key under the guidance of the light of the resurrection?

May our faith in the resurrection always strengthen us; may our hope in the resurrection shine the spotlight on our goal, so that we may live in light always.

Triumph over tragedy, victory in defeat

Homily for Palm Sunday Lent Year A 2014

Matthew 21:1-11 Isaiah 50:4-7 Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24 Philippians 2:6-11 Matthew 26:14 - Matthew 27:66 or Matthew 27:11-54

Introduction

One of the distinctive features of New Orleans is our parades.  We have parades for just about anything: the Mardi Gras parades before Ash Wednesday and the Irish-Italian parades around the feasts of St. Joseph and St. Patrick.  We are also well known for the second line parades or processions, as well as the Jazz funerals with their brass bands. 

Was the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem that we celebrate and re-enact today, just another parade?

Scripture and Tradition

The entry of Jesus into Jerusalem has both similarities and differences with the parades of New Orleans.  Just as parades express joy, victory, triumph, celebration, so does the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem express joy, victory, triumph and celebration.

·        For example, like King Rex and the Zulu King and other celebrities ride on floats through our streets, Jesus rode on a donkey which the people had adorned with their clothes.

·        We also heard that the very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and strewed them on the road, just like we also gather along the parade routes with all kinds of decorations and costumes.

·        Our crowds usually shout out: “throw me something mister.”  The crowds preceding and following Jesus cried out “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is the he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.”

But even in these similarities you can already see the big differences: a humble donkey for Jesus, but an expensive float for us.  But the greatest difference between them is that the victory, triumph and joy that the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem represents is much superior to any victory, triumph and joy that our parades celebrate.  His is a victory over sin and death, the victory of salvation, life with God, heaven.  As marvellous as our parades are, they cannot much that victory.

Even the means of achieving this victory is different.  The joy we celebrate during the parades costs no more than a couple of beads, coconuts and other trinkets from our parades.  The victory of Jesus comes at great cost; his death.  That is why as we celebrate Palm Sunday with palms and celebration, we read the long gospel passage of the Passion.  We hear about the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.  In this way we are reminded that the victory which we anticipate on Palm Sunday was not achieved easily and should not be taken lightly.

Perhaps the closest example of a parade with the same meaning as Palm Sunday is the parade you sometimes see in small towns or in movies, held for soldiers coming back home.  Their family, friends and fellow citizens celebrate the return home from war for one of their sons or daughters.  The mood is often joyous, but also sombre, recognizing that this victory has come at great cost.  This is especially the case when the returning soldier has been injured in a serious way.

Similarly what we will celebrate separately on Good Friday and Easter, we celebrate together on Palm Sunday: we celebrate the pain of the cross and the victory of the resurrection all in one.  We are reminded that the two go together, because without the Cross the victory is hollow, like some of our parades.  But without Victory our crosses have no hope, like some the despair felt by many people who do not know Jesus Christ.

Christian Application

As we begin Holy Week, which is really one continuous celebration of God’s love for us, let us not lose sight of what it is all about.  Let us therefore make full use of this Holy Week, to allow God to make us holy too.

First let us take advantage of the special liturgies of this week, which in a very dramatic way remind us of the central mysteries of our faith.  We will have three processions or parades in Church this week.

·        We have begun the week expressing triumph with a procession of palms.

·        We will end the week expressing victory with a procession of candles that show light at the Easter vigil.

·        Sandwiched in between on Good Friday, we will have the procession of the Cross, in which we acknowledge how our victory came about.

Although in the popular culture Christmas is the greatest celebration, actually for Christians the celebrations of this week, culminating in Easter have the greatest meaning for us.  Without this week, Christmas is deprived of its meaning.  And so let us check the schedules of our parish and other parishes, to see what liturgies we can be a part of, so that we can recognize more and more, that the victory we celebrate and enjoy as Christians, has come at a great price – the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.

Secondly, in addition to our liturgical participation, let us commit ourselves to completing the Lenten sacrifices that we have been carrying on during these past few weeks, especially our extra prayer, depriving ourselves of the things we like and sharing what we have with others.  And if we have not done any of these things during Lent, there is still time for us in the coming few days to make up for lost time.

Conclusion

May the celebrations of this week renew our hope for eternal life with God.

Judge wisely the things of earth and hold firm to the things of heaven

Homily for 5^th Sunday of Lent Year A 2014

Ezek 37:12-14 • Rom 8:8-11 • John 11:1-45 or 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33-45

Introduction

You must have noticed that the gospel passages we have been reading for the last three Sundays of Lent including today have been rather long.  Their length is not intended to keep us standing for long and therefore give us some penance to do, as some people might think.  They are long because they are like those classical movies that tell a complex story, with complex characters and complex themes that cannot be covered in a few words, like twitter, text-messaging or facebook posts.

