Pastoral Life Homilies for May, 1999

Fifth Sunday of Easter – May 2nd, 1999

Cycle A Readings: Ac 6:1-7; 1 Pt 2:4-9; Jn 14:1-12

MORE tortuous than anything else is the human heart. In today’s
first reading, we see how the power of prejudice and nationalism was destroying the sense of mutual love and harmony of the earliest Christian community, Those early people who so loved God, those who were so close to Jesus somehow managed to find excuses to rationalize and adopt patterns of behavior that hurt large numbers of people in the Christian community itself.

This rationalization of evil was corrupting the body of Christ. It broke the heart and the concentration of the Apostles and no doubt prevented many sensitive souls from believing that the God of Love was truly being worshipped by the early followers of Christ.

To correct the situation the apostles appointed seven men to fight the injustice that was gripping the community and correct the attitudes that were causing the community to be torn apart. To prepare these men for their arduous mission the apostles prayed over them and imposed their hands on them. In this solemn fashion they singled out these warriors of mercy for the special task of feeding the hungry and treating the Greek-speaking widows with dignity.

These individuals of prudence and deep spirituality were called deacons. They had a far-reaching impact on the early Church. Stephen, described as a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, became an articulate proclaimer of the word and the first martyr. Philip (see next week’s reading) became the first missionary to launch out from Jerusalem and Judea into the neighboring towns, villages, and nations.

By struggling against prejudice, the Christian community enriched itself and was blessed in ways that the Apostles could not imagine when they first laid hands on the deacons and gave them their commissions. Today, the ancient order of the deaconate has been revived. Across the land and across the world, the Church is being blessed in novel and exciting ways through the work of individuals following in the footsteps of those first fighters for justice. We pray that deacons will be called and formed from our own communities to preach the word, bless marriages, visit the sick, carry out works of mercy and fight against all forms of factionalism that would sap our parish, our diocese, our Church of its capacity to proclaim God’s love.

All of us are called upon to become consecrated to God in our own unique fashions and ways. If we are to fulfill the prophecy of Peter in today’s second reading, and become a royal priesthood, a chosen people, and a consecrated kingdom, we must allow the glorious works of God to become manifest in our midst.

The glorious works of God are taking care of widows, orphans, the poor, the illiterate, the sick, the disabled, the unemployed, the underemployed, the victims of crimes, the homeless, the malnourished, the hungry, the lonely, the confused, the foreigner, the refugee, the public sinners, and those in need of support of any kind. The glorious works of God also consist of being grateful for responsible behavior exhibited by so many for so long. The glorious works of God also consist of supporting those loving people who remain year after year faithful to family, friends, parish and community.

No parish in the world does all this perfectly, but to strive for perfection in compassion is to be on the way that Christ outlined. Insofar as we are willing to bear one another’s burdens and to be caring and understanding, we become the living stones of a great edifice built by the very Spirit of God.

In today’s gospel, we read something truly awe-inspiring! Jesus asserts that those who have faith in Him will perform greater works than he himself ever did!

He knew that for us alone this would be impossible, but if we opened ourselves to the Spirit of Fire, the Spirit of Holiness, the Spirit of Life that he would send us from the Father, the earth itself would be transformed!

The gospel selection begins with the words, "Do not let your hearts be troubled." The troubled heart undermines our capacity to carry out joyfully the glorious works the Lord calls us to. The early apostles eventually had their hearts filled with the peace of Christ that made their fruitful lives possible. The more we contemplate the grandeur of Christ, the way, truth and life, the more tranquil we should become. Christ leads us ever onward towards the Father and enables us to build up the Father’s kingdom on earth. In the process, we move towards our final dwelling with the Lord in his kingdom that has no boundary and no end.

Sixth Sunday of Easter – May 9th, 1999

Cycle A Readings: Ac 8:5-8, 14-17; 1 Pt 3-15-18; Jn l4:15-21

WHO among us, today, is willing to go to strange towns, villages
and lands to proclaim Christ? The number of Christians in the early Jerusalem community was probably not much different from the number of us living, in our own parish. The community was so filled with the Spirit of God, however, it constantly produced people like Philip who were willing to do anything or go anywhere for the Lord. He was an attention-getter because he allowed the power of Christ to flow through him to the people he met. He preached and healed, He alleviated suffering and introduced people to the Messiah. Philip spearheaded the first missionary thrust outside of Jerusalem and the apostles followed his lead.

