Homily Reflection - Solemnity of the Holy Trinity - Something So Great

Something So Great Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40; Psalm 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22; Romans 8:14-17; Matthew 28:16-20

(This reflection was inspired by some great blogs by priest and protestant ministers)

The late Monsignor Edmund Moore began his homilies highlighting different parts of the readings. For Trinity Sunday, I’ll do the same. From the first, second, and Gospel readings we hear:

“Ever since God created man upon the earth…,”   “…the Spirit itself bears witness.”   “Behold, I am with you always until the end of the earth.”

I chose these thoughts because God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) has always been and always will be.

Let us pray “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.” 

This is the prayer of the Holy Trinity and probably the first prayer we ever learned and it stands for something so great.

This  prayer is to the Holy Trinity.

Almost every one of us made the sign of the cross or thought about it. It’s an automatic thing done without thinking - the prayer and sign of the cross. Maybe we pray without thinking about all its meaning.

First always make the sign of the cross reverently and respectfully and pray the prayer properly. It’s not “Father, Son, Holy Spirit.” It’s “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

This prayer is sacramental.

It helps us in our worship. It begins Mass and ends Mass. Our salvation is represented by the sign of the cross of Christ. Then with the prayer, we open our hearts to the Holy Trinity, our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This prayer is about communion.

In the bible, the word “name” means “the presence” or “the heart” of a person. So praying this prayer, we pray for the presence and a communion with God.

In this prayer, the Trinity is a communion.

The Triune God is a communion of three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We were created in their image. Not just Christians but all humanity bears the image of God, an image of communion. This is from where we come and this is where we seek to return.

In this prayer, the Trinity is community.

True communion forms community. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share mutually in the Holy Trinity as a community of equals being one God. The church must also be community that expresses to all equality, mutuality, and sharing.

In this prayer, the Trinity is inclusive.

The church must always strive to emulate the inclusiveness of the Trinity. In unconditional love everyone is welcomed: male or female, rich or poor, saint or sinner, and every ethnicity. The first thing someone visiting our community should see is a well-worn welcome mat not a grand doorway or ornate wall.

In this prayer, the Trinity is our faith.

It separates us from our Jewish ancestors. It’s a mystery that’s hard to understand; but one we accept meekly because it is given to us by Jesus Christ himself. "Go, make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” We are to bring the Gospel and community of the whole world.

We are the Church made in the image of God.

Celebrating the Holy Trinity with a short prayer and gesture is too significant to disregard. It celebrates the communion of the Trinity, a communion that is God. It celebrates our communion with God and communion of community of God.

The Gospel shows us the Trinity. God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit has always been in the world and always will be. 

I’m ending by highlighting three different thoughts to celebrate our communion with the Holy Trinity. They are from the Psalm, first, and second reading:

“Blessed the people the Lord has chosen…,”   “…to be children of God.”   “Did anything so great ever happen before?”

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Reflection - May Healing Prayer Service - Filling the Hole

Filling the Hole: Facing Suffering with Hope & Faith

Colossians 1:23

We live in a world full of suffering from injustice, illness, and the perils in the world. It seems we are given an impossible task and the presence of these in the world causes anxiety and worry.

As Christians, we are not to be anxious or worried. Instead, we are to be firmly grounded and steadfast in our faith. In weakness, we can become shaken, loose our footing and fall into a hole of anxiety and worry.

In St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians he tells how to be firmly grounded, steadfast, and unshaken; by putting your hope in the Gospel. In this we can connect to the One who is unmovable, through Jesus Christ.  It is faith and hope that must be the anchor at our center. Faith and hope must be inside us because in these the Holy Spirit resides.

It is faith and hope that are the origins of our prayer life. They are the refuge of peace from where we face the sufferings of illness, injustice, and the perils of the world.

There is a story about St. Augustine walking on the beach contemplating the mystery of God, the Trinity. He sees a boy in front of him who had dug a hole in the sand and was going out to the sea and bringing some water to pour into the hole. The boy kept doing it again and again.

St. Augustine asked, “What are you doing?” The boy answered, “I’m going to pour the entire ocean into this hole.”

“That is impossible, the whole ocean will not fit in the hole you’ve made” said St. Augustine.

The boy replied, “You cannot fit the mystery of the Trinity and God in your tiny little brain.” The boy vanished; St. Augustine had been talking to an angel.

Trying to answer why things happen is like trying to fill that hole. It seems impossible. We don't control creation. We'll never truly understand the mystery of God; but, we have been given faith and hope. In these, Christ Jesus gave us strength to face the sufferings of our world and fill the holes in our lives.