Scripture and Tradition

These three gospel passages have covered some basic human concerns, thirst, blindness and death; these gospel passages have tried to teach us the truly Christian approach and answer to these basic human needs.

·        Two Sundays ago, in the story of the Samaritan Woman, we heard about thirst, the thirst for ordinary water; and then Jesus spoke about the living water of salvation.

·        Last Sunday, in the story of the Man born blind, we heard about blindness and the need to see again; Jesus gave the man that and more – he gave him clearer eyes of the mind and clearer eyes of faith.

·        In today’s gospel, Martha and Mary are asking Jesus to bring their brother Lazarus back to this life; Jesus does give them that and more.  He teaches about the resurrection that leads to eternal life.

And so, in these and other gospel passages Jesus raises our desire for what is only earthly, to something much higher, the heavenly.

And yet, in raising our desires to the spiritual level, Jesus is not dismissing our human needs.  Both Martha and Mary say to him: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  They miss their brother; they love their brother; they want him with them.  How many of us have not felt the same way, at the loss of a brother, a father, a mother, a child or even a good friend?  A few years ago a good friend of mine, a nun, lost her grandmother.  At the funeral as I was trying to console her, with the simplicity and innocence of a child she said, “I know my grandmother is in a better place, she is not in pain anymore; but I still wanted her around with me”

And so, that is why we heard that “When Jesus saw her [Mary] weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed . . . And Jesus wept.”  Jesus is not oblivious to human suffering and needs.  He grants our needs.  But he grants them only if they are truly good for us and if they serve the greater goal of bringing about the Kingdom of God.  This episode with Lazarus is first of all an occasion to teach about the resurrection, coming back to life with God forever.  And yet he also brings Lazarus back to life, not just for Lazarus’ sake, but so that the people may see “the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

I like sales promotions; I think we all do. I especially like those “buy one get one free” sales or the “two for the price of one” sales.  I go to the store with money just enough to get one item, but I come home with two.  Of course there is a catch with this kind of sale.  In the small print it says, that the second item must be of equal or less value.  So I have since learned that my first item cannot be a cheap, ten-dollar pair of rubber shoes and my second an expensive hundred-dollar pair of leather shoes.

Fortunately for us, what Jesus has to offer, does not have that limitation.  When he gives two for one, the second item is actually more valuable than the first.

·        When feeds the crowds with bread, he also gives them the Bread of Life, which is his Word and himself – the source of everlasting life.

·        When he gives sight back to the blind man, hearing to the deaf, mobility to the crippled, he also gives them an even greater gift – forgiveness of sins and the invitation to eternal life with God.

·        He gives Lazarus back his life on this earth; but then he also gives him and the rest of us an even longer life, eternal life with God in heaven.  For we heard him say: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” 

Christian Application

There is a prayer after communion that the priest says during the season of Advent.  He prays that through our celebrating the Eucharist and receiving communion, the Lord may “teach us to judge wisely the things of earth and hold firm to the things of heaven.”  This prayer summarizes perfectly the attitude of Jesus and what should be our own attitude towards the things of earth and the things of heaven.

·        We are to value the things of this world, especially life, like Martha and Mary.  That is why as Christians we promote life, from the womb to the tomb.  We judge wisely that every human life must be protected; the child in the womb and the mother carrying that child; the innocent bystander as well as the criminal gangster who shoots at them; the poor boy who lacks food to eat and the unemployed mother looking to feed her children; the elderly man suffering from terminal cancer and the elderly woman with Alzheimer’s.  Like Jesus cares for Lazarus, Martha and Mary, the blind man, the hungry crowds and all those who come to him with physical needs, we too promote must life, this life.

·        But as we promote this life, our sights are set on the other life; we hold firm to the things of heaven.

o   That is why sometimes we can deprive ourselves in this life, because of the greater reward of the other life.  We fast and abstain from food and drink, to give us a better appreciation of what really matters; life with God.

o   Some of us, religious men and woman, priests, give up marriage – a good thing in itself; we do so to remind ourselves and others of the life with God in heaven, where as Jesus says “they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven.”

o   But perhaps the ultimate realization that it is the things of heaven that really count is made by those who give up their lives for God.  They like this life, but are willing to trade it for something higher.

Conclusion

As we continue with our Lenten observance, let us get our priorities straight.  We seek entrance into the Kingdom of heaven; this kingdom is already here in our daily lives, to the extent that we live as Jesus teaches us.  But this Kingdom is also not yet fully complete and that is why, as we live our lives here, we judge wisely the things of earth and we hold firm to the things of heaven.