The privilege of receiving and giving mercy

Homily for 2nd Sunday of Easter Year B 2015

Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31

Introduction

This month we mark 10 years since Pope Saint John Paul II died.  One of the highlights of his teaching was reminding Catholics about the mercy of God.  He even named the second Sunday of Easter, which we celebrate today, Divine Mercy Sunday.  For belief in divine mercy is not reserved just to those who pray the Divine Mercy devotion, no more than the Holy Spirit is reserved for the Charismatic Renewal or the Blessed Mother reserved for the Legion of Mary.

And so for today’s homily, I would like to reflect on the readings through the prism of divine mercy.

Scripture and Theology

Mercy is always treating someone better than they deserve.  And surely God treats us better than we deserve in two ways: by creating us and by forgiving us.

To understand the first kind of divine mercy, think of a young man in high school.  He is unremarkable, not particularly athletic, not very good in class either, and scores average or lower on all the kinds of things young ladies would look for in a potential date.  Then out of the blue, this girl begins to show him some attention.  She is not only really beautiful, she’s also the head cheerleader and valedictorian of her class, to say nothing about all the good work she does at Church.  She is the kind of daughter every parent wants to have.  Anyway, then she asks our nondescript young man to be her date for the Prom.  Now you are probably thinking “no way this could never happen in real life.”  And perhaps some of the guys are wondering why I am talking about them.

But I am really talking about all of us; for this is exactly what God does.  He has no need of human beings, but still he creates us.  He wants to share his life with us.  This is divine mercy – this is God giving human beings more than they deserve – giving them life, his life.  We probably don’t think of God creating us as a form of divine mercy.  But if we realize that we didn’t have to exist, then we must see that our very existence is an act of mercy from God.

This first kind of divine mercy has nothing to do with sin and wrongdoing.  In the case of the high school young man, he had done nothing wrong.  The issue in his case was that he was out of her league, just by his nature.  But rather than choosing others, perhaps better and more obvious choices, she chose him.  She treated him better than he could ever imagine deserving.

In the same way, God shows us mercy by choosing human beings to be his friends.  Human beings are not in God’s league either; angels come close to it, but certainly not human beings.  But God creates us and invites us into a love relationship of friendship.

The second kind of divine mercy is when God forgives men for sinning against him.  Yes, he punished them sometimes, but way more leniently than they deserved.  The punishment for sinning against God, who is all good, is eternal separation from God.  But that is not the punishment God meted out to Adam and Eve, to Cain, to the children of Israel and subsequent generations.  In his mercy he not only forgave them, but he also sent them prophets, priests and kings, to help them get back on the right track.  Moreover, he sent his Son to be the final and lasting instrument of forgiveness and mercy.

Let’s return to our high school young man.  Let’s imagine that he actually goes to the Prom with his unlikely date.  And then by some unimaginable miracle, they actually fall in love and get married.  We would all agree that this young man is lucky; he has won the jackpot.

Unfortunately, after they have been married for a couple of years, he begins to take her for granted; he begins to forget how lucky he is.  And then this knucklehead does something really stupid; he cheats on his wife.

Fortunately for him, after some soul-searching and agonizing, and prayerful reflection, she forgives him.  She treats him better than he deserves, much better than he deserves.  Remember that she is a truly good woman.  If dating him in the first place was an act of mercy because he was out of her league, now forgiving him for his infidelity and taking him back is an act of mercy because he has received a lesser punishment.

And so the second kind of mercy from God is given no longer because humans are of a lower nature, but now also because human beings are sinful.  This is the kind of mercy that admits us back into God’s good graces.  This is the mercy which the resurrection of Jesus brings about for us.  This is the kind of mercy we seek when we go to the sacrament of confession, the fountain of divine mercy.  This is the kind of mercy we proclaim throughout the Mass when we say, “Lord Have Mercy, Christ Have Mercy, Lord Have Mercy.”

Christian Life

How do we respond to receiving divine mercy?  Jesus tells us in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”  And elsewhere he gives a direct instruction: “Be merciful, just as [also] your Father is merciful” (Lk. 6:36).

Of course we show mercy to others by forgiving those who sin against us.  Jesus told Peter to forgive a brother who sins against him, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times, which as a figure of speech means forgiving always.  Such mercy is not always easy to give.  But while we can have justifiable anger when we are hurt, we cannot let that anger fester into hate for the sinner.

When Pope John Paul II visited in prison, the man who shot him, he showed us how to forgive and how to share God’s mercy with others.  We don’t know what they spoke about, but the pope probably said: “I forgive you.”  Yes, the man still had to serve his full time in prison, since forgiveness does not necessarily exempt the sinner from paying his debt to society and growing in conversion.  Forgiveness means that we do not hold the sin against the sinner any more.