Homily Reflection - Pentecost Sunday - Is That Us?

Is That Us?

Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13;  John 15:26-27; 16:12-15

At 8:30 Sunday morning, I received an email, “Happy Anniversary Deacon! Can you give the Homily today?” All I could say was “Come, Holy Spirit come!”

What came to me was a story of a man who lived a meager life. Living alone and dining on oatmeal or watery soup, he wore ragged clothes and worn-out shoes. People assumed he had nothing; but, when he died, it was found he had millions of dollars hidden away.

That person had the ability to live an abundant life, but maybe he was too scared to live it. He never shared himself or what he had. That poor person lived a life with abundance but it scared him.  

Is that us?  

The Bible is full of stories about the Spirit of God. In the Old Testament, the Spirit of God was there in times of need. The spirit of God was with Abraham and Jacob. It guided Moses and led the Israelites out of Egypt. The spirit of God was with Samson and Gideon, judges and warriors. The Spirit of God called Samuel and anointed David. The Spirit of God came when it was needed the most.

Then Jesus came into the world and sent the Holy Spirit to be with us always. “I will send the advocate who will be with you. I will send my spirit upon you.”

Now, the Holy Spirit is with us always. This is proved in our faith as Christians. “No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.”

We can be scared of the Holy Spirit. We learn about the Holy Spirit in images of a dove, wind, or fire. Great images, but only representations of the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is God and we should not be scared. It is the Holy Spirit of God through Christ in us that lets us proclaims we are Christians.

Maybe we’re scared by the Holy Spirit and being charismatic. We hear that the Holy Spirit in us makes us able to speak tongues. It says it in Acts; but, I don’t speak in tongues – maybe I’m not a good Christian. That’s not true.

We are all part of the body of Christ. Each has a different gift. That is what being charismatic is about. Each and every Christians is charismatic. It’s about God’s gift that the Holy Spirit encourages you to use.

Look at the saints. They were all charismatic; but, I do not know if they all spoke in tongues. The saints were soldiers, doctors, lawyers, kings and queens, mothers and fathers, hermits, deacons, priests and popes. They were young and they were old. They were educated and smart and some were not. Yes, some spoke in tongues, healed the sick and some were said to have even more remarkable and special gifts.  Most just led holy lives, the charism they had was love: the ability to see the face of Christ in every one.

Is that us?

Don’t be scared, as Christians we’re all charismatic, living and sharing the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In this remember:

·      The Holy Spirit is the Advocate that brings us Christ,

·      The Holy Spirit is Truth that gives understanding.

·      The Holy Spirit is Strength from God sending us to the world.

·      The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Glory that lives in us.

Today is the feast of the Holy Spirit - Pentecost. Pentecost is the birthday of the Church when we received the gift of the Holy Spirit to be with us always. Isn’t it great to get gifts on a birthday? Don’t be too afraid to share your gifts.

The gift of the Holy Spirit lets us know Jesus Christ is Lord. Look at yourself, discover your gifts, and share the Holy Spirit that lives in you.

Reflection for Ascension Sunday/7th Sunday of Easter - A Work in Progress

A Work in Progress

ACTS 1:1-11; EPH 4:1-7, 11-13; MK 16:15-20

Jesus told his disciples, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” How do we do that in a world where more and more people are saying they have no faith? By ascending to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Two mothers are on a play date. One child was rambunctious, a little more aggressive and bossy than the other children. The mother, exasperated says, “That child’s a work in progress.”

The other mother smiled, “We are all works in progress.”

That’s something we all need to realize. In the Father's eyes, we’re all works in progress - not finished, still far from being perfected. Even the disciples were a work in progress. Jesus taught them, gave direction, change their thinking, and they still got it wrong. Jesus’ work in progress, he never quit on them (or us) sending the Holy Spirit to continue that work

St. Paul says “Live in a manner worthy of the calling.” To get to the point where we can live the way Jesus wants us is another continuous work in progress. We have to constantly strive to live the Christian virtues Paul describes: patience, kindness, love, humility, and peace. These will always be a work in progress.

It’s like tuning a guitar. You practice constantly to be able to sit down to play. You want beautiful music, but something is wrong. The music is not right, the notes and chords are out of tune. To play beautifully, you have to tune the guitar by putting the strings ia a perfect position. It must be done over and over, because playing will stretch the strings from a perfect. You have to re-tune.

That’s what living a Christian life is about. Many practice. We know what we need to do. We act a certain way; but, we get out of whack. Living a virtuous Christian life is not a habit, but something to always work at, correct, and tune. It’s always a work in progress.