In our parish many people perform splendid ministries. Some teach, some labor, some donate funds, some give of their time to the various Church organizations and some do all of these things. Yet, the lord is a demanding lover of his people because of his infinite confidence in what we can accomplish. However much we are doing at any moment, he is convinced that, filled with the Spirit, even more can be accomplished. In last week’s Gospel, you will recall, he promised that we who had faith in him would do greater things than he did. This was an awesome challenge and promise!

The Lord does not wish us to become, however, religious fanatics. A fanatic is one who drives people from God by proclaiming the Gospel in a way that ultimately portrays God as a cosmic executioner and a narrow-minded, petty being. The fanatic is devoid of self-knowledge and projects all evil on others. The fanatic is intolerant of people and views that differ from his or her own. The fanatic mistakes inflexibility for strength. The fanatic reduces revealed religion to a pathetic form of fortune telling or a series of life draining and denying prohibitions. The fanatic uses force of language or of law to impose belief and in so doing fights against the God of love and mercy. The fanatic infiltrates every religion and has under-minded the work of God from the beginning of civilization right down to our own day.

How different is the truly religious person as described in our second reading! The truly religious individual speaks gently and respectfully. The authentic religious person lets hope and joy come more or less on its own. Only when asked what is the source of your peace, will the person of deep faith respond and speak clearly of the Jesus, the savior, the friend of the unjust, the transformer of the human heart.

The truly religious person obeys the primary commandments of Christ, love of God and neighbor. The truly religious person walks in the Spirit of truth and the Lord of truth reigns quietly within the person’s very being. The path of Christ leads back to the Father and the source of all life.

John’s gospel conveys to us the promise of Christ that all who obey the commandments of the Lord of Love will be led by that Lord back to the heavenly Father. When we are asked who we are in life we usually give our name and occupation. These are important, but do not reveal our ultimate identities. Most truly we are people being carried back to the Creator in the heart of the Lord of Love. No religious fanatic, no hater of humanity, can realize what this truly means or the consolation it offers.

St. Augustine, speaking on the insights of John the Evangelist, concluded the following:

"Christ will lead lovers to the goal that alone will satisfy them, where all their desires will be fulfilled. For when God is all in all, there will be nothing left to desire."

This love is the gift of the Lord who said: As I have loved you, you also must love one another. His object in loving us, then, was to enable us to love each other. By loving us himself, our mighty head has linked us all together as members of his own body, bound to one another by the tender bond of love.

As we strive to love one another in our own parish community we draw closer to the God of love. We know that our love is far from perfect but it is real and vital. It is the concrete concern we show for one another that proves Christ was truthful and has not left us orphans. Christ continues to assure us of the Father’s love and pours out upon us an abundance of divine life. In Christ we are able to love all people and perhaps even lure towards the truth the deluded fanatics who need so desperately to experience the forgiving, gentle Lord of life.

Ascension – May 13th, 1999

Cycle A Readings: Ac 1:11; Eph 1: 17-23; Mt. 28:16-20

Sometimes a child will take a nap in the middle of the afternoon
and upon waking realize the house is perfectly quiet. At first, the child will lie still and think nothing of it. Then the child will call out to his or her parents. If there is no immediate response, the child will begin to panic and become terrified that the protecting adults have left the child home alone. At this point the child will start to cry and begin a frantic search of the house. Those moments seem like an eternity and the crying becomes ever more intense. Though the house is in perfect order and is totally familiar to the child, without the parents it suddenly seems like a forbidding and dangerous place.

At the moment the apostles and disciples of the Lord were finally grasping the true and enormous significance of Christ and his power even over death, Christ left them. They longed for his presence and protection. They wanted to hold him to this earth, They wanted to grasp him tightly to themselves and never let him go.

In fact, he never left. He remained with the Apostles in a new and dynamic manner. He was no longer bound to the earth but the earth remained held in his embrace. The embrace of Christ is as warm as the fire that descended on Pentecost. After the Ascension, he no loner breathes the same air as we, his disciples, but his love moves cross the earth with the force of a hurricane wind. It sweeps aside human sins and buries human evils under a tidal wave of baptismal waters.

In today’s gospel, we see the apostles receiving their final instruction from the Lord to baptize all people, teach them the commandments of love, and always remember that the Lord is constantly with us until the end of the world.

He is with us now in our joys and struggles. He delights in our triumphs and is in anguish with us over our heartbreaks. He is not indifferent to our plight.

Concerning the ascension and Christ’s ongoing involvement with the struggle for salvation, St. Augustine wrote the following:

"Christ is now exalted above the heavens, but he still suffers on earth all the pain that we, the members of his body, have to bear. He showed this when he cried out from above: "Saul, Saul, why do your persecute me?" And when he said: "I was hungry and you gave me food."

Augustine understood the depths of Christ’s involvement with us. He understood the closing words of Matthew’s gospel and their implication for all of us that Christ would be with us until the end of time.

This anguish of Christ does not detract from his peace and joy that comes from his union with the Father and the Spirit. This anguish though is a link to his living body on earth. The Lord has ascended back to the father but is extended in time and space through the lives and struggles of his followers. When we suffer any personal loss, there is one and one alone that knows the depths of our agony.

That one is Christ!

Christ weeps with us but at the same time reminds us of the Father’s ongoing presence and love. Christ comforts us with the same comfort lie constantly receives from the eternal Father. Christ calls that divine comfort and paraclete, the helper, the Spirit.

The closing words of Matthew’s gospel reassure us that Christ remains with us till the end of time. This reassurance leads to a responsibility to share the good news with others. On this Ascension day we should look to the heavens in order to discover how we are to carry on the mission of the first apostles.

Seventh Sunday of Easter – May 16th, 1999

Cycle A Readings: Ac 1:12-14; 1 Pt 4:13-16; Jn 17:1-11

Few of us take the opportunity to devote ourselves to constant prayer
as the apostles, disciples, and Mary are shown to have done in the upper room in our first reading. Priests, deacons, and religious try at least once a year to take time off to go on a retreat and spend time in intense communion with the Lord. More and more laity are also taking the opportunity to make various types of retreat. Some have been transformed by the Cursillo movement, charismatic retreats or Marriage Encounter weekends. Others are finding solace in quiet, personal retreats under the guidance of spiritual directors. When we allow ourselves to spend such times with the Lord, our lives become richer and our spirits are rejuvenated. All of us have reasons why we can’t possibly get away for such times of prayer and yet if we are hungering for God and the peace that comes from God alone, somehow we need to take a risk, make the necessary sacrifices and spend some special time with the Creator.

An army chaplain in Korea noticed a young, hardworking doctor looking exhausted. The chaplain was organizing a retreat for soldiers at a Benedictine monastery in the small town of WaeGam in the central part of South Korea. He begged the doctor to join them. The doctor protested that his work was too important and he couldn’t allow the other doctors, who were just as overworked, to take on his duties as well. The priest was stubborn. He insisted over and over that the doctor get away for the retreat. The physician finally relented and made the necessary arrangements.

He spent the time rejuvenating and reading the scriptures. After the weekend was over the doctor visited a local leper colony and did a few little tasks at its clinic. On the spur of the moment he decided to drop in at a small army dispensary near the Benedictine monastery. The post was too small to have even a medic or corpsman. It only had a young woman soldier assigned for dispensing bandages and aspirin. Moments after the doctor arrived at the clinic, an unconscious soldier suffering from a massive drug overdose was brought in. His breathing was failing. The doctor was able to act quickly and he saved the young man’s life. The woman at the dispensary and the doctor both realized the man would have died in a few moments if the doctor with his skills and expertise had not been present. After the doctor had the soldier medic-evacuated out of the area to the Eighth-Army’s main hospital, it dawned on him that he was a part of a minor miracle. Some would say it was just luck that he was at the right place at the right time. But having spent the previous two days in deep prayer, he had no doubt that it was divine providence that brought him there. He never again took his calling for granted or saw it as purely a human skill. He understood his role in life was in some way intimately bonded with the ongoing, life-giving activity of the Creator.

That one retreat changed one life and saved another.

Time spent in prayer saves lives, heals families, encourages the despairing, calms panic, corrects antisocial behavior, and leads to an ever deeper union with God. Like the army doctor we can all find excuses to avoid or postpone such times. Like the young doctor we might be amazed at the effect of even a single retreat on our lives.

Peter, urges us to rejoice in the Lord and live lives of integrity. We know that there are countless forces acting on us that tend to disintegrate us. Peter urged all to avoid theft, murder, evildoing and violating the rights of others. He knew that these shames could be avoided if people glorify God. Without a deep, personal and abiding prayer life, such a glorification is impossible.

The Lord himself was in constant communion with his Father. It was this communion between the Father and Son that bore the eternal and amazing fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is this spirit of divine love that has made us adopted children of the Father and brothers and sisters to the Lord. It is that eternal retreat of the Son with the Father that has made all of our human retreats ‘fruitful. Just before his arrest, Jesus was praying for us and giving us as a gift to the Father. So often we underestimate ourselves. But the Lord finds us worthy enough to give us to the Creator. Moreover the Creator sees and loves in us something he saw and loved in his Son. The more time we spend with the Lord in prayer, the more we necessarily become convinced of our own worth and value.

Christ’s final great prayer protects us from our evil inclinations and guards us from the evil of despair. Christ’s final prayer has consecrated us all to the Father in the same way that he himself was consecrated to the Father. To truly understand the implications of this consecration, laity and clergy alike need to spend time in contemplation.

Pentecost Sunday – May 23rd, 1999

Cycle A Readings: Ac 2:1-11; 1 Co 12:3-7, 12-13; Jn 20:19-23

Pentecost is the great noncommercial feast of Christianity. No one
has found a way to market it. There is no bunny for Pentecost as there is for Easter. There are no bonnets either. There is no great incentive to give out Pentecost gifts as we give Christmas presents. Therefore, there are not any pre or post Pentecost sales in our stores. Advertisers do not have a countdown telling us how many shopping days are left to Pentecost. Our radio and television networks do not play Pentecost music or put on Pentecost specials. It is not a feast that draws families together for great meals like our secular holiday of Thanksgiving. People will not think back to what they were doing on Pentecost Sunday 1999. Our family albums will not be filled with special photos capturing today’s festivity.

This is perhaps how it should be. The Spirit of God has escaped our grasp and is too wild to be tamed by cultural pleasantries. Today, we commemorate the fire and wind of God that moved the hearts of the brethren and has stirred the spirit of humanity. That wind and fire transformed them from frightened individuals to a unified and vibrant people.

Today, there are more than 60 million Catholics in America. The fact that we are present worshipping together indicates that we are a part of that great number. We, who are actively involved with our faith, must allow ourselves to be ignited by the Spirit.

If this happens, the 15,000,000 inactive Catholics will sit up and take notice. If we become more loving, more forgiving, more tranquil because of our faith, others will want to renew their connection with the Church that they have for one reason or another drifted from.

If we show ourselves to be people of integrity, intelligence, tolerance and courage, the 75,000,000 people of America who are not affiliated with any religion will have their curiosity piqued and wonder what our secret is. The unchurched Americans, a vast throng, are like sheep without a shepherd and are looking for happiness and fulfillment without a knowledge of the God of love. If our faith comes alive with all of its powerful gentleness, they might well begin to seek the answers from our ancient faith that has informed, reformed, and transformed peoples of every imaginable culture for 2000 years.

As we prepare for the new millennium, the essential idea remains that every believer has a duty to reach out in faith to others and share the good news of Jesus with the world. Young and old, people of every nationality and race, need Christ. Our nation is spiritually starving and we have the sustenance it needs.

Do we want to improve the quality of life in America? Then we must talk to others about Christ.

Do we want to increase our own sense of self-worth and our own unique roles in life? Then we must meditate on Christ.

Do we want our loved ones to act with integrity, purity, and courage?. Then we must share Christ with them.

Do we want to ease the racial, ethnic and gender conflicts that threaten our land? Then we must see Christ in everyone.

Do we want to destroy the evil of drugs, promiscuity, and greed that wreak havoc in our families, neighborhoods, and communities? Then we need the power of the God of life and love.

To be evangelized means to be filled with the wonder of the good news of Jesus and his transforming power. When this happens, we automatically become evangelizers of others. We cannot keep to ourselves a message that tells us fulfillment and salvation is loving others. The greatest gift of love we can give anyone is the Lord of Love.

This greatest gift is easy to offer and unfortunately easy to refuse This gift should always be offered to others gently. It cannot be forced on anyone. The gift of Christ is the one thing that everyone needs and no one ever outgrows. The gift of Christ is as hot as fire, as cool as the wind of that first Pentecost. The gift of Christ makes life worth living.

Now is the time that the wisdom of God needs to descend upon us and those we love. Now is the time that people of every nation and language must accept the one universal word of God. Now is the time to make this feastday memorable by allowing the Spirit to engulf us.

Trinity Sunday – May 30th, 1999

Cycle A Readings: Ex 34:4-6, 8-9; 2 Co 13:11-13; Jn 3:16-18

Moses in today’s first reading reminds the people of the extraordi
nary graces and favors they had received. Even as we read the words today, 3200 years later, the awesome amazement Moses was feeling when he addressed his people is obvious. He knew that never before had God so intervened in the life of humanity. He knew that what he and his contemporaries had experienced first hand had changed the course of history forever. He knew that they had no choice but to accept the covenant the God of freedom was offering them. He knew that the statutes and commandments would lead his people to spiritual prosperity and help them live full peaceful lives. God’s oneness and love were apparent. God’s closeness to his people could be felt. They were not alone. They were God’s very children.

The entire Old Testament is a working out of the, vision and faith of Moses and his contemporaries. The great prophets who followed always reminded the people of the exodus events and what they meant for them. The great prophets that followed urged the people to keep the challenge of Moses alive in their hearts. The prophets that followed preserved the memory of the freedom that comes from God.

At the same time the great men and women of Israel looked to the past, they also looked to the future in which a new revelation and saving event would take place. As believers, we feel that event happened in Jesus, the rabbi from Nazareth. As believers in the Messiah from Galilee, we keep the saving memory of his work alive and allow the spirit he continues to pour out on us to bear fruit. In Christ, we have been able to experience the awesome joy of becoming the adopted children of the Creator of all things visible and invisible. In our second reading, St. Paul reminds us that it is because of the Spirit that we are able to cry out from the depths of our beings, "Abba!", Father. We call this name out in the midst of suffering, disappointment, and slavery. We call this name out in our joys and delights. We call this name out and discover our own call to share in the life of the divine being that has called the universe out of chaos to order. This is our glory. This is the manifestation of the immensity of our vocations as creatures walking back to the Creator.

As Jesus gave his farewell address to his disciples in the Gospel passage from Matthew, he challenged them to share their inheritance with all the nations of the world. He gave them full power to make disciples of all peoples and to wash away the sins, despair and sorrows of an entire species through a baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit. He assured them that he would be with them until the end and he had kept his promise.

The one God we follow is the same that Moses proclaimed.

The one God we love is the same in the Son and Spirit.

The God we are transformed by has revealed to us its trinitarian nature. It is a revelation that we celebrate and commemorate today.

This revelation of the triune nature of God, one God in three persons, is profound, and at the heart of what distinguishes Christianity from all the other great world religions. The depth and breadth of this revelation of all other that came about in the very person of Christ is at the heart Christian beliefs, doctrines, and practices.

It is the Holy Spirit that makes possible our proclamation of the Lordship of Jesus. The coming of that spirit celebrated last week on Pentecost Sunday extended the life of Christ to humanity and made all believers a part of Christ’s living body. We pray to the Father in, with and through Christ. The Father in turn sees and loves in us what he sees and loves in his eternal son. As we mature in our spirituality more and more we should become indistinguishable from Christ. Our vocations all ultimately lead to losing ourselves and finding ourselves in God.

We will never be able to fully grasp the mystery we celebrate today. Eternity will never be boring for those who reach God precisely because the mystery of God will remain ever new, ever more beautiful, ever more mysterious. The doctrine of the Trinity with its ancient formulation of three persons in one God puzzles us and humbles us. Yet, it is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be plunged into.

The doctrine of the Trinity is more than a riddle or a brain teaser. The doctrine points to ultimate reality. The doctrine expresses a truth that goes beyond all others. The doctrine we commemorate today points to a reality we hope to enjoy for eternity.

Abraham seems to have had something magnanimous about him. He followed God in the dark as promptly, as firmly, with as cheerful a heart, and bold a stepping as if he were in broad daylight. There is something very great in this; and therefore, St. Paul calls Abraham our father, the father of Christians as well as of Jews. For we are especially bound to walk by faith, not by sight; and we are blessed in faith, and justified by faith, as was faithful Abraham. – John Henry Newman

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