But as we have seen with God’s mercy in creating us, there are occasions when we must show mercy even to those who have not sinned at all, those who are in a bad condition through no fault of their own.  The Catholic tradition suggests the works of mercy, ways to treat others better than they deserve.

We have the Corporal Works of Mercy that attend to the bodily needs of others, like the early community of Christians in today’s first reading did for each other.

1.    To feed the hungry

2.    To give drink to the thirsty

3.    To clothe the naked

4.    To shelter the homeless

5.    To visit the sick

6.    To visit the imprisoned

7.    To bury the dead

We also have the spiritual works of mercy that attend to the souls of others, like the disciples did for Thomas to bring him to faith in the Risen Lord.

1.    To instruct the ignorant

2.    To counsel the doubtful

3.    To admonish sinners

4.    To bear wrongs patiently

5.    To forgive offences willingly

6.    To comfort the afflicted

7.    To pray for the living and the dead.

In all these ways, we extend God’s mercy to others.

Conclusion

In the Our Father we pray: “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  With those words, we admit that we are in need of and recipients of God’s mercy, and at the same time we are givers of God’s mercy.  May we always be consoled by this privilege of receiving and giving mercy.

The Joy of the Resurrection

Homily for Easter Sunday Year B 2015

Introduction

For Catholics, the liturgy this week has offered a variety of unusual rituals and symbols, some of which might seem outright bizarre especially for the younger members of our congregation.

·        We began with a procession of palms on Sunday, something like our Mardi Gras parades, but without the beads and naughty behaviour.

·        On Holy Thursday we washed the feet of twelve people, carried the Blessed Sacrament away, leaving the sanctuary bare.

·        Good Friday had us doing the Way of Cross in Church and outside Church and adoring the Cross.

·        Tonight is perhaps the climax with the many readings from the Bible, singing of the Exultet, the procession with candles and the lighting of the fire.  One rather naughty young man, certainly not from this Church, was heard describing the Easter Vigil as the barbecue service. 

And we did all these things to express one simple message: “Jesus is risen.”

But why do all these rituals and ceremonies?  Why not just come right out and say, “Jesus is risen,” and then we can go home an hour earlier, something which perhaps parents will little kids might really appreciate!

The Church uses all these ceremonies for the same reason companies use commercials to sell us stuff.  Companies know that it is not enough to tell people about a product with words; you must also appeal to the other senses and even the inner sense of imagination to help them get the message.  That is why companies paid four million dollars for a 30-second television commercial during this year’s super bowl.  To sell what? Budweiser, Doritos and deodorant.

A few years ago I saw a really creative soft-drink commercial on TV.  A young boy in a small town goes to a soda vending machine and after inserting two quarters takes out two cans of Coca Cola.  But that is not the end of the story.  Because the boy is of short stature, he places the two cans of Coke on the ground, about a foot apart, stands on them and now can press the button higher up.  And so he presses the button for Pepsi, gets his can of Pepsi soda and happily walks away.  The commercial ends with the words: “The joy of Pepsi.”

Scripture and Theology

The ceremonies of this week with their unusual bells, yells and smells, have also been trying to teach us a message, which is: “The joy of the resurrection.”

The joy of the resurrection is the central message of the Easter story and indeed the central message of our Christian faith.  Easter tells us that the failure of Good Friday was only apparent; God has confirmed all that Jesus said and did by raising him from the dead.  And most importantly, because Jesus rose from the dead, we too have a shot at resurrection and at life with God forever.

And yet this message is not always easy to understand.  Even the first disciples could not wrap their heads around it.

·        Mary Magdalene went to the tomb very early in the morning, to attend to the body of her beloved Lord, but was shocked to find an empty tomb.

·        On hearing the news about the empty tomb, “The Disciple Jesus Loved,” and Peter raced to the tomb and saw the empty burial cloths.

·        Later that evening the Lord appeared to the whole group of shocked disciples, except Thomas who was playing hooky; he also appeared to the two disciples travelling to Emmaus and they could not recognize him.

Thankfully for us, the Lord helped these first disciples to believe; after seeing the the stone rolled away, the empty tomb and empty cloths, and after seeing the Lord himself, they believed that the Lord had risen.

We who do not have that privilege of being eye-witnesses have to rely on the testimony of these disciples which we read in the Bible.  But we also rely on the rituals of our liturgy, which explain this message to us in such a way that it sticks.

·        While the Fiat commercial uses a beautiful woman to suggest that the fiat car is just as beautiful, we bless water that washes away our sin in baptism and presents us to God clean and truly beautiful!  After all St. Paul tells us that, as we have been baptized with the Lord we shall also rise with him.

·        While the Budweiser commercial uses a puppy to suggest that their beer is like a very close friend, we light a fire and process with candles to teach us that only the resurrection brings true and everlasting friendship with God.

·        While the goofy commercials use talking lizards to sell us insurance, talking babies to sell us financial services and talking teddy-bears to sell us toilet paper, our strange Holy Week rituals draw us into a sense of mystery.  We realize that we cannot fully understand the resurrection and will understand it completely only when we get to the other side.

Christian Life

But it is not enough for a commercial to be informative, amusing or intriguing.  A commercial must convince us to go and buy the product.

After struggling with cold-like symptoms for nearly a month, recently I saw an allergy medicine commercial on television and was impressed by the relief it brought that nice lady; so I went and bought some.  And although as you can hear, my voice is still kind of nasal, I have had some relief from all the coughing and sneezing.  In my case, that commercial achieved its purpose.

I would hope that the ceremonies of this Holy Week have also left their mark on us, even if in a subliminal way.  After experiencing the Easter commercial we must live like people who know the joy of the resurrection.  Let me suggest one thing among many that we can do to experience the joy of the resurrection.

As we Catholics know, every Sunday is a small Easter, for every Sunday is a celebration of the death and resurrection of Our Lord.  That is why we are required to attend Mass on Sunday, not simply to fulfil some law of the Church, but because we want to take part in that unique event of our salvation.  And so, can we renew our observance of Sunday as the day set apart for the Lord, the day the Lord defeated death, the day the Lord has made for us to rejoice?

·        We could recommit ourselves to attending Sunday Mass not only regularly but also with deep devotion and attention.

·        We could recommit ourselves to making Sunday a family day, when we spend time with family and with relatives and friends.

·        We could recommit ourselves to making Sunday a time to learn more about our faith by reading the Scriptures and the Catechism.

What the Easter commercial is selling is life with God for eternity and these things should help to put us and keep us on the resurrection path.

Conclusion

Finally, one other Easter tradition is the Easter egg.  This tradition comes from the practice of having to give up eggs during Lent, thereby leading to a surplus of eggs at Easter.  But this tradition also teaches about the meaning of Easter.

Like the egg represents new life, Easter brings us new beginnings, new birth and new life in Christ.  We begin this new life on this side of heaven by our faith, our worship and our service, so that at the Resurrection, we shall be found worthy of admission to the other side of heaven.

Jesus’ Will: Service of Worship and Service of Neighbour

Homily for Holy Thursday 2015

Exodus 12:1-8,11-14; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, John 13:1-15

Introduction

Do you have a will?  That is what the priests of New Orleans were asked last Thursday during a short seminar held right here at St. Maria Goretti.  The speakers explained why having a will is important.  

First a will removes the potential of your relatives fighting over your property after you die.  

Secondly, a will avoids giving the state of Louisiana the right to divide up your hard-earned money.  For example, if you die without a will the law of the state might give most of it to that good-for-nothing son rather than to the daughter who has taken care of you in your last days and perhaps even needs the money more.

And so, they highly recommended that we all make a will.  Most people who have wills leave their property for a spouse, children, relatives and friends, even your former school and your church.  And if I may take this golden opportunity to make a small pitch here, consider remembering the mission churches, where Father Cyril and I come from, in your will.

Scripture and Theology

Jesus also left us a will and a testament; but his was quite very different from ours.  As St. Paul tells us, the Lord Jesus, “became poor although he was rich” (2 Cor. 8:9) and so he had nothing material to leave behind.  But the Lord had something much more valuable; salvation, life with God in heaven for eternity.  And so his last will left instructions on how to get a share of that precious life with God.  Tonight, on Holy Thursday, we remember in a special way, the two instructions he left for us his brothers and sisters, his friends, which show us the way to the Father: the service of the Eucharist and the service of our Neighbour.

St. Paul writing to the Corinthians as we heard in today’s second reading summarized for us this first instruction from the Lord’s will.  As we know Paul was not present at the Last Supper; but he was told:

that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,

took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said,

“This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

St. Paul goes on to add:

In the same way [he] also [took] the cup, after supper, saying:

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

In these words Jesus very clearly and plainly states what he wants his followers to do after he is gone: to take, bless and eat bread and drink from the cup, which are his body and his blood.  And so when we come to Mass, we are doing nothing but obeying a direct command of our Lord and Master.

But why does Jesus want us to do this?  St. Paul tells us why:  “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,” he says, “you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.”  In other words the bread and wine we drink are not mere bread and mere wine.  They are the Body and Blood of Jesus given in death on the cross for our salvation.  When we share that Body and Blood, we also share in his sacrifice which brings us to salvation.

You see, we human beings are kind of dumb; yes, I said we are dumb.  We are not as smart as the angels, who have the ability to know God directly.  We human beings need reminders, signs and symbols to help us understand and appreciate spiritual things.  That is why our liturgy is full of signs and symbols of the divine things; or as some put it, the bells, yells and smells.

Even the people of Israel needed such a reminder of the salvation God had given them when he freed them from Egypt.  We heard in the First Reading that on the night before they were to leave Egypt, they too ate a Last Supper, consisting of a lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  This meal was supposed to symbolize their passage from slavery to freedom that was to begin the next day.  And God commanded them to celebrate this meal, the Passover, every year, so that all generations would experience in a real way, the saving work of God for them.

We Christians are far more fortunate.  In this meal the Lord has left for us in his will, he himself is present under the form of bread and wine.  It is like he never left us; he is still here with us every time we celebrate the Eucharist.  And because he is with us in the Eucharist, he puts us on the sure path to salvation.

But the Eucharist is not enough.  On that same night, Jesus left in his will a second instruction, an equally important means of getting to heaven, which is service of neighbour.  We heard how Jesus removed his outer garments and washed the feet of his disciples, despite the loud protestations of Peter.  And then Jesus concluded:

“Do you realize what I have done for you?

You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am.

If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,

you ought to wash one another’s feet.

I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

Just like he said of the bread and wine, “do this in remembrance of me,” now Jesus says about service: “as I have done for you, you should also do.”

As Christians we are therefore called upon, not only to come to the service of worship, but also to perform the service of neighbour, especially the poor and needy.  At the end of Mass, the priest or deacon dismisses us with these words:

·        Go and announce the gospel of the Lord.

·        Go in peace glorifying the Lord by your life.

These words tell us that after we have fulfilled the first instruction of Jesus’ last will by coming to Mass, we must go and fulfil the second instruction of the will by announcing the gospel and glorifying the Lord by our life.  In fact, you might say that the second instruction, serving neighbour, is much more demanding since it involves washing the feet of whoever needs us, whenever and wherever they are.

·        Husbands wash the feet of their wives, some of them literally, but most by being faithful and loving husbands; and wives do the same thing to their husbands.

·        Parents wash the feet of their children, literally when they are young, but even better by nurturing them into God-fearing men and women.

·        Even at work, we do wash the feet of our clients, bosses and subordinates when we take our jobs seriously and do them only as a Christian would.

·        But mostly we wash the feet of those who have nobody else to wash their feet: the poor, the elderly, the sick, prisoners, the hungry, the thirsty.  In caring for those who appear to be beneath us and not in our circles, we imitate Jesus most closely, since he who was Lord and Master, washed the feet of his disciples and students.

Christian Life and Conclusion

My dear friends, we all take seriously the dying words of our parents and dear friends.  How much more we should take seriously the dying words of our Lord, who implores us to carry out two forms of service: the Eucharist and neighbour.

It is easy enough to know where and when to celebrate the Eucharist; but how are we to know when and where to wash the feet of others?  Let us always keep our eyes open to see where the need is; let us keep our ears open to hear cries for help; and let us keep our hearts and minds open to all who need to be served.  The Lord himself will show us how we are to be of service to others, loving them as he has loved us on the Cross.

Tragedy turned into Triumph

Homily for Lent – Palm Sunday Year B 2015

 Isaiah 50:4-7; Phil 2:6-11; Mark 14:1-15:47

Introduction

Today’s feast of Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday might seem like a case of multiple personality disorder.  For this feast evokes mixed emotions.

We began the Mass with the procession of Palms in which we recalled the victorious entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.  But we have just read the long gospel of the Lord’s Passion, in which this time he makes his way to Calvary.  We have felt both triumph and tragedy, both joy and sadness, both victory and failure.

Scripture and Theology

But there is method to this madness.  There is an explanation for these mixed emotions.  Palm Sunday is a case, not of multiple personality disorder, but of two different persons.

On the one hand we have Jesus who even when things seem utterly desperate always remains triumphant, victorious and the source of our joy.  On the other hand it is human beings who cause the tragedy, sadness and apparent failure. 

For example in the passion story we have just heard five different groups of people all rejecting Jesus in their different ways.

·        Judas Iscariot rejects Jesus by betraying him.

·        Then the disciples of Jesus reject him by abandoning him.

·        Simon Peter rejects Jesus by denying him.

·        The crowds reject Jesus by condemning him to be crucified.

·        And the passers-by, soldiers and criminals crucified alongside him reject Jesus by mocking him.

Although these rejections take five different forms, they are all inspired by just three human vices: greed, cowardice and contempt.

Judas rejects Jesus because he wants money.  For a miserly 30 pieces of silver, he hands him over to be arrested.

The next two groups, the disciples and Peter, are cowards.  Fear is a natural human emotion and it was natural for the disciples and for Peter to be afraid, especially after they saw what those goons had done to Jesus.  But in the face of fear, one can go either in the direction of courage or that of cowardice.  When the disciples all left him and fled, they tapped into their emotion of cowardice.  So did Peter, when he said: "I do not know this man about whom you are talking."

The fourth and fifth groups, the crowds and soldiers and criminals, tap rather into the human vice of disdain or contempt.  Encouraged up by the chief priests, the crowd chooses the thief Barabbas over Jesus, shouting "Crucify him."  Without really knowing him, they condemn him to death.  Remember crowds had shouted “Hosanna to the King of David” a few days earlier when the same Jesus had entered Jerusalem; how fickle crowds can be.

The contempt continues all the way to the cross.  Those passing by and seeing Jesus on the cross reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross."  Even the chief priests and scribes mocked him saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself."  Even a criminal condemned for his criminal activity, out of contempt abused the innocent Son of God.

And so if there is any sadness, tragedy and failure in our celebration of Palm Sunday it is a reminder of the sin of human beings.

Christian Life

When we sin, we too reject Jesus.  And we often reject him for the same reasons these groups rejected him.

·        Like Judas Iscariot our greed for the things of this world may lead us to betray Jesus and his teachings.  Just think of the sins against life, most of which we commit because we prefer comfort and convenience over the preservation of life.

·        Like the disciples and Peter our cowardice in the face of adversity may lead us to reject Jesus.  Have we not found ourselves in situations where, instead of speaking up for the Lord and his ways, we have chosen to keep quiet or worse like Peter we have chosen to deny him outright?

·        Finally like the crowds who choose Barabbas over Jesus and those groups that mock him on the cross, don’t we sometimes also reject Jesus by showing contempt for the Lord and his teachings?

Conclusion

But there is hope at the end of the tunnel.  Despite the tragedy of our sins, despite what appears to be the failure of the cross, in the end it all works out.  Holy Week is a celebration of how it all works out.  Let this Holy Week be an opportunity to experience the reversal of fortunes that Jesus brings about.

·        On Tuesday the priests will gather at the Cathedral to celebrate the priesthood that Jesus established at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday.

·        On Holy Thursday itself we shall gather here for a special Mass, to remember the Last Supper in which Jesus instituted the Eucharist, and so left for us a concrete means of sharing in the sacrifice that saves us.

·        On Good Friday we shall gather for a service in which we shall read the passion story again, this time from the gospel of John, and we shall venerate the cross, which is the cause of our salvation.

·        And finally at the Easter Vigil, we shall round up all these events and they will finally make sense; for in the resurrection of Jesus, he will turn our rejection into acceptance, our betrayal into loyalty and our denial into communion with him and the Father, in the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.

The New Covenant: a heart transplant for Christians

Homily for 5^th Sunday of Lent Year B 2015

Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 5:7-9; John 12:20-33

Introduction

“I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” What is this new covenant and what happened to the old one?

A covenant is like an agreement between two parties.

·        As a kid my mother and I had this agreement that if I did my chores, when she returned I would get a special treat like cookies or soda.  For the most mom and I were satisfied with this arrangement.

·        Then you have more formal agreements, like a man and a woman coming together in marriage; they agree to love each other in sickness and in health, till death do them part.

·        And then there is the very formal agreement, like the contract signed between the Saints team and the players, or that between an employer and employee, or between a buyer and seller of a property.

Scripture and Theology

And so, when our God decided to share his life with human beings, he made covenants with them, agreements to stipulate rights and obligations of each side.  God promised that he would be their God and they promised to be his people.

1.    The first covenant God made was with Adam and Eve (Gen 1-2).  He gave them everything they needed, a garden, animals, each other and all he asked was one little thing: do not eat of the tree of knowledge.  As we know they broke that covenant.

2.    The second covenant was with Noah (Gen 6-9) in which God promised that he would not destroy the earth again with a flood; and he gave the rainbow as a sign of his promise.

3.    The third covenant was with Abraham (Gen 17), and God promised him many things: numerous descendants, a great nation, a land flowing with milk and honey.  All Abraham and his descendants had to do was to obey the Lord and the males to undergo circumcision.

4.    The fourth covenant was with Moses (Ex. 20-34) and this was the big one.  God promised to deliver on the promises he made to Abraham as long as the people for their part kept the Ten Commandments, which were etched on two stone tablets.  Almost immediately they went back on their word.

5.    There is one more covenant, that which God made with King David (2 Sam 7).  God promised to establish the house of David as an everlasting kingdom.  This promise is important because Jesus the Saviour would be a descendant of David, the Son of David.

And so having already made these covenants, with Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses and David, why does God make another covenant, a new covenant?

A new covenant is needed because the old ones have failed, not once, not twice, but five times.  These old covenants failed because of the way they were enforced.  They relied on external conditions like the tree of knowledge, the rainbow, circumcision, the stone tablets and the monarchy.

The new covenant is going to be different.  “I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts,” God says.  In other words, the stipulations of the new covenant will be interior, within the people’s hearts.  And he goes on: “No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives how to know the LORD. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD.”

Christian Life

The Big Bang Theory is a TV sitcom is about a group of nerdy friends.  One of them, Sheldon Cooper, is rather eccentric.  For example, his relationships with his friends, even his girlfriend, are based on written contracts.

·        There is the roommate agreement with Leonard that stipulates all kinds of things including how many minutes each roommate can use the shower.

·        There is the 31-page relationship agreement with his girlfriend Amy, which regulates things like under which conditions they can hold hands.

·        And as for his other friends, their status depends on how many strikes they have accumulated or how many Cooper coupons they have earned.

The first five covenants of the Old Testament worked like Sheldon’s agreements, with rights and obligations clearly stated up to the smallest details.  But the new covenant, which Jeremiah prophesies is different.  It relies on a person’s heart, because it was established by a person, Jesus Christ.

Jesus announced this new covenant at the Last Supper.  Holding the cup of wine, he told his disciples: “This is my blood of the new covenant.”  And on the next day, on the cross, he shed his blood and sealed the new covenant.  That is why when people come to see Jesus in today’s gospel, he does not start by giving them a set of rules and obligations.  Instead he tells them about God’s love for them and how his death and resurrection is going to restore that love.

And so, in this new relationship, Christians will obey God’s laws because their hearts tell them to and not merely out of obligation.  The Christian’s relationship to God is more like a friendship than a contract.  For friendship is natural and organic.  Rights and obligations are not written on paper, but are written in the heart.  Friends do things for each other, not out of obligation, but out of love. When a friend is sick or loses a child, we rally around them.  We do this, not because there is a rule about that, but because first and foremost we love them.

The new covenant which Jesus establishes is more like a friendship.  Yes, this covenant still has obligations, but they are written on the heart.  For a Christian then, what comes first is the relationship with God in faith, hope and love and then the obligations, the commandments come naturally.

During this Lenten season, for example, we undertake to do three things: to pray, to fast and to give alms.  We can do these things the Sheldon Cooper way, the way of the Old Covenants, out of sheer obligation, or we can do them the way friendship way, the way of the New Covenant, from the heart.

·        Do I come to Mass on Sunday or do I say my personal prayers merely out of obligation or because I want to speak with God, like I would to beloved friend or a beloved father or mother?

·        Do I fast and abstain only because that is the kind of thing Catholics are supposed to do, or do I do it from the heart, sacrificing myself to experience the suffering of Christ?

·        Do I give alms just out of pity and a sense of guilt, or do I really give from my heart, because I see God in those whom I help?

Conclusion

One of the seminarians whom I teach had a heart transplant last year.  And being the good sport that he is, since then we have had no shortage of heart jokes.  Sometimes when he is late with an assignment he will blame it on his contrite heart.  And because he received the heart from a black person, he now calls himself half-black and half-white.  But most of all, everyday this seminarian says how grateful he is that God has given him a new life with a new heart.

In the new covenant of Jesus Christ, it is like the Lord has given each of us a new heart.  Let us use our hearts “to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in heaven.”

The Good News/Bad News of Christianity

Homily for 4^th Sunday of Lent Year B 2015

2 Chronicles 36:14-16,19-23; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-21

Introduction

When someone begins a conversation with, “I have good news and bad news,” you know to expect the worst; for the bad news often outweighs the good.

Doctor:  I have some good news and I have some bad news.

Patient:  What's the good news?

Doctor:  The good news is that the tests you took showed that you have 24 hours to live.

Patient:  That's the good news?  What's the bad news?

Doctor:  The bad news is that I forgot to call you yesterday!

Scripture and Theology

As you must have gathered already, today’s readings also have elements of bad news and good news; but thankfully at the end of the day it is Good News that triumphs.

In the first reading we heard how the people of Israel sinned, adding infidelity upon infidelity.  Think of any sin against the Lord, and they did it.  Their leaders compounded this bad situation of sin and made it worse, when they rejected the messengers that God sent to help them, even killing some of them.

The Good News is that the Lord did not give up on his people, despite their disobedience.  Yes, he punished them severely, by allowing them to be taken into exile and be enslaved like their forefathers had been enslaved in Egypt.  But at the end of the day, he sent them a saviour, a very unlikely saviour.  The Lord used the pagan Persian King Cyrus to free the Jewish people from captivity in Babylon so they could return Jerusalem, to rebuild their temple and their community.

The gospel passage bears even better news.  If in the Old Testament the people returned to their national home, in the New Testament, the Good News is that Jesus has come to restore us to a heavenly home.  John’s gospel says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  What wonderful news, what Good News!  If you are looking for a summary of the Christian message, that is it!  That God has sent Jesus to bring us a “get-out-of-jail” card.

But this Good News came at a cost.  Jesus explains that salvation will come about in a painful way, on the Cross.  He says: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

Jesus is referring to what happened to the Jews during their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.  On this journey the people rebelled against God griping about all the good food they had left behind in Egypt and generally being ungrateful that the Lord had rescued them (cf. Numbers 21).  So God punished them by sending serpents, which stung and killed many of them.  But Moses appealed to the Lord, to save his people.  And the Lord told Moses to mount a bronze serpent on a stick, so that anybody stung by a serpent who looked at it, would be saved.  You will sometimes see a image of this serpent on medical prescription forms or at pharmacies.  This image has come to mean healing.

And so Jesus says that he too, like that bronze serpent, will be lifted up on the cross.  And those who look to him, on the cross, will be saved, not from physical death, but from eternal death; they will have eternal life.

And so, the Good News of our salvation is going to come about through the bad news of the Cross, the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.   At its very core and origin, the Christian message is a good news – bad news story, but one in which the Good News trumps the bad.

Christian Life

In living out our Christian lives, we could be tempted to pick one or the other, to focus just on the Good News or just on the bad news.

·        When we dwell only on the good news, only on the fact that we have been saved and we completely ignore the cross that brought about that salvation or the sin that caused the situation in the first place, we commit the sin of presumption.

·        When we dwell only on the bad news of sin and suffering and completely ignore the good news of salvation, we commit the sin of despair.

We must therefore avoid being presumptuous, especially avoid cherry-picking only those elements that make us happy and ignoring the difficult ones.

·        For example, as we rejoice at the baptism of a new baby, a truly joyous occasion, the fun part, we must not forget the rather daunting responsibility of teaching that child the difficult commands of the Lord, the not-so-fun part.

·        Or when we celebrate the love of a couple in a beautiful wedding ceremony, complete with beautiful flowers, music and food, (the fun part) we must not forget the lifelong and exclusive commitment that marriage is (the demanding part).

·        And for those us who have a wonderful prayer life, who derive deep spiritual consolation and personal joy in prayer, we must not forget that our prayer also commits us to justice and care for others, especially the needy.

On the other hand, a few of us may be tempted in the opposite direction, where in utter despair, we dwell only on the cross and forget about the resurrection.

·        This may happen when we sin, especially when we sin gravely.  We may think “surely God cannot forgive this sin; surely Jesus did not die for someone like me.”  We must like the prodigal son, who despite his grave sins returned to the Father; we must reject the temptation to remain in darkness, but rather believe the Good News that God forgives the repentant sinner.

·        Or sometimes despair can make give up on others, thinking that surely the Good News of salvation does not apply to those terrible sinners or those who are not like us, perhaps because they belong to a different religion.

And so, we must take the whole package of the Christian message, the difficulties and the joys, the bad news and the good news the cross and the resurrection.

Conclusion

In the Fall, many of us receive the flu vaccine.  But do we think about how a vaccine works?  The contents of the vaccine are flu germs themselves.  The doctors inject this weakened strain of germs into us, hoping that it will trigger an immune reaction in our bodies, so that when the really harmful flu germs come, our bodies will be ready to protect us.  That is why those who have volunteered to have the Ebola vaccine tested on them must be commended for their courage.  And so, with vaccines, most of the time, a good effect – our protection from a terrible disease – is achieved by the scary method of injecting germs into us.

In a similar way, God so loved the world and wanted to save us and restore us to communion with him.  Because our condition was one of illness, he had to use a painful method.  He gave his Son who was lifted up on the cross, so that his death might pay the debt of our sin.

This is the Good News of our salvation, this is the Good News that drives away despair and gives us hope. But as we bask in the joy of this Good News, let us be reminded that our salvation has come at a great cost.  And therefore, let us live our Christian lives never presumptuous but always grateful for this great gift.

The Sacred: Giving the Lord his due

Homily for 3rd Sunday of Lent Year B 2015

Exodus 20:1-17; 1 Corinthians 1:22-25; John 2:13-25

Introduction

Being Jealous is an emotion we usually associate with human beings, but not with God.  And yet in today’s first reading God says of himself: “I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God.”

Similarly, getting upset is an emotion we usually associate with human beings, rarely with God.  And yet in today’s gospel we see one of the rare occasions when Jesus is really ticked off.

And so, we must ask: Why would God be so jealous as to punish for sins down to the third and fourth generations?  Why would Jesus be so upset that he physically drives the traders and money changers out of the temple?

Scripture and Theology

The answer to these questions is as simple as it is straightforward.  The readings of today tell us that when God does not get what is due to him, bad things tend to happen to us.

In the first reading, God gives the Ten Commandments to the people.  The  first three require them to give God his due.

1.    “You shall not have other gods besides me.”

2.    “You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain.”

3.    “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day of the Lord.”

And why should the people of Israel do these things for God?  He says: “I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.”  That surely should count for something.  Because God is God and because he has done great things for the people, he surely deserves love, respect for his name, and reverence for his day.

No wonder then that in the gospel, Jesus is compelled to stand up for his Father’s honour.  “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace,” he tells the traders and moneychangers.  Jesus has a special love not just for his Father, but for his Father’s house too.  You will recall that when Jesus was Twelve, on one of their annual trips to Jerusalem, his parents left him there by mistake.  When three days later his parents found him and asked him why he done this to them, his answer was: “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

It should not surprise us then, that when Jesus comes to the Temple as an adult, and finds that it has been changed from a place of worship for God, to a meat market and a stock exchange, Jesus gets really riled up.

·        You can imagine the annoying bellowing of the oxen, the bleating of sheep and the repetitively aggravating bird noises, to say nothing about the awful smell that the animal waste must have left behind.

·        You can also imagine the mess caused by large numbers of people trying to get change from the bankers.  If you have ever gone shopping on Black Friday, you know what I am talking about.

But it is not this mess that upsets Jesus. What upsets Jesus is more basic; the place for worshipping God had been turned into something else.

To be fair, the traders and bankers at the temple actually provided an important service to the worshippers who came to offer sacrifice.  Most Jews travelled from very far to come to Jerusalem.  It was therefore much more convenient to buy an animal for sacrifice at the temple itself.  Think about Joseph and Mary who had to travel from Nazareth to Jerusalem.  According to mapquest Nazareth is about 100 miles from Jerusalem, a two and half hour journey by car today, but several days’ journey on foot at the time of Jesus.  So such long-distance pilgrims preferred to buy the animals right there at the temple.  Besides, the animals for sacrifice had to be perfect or else the priests would reject them.  Would you want to take the risk of carrying your sheep all the way from Nazareth only for it to be declared unfit for sacrifice?  So the safe thing to do was to buy an animal from the temple precincts, from the “approved” merchants whose stock was certainly kosher and acceptable.

As for the money changers, their main purpose was to serve those who brought money for alms and donations for the temple.  Most people came with Roman currency and the currency of other foreign nations.  But this money usually had an icon of their pagan rulers, just like our dollar bills do.  So, since this currency bore those pagan images, it was not acceptable in the temple.  The money changers exchanged this unacceptable money for acceptable Jewish coins.

Christian Life

Would we today pass the test of God’s jealousy?  Would Jesus today approve of our places of worship?  In other words, do we give God what is his due, exclusive love for him as God, respect for his name, observance of his day and most of all due reverence for his house?

Thankfully we have not yet turned our churches into a Winn-Dixie, Walgreens or Walmart, although some people would probably want us to have some vending machines for snacks and drinks at the back of church.  Thankfully we have not turned our churches into banking halls, although I have heard it suggested that if we installed ATM machines at the back of church, the collections might go up.  But we don’t do these things, because they would be a distraction from the primary reason for which we come to church, which is, to pray to God, to grow in our relationship with him.

• That is why our churches are quiet places, especially before Mass, to give us time to recollect ourselves, to transition from our world of noise, to God’s world, where he speaks to us in the quiet of our hearts.

• That is why our churches are adorned and decorated differently from our living rooms, from our offices, from conference halls; they are adorned with images of Jesus, Mary and the saints, rather than our worldly heroes, with altars and pews, instead of tables and chairs, a tabernacle instead of a cabinet.  These things should remind us about God and bring us closer to him.

• That is why what takes place in Church, the words we use, the music we sing, the ritual actions we do, standing, kneeling, bowing, genuflecting, are not things we do in our daily life; we do these special things for God, because he is God.

Conclusion

And yet, despite our best efforts, we could do better; we could give God more; we could avoid doing things that might just tick Jesus off, were he to come to our churches today.

·        He would ask some of us to dress a little more respectfully, perhaps more formally, since we come here to encounter a great Person, God the Father.

·        He would ask some of us to behave and speak in church in ways that create an atmosphere of prayer, rather than a place of entertainment or a carnival.

·        He would ask some of us to dedicate a little more time to God, arriving at church well before Mass begins to recollect ourselves.  He would certainly not appreciate that some of us leave right after communion.

There is no better time than the Season of Lent, for us to rededicate ourselves to God.  As we do our almsgiving, our fasting and abstinence, our prayer, may we always give God what is due to God: dignified worship and devoted service.