Maybe this is why so many have no faith. We live more and more in a world becoming a broken place; a work in progress that's been abandoned. Brokenness is a song never to be played; it’s a life that will never know fullness.

Living life in a manner worthy of our calling is no longer important. This has broken individuals, families, and communities. This brokenness is outlined in an article about why people are leaving the Church found here. People identify themselves as "None", a person without faith. 

A “None” is a person searching for healing. They look to churches and find broken communities living a misunderstanding of Christian virtues. And, those that identify as "None” find no healing. Brokenness creates more brokenness. To often these broken communities express Christ's message and God’s love in vessels of fear and eternal threats.

This is not what God wants. It's not the Gospel of Jesus. Only God can recreate the broken. Love, acceptance, and forgiveness heals and creates something out of a “None.”

The readings are about moving closer to the perfection of Christ, bringing the Gospel to the ends of the earth. It is how to heal the broken and finish the work in progress. Taking the tools Christ gives us to live a life worthy of our calling in love, acceptance, and forgiveness.

The Lord works in us to build up the body of Christ, the Church. Until we all attain ultimate unity in our faith, each one of us is a work in progress. On the Feast of the Ascension, all of us, the unfinished works in progress should work ourselves a little closer to perfect through Christ Jesus.

Sunday Reflection 6th Sunday of Easter - The Story of You

The Story of You

Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48;  1 John 4:7-10;  John 15:9-17

Several things influenced my reflection this week, all different. First, today is Mother’s day. The second thing was a movie. Third was a friend’s death. Last was words spoken in a personal introduction. These focused my thoughts on Jesus’ words of love, “Remain in me as I remain in you.”

Mother’s day is about unconditional love. We hear unconditional love in the Acts of the Apostles. Unconditional love John says is “not that we love him, but that he loved us.” Unconditional love usually associated with a mother’s love, based on nothing but us. It’s the love God has for us. God the Father loves us like a mother. Let’s look at the two.

Mother · Always there for her children · Defends children against all, die for them · Fixes scraps, kisses hurts, mends broken heart · Loves children even if they hurt/neglect her · Loves children with unconditional love

God · Always there for us, · Jesus died for us, for our sins · Forgives us - fixes us no matter what we do · Loves us when we hurt/neglect him by sin · Loves us with unconditional love

The movie told the story of a mother. She’s talked into going on an adventure. Self-conscious of scars and stretch marks, she sees ugly and is overwhelmed when asked to go for a swim. Then, one who loves her says she’s beautiful. He sees beauty in the scars and stretch marks; they’re part of her. He says “These scars are the story of your life.”

God knows from beginning of time, the story of you; a story that carries scars of sin and mistake. God looks at these and thinks you're beautiful. He still wants to be part of the story, “Remain in me as I remain in you.”

A friend died; he was younger than me. I remember him as a teenager sleeping on the floor of my parent’s house. His was a story with let’s say – adventure; so, he picked up lots of scars. He shared these adventures and scars with my brother. Growing older, facing illness and his mortality, his story changed. A lawyer, he worked with the poor, often without charge. He taught Sunday school to kindergartners and lived a life with prayer. The story of his earthly life ended at 50.

At the funeral, my brother asked about forgiveness. God knows the things we did were bad. Will God forgive him? I told him God’s unconditional love is forgiveness no matter how bad we’ve been. This is the salvation of Jesus. I told my brother to be happy, our friend’s story ended in Christ. “Remain in me as I remain in you.”

Friday, at a meeting with our Priest, I was introduced to the new student vice-president at Catholic Campus Ministries. Father said, “She is a beautiful soul.”

It all came together. We are beautiful souls; Christ remains in us. We live an adventure picking up the scars of sin. We see ourselves as ugly, unworthy of being loved, but that’s not what God sees. God sees the beautiful soul he created living the story of you. 

God loves us like a mother, unconditionally, scars and all. God sees beautiful, forgiven by the Christ in us. God desires for us to remain in him through Jesus Christ. The truth to be found is that the story of you begins in God and through grace, ends in God. “Remain in me as I remain in you.”

On this Mother’s day, remember the beautiful story of the soul found in your mother. Mothers see a beautiful story of you; just as God does.  

Homily Reflection: 5th Sunday Easter - Hot Biscuits and Muscadine Jelly

Hot Biscuits and Muscadine Jelly

 Acts 9:26-31;  Psalm 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32; 1 John 3:18-24;  John 15:1-8

Years ago, across the street from my house was an old pecan grove, abandoned and wild; the trees branches were full of grape vines. I just knew that I would have a natural source of grapes in the fall. I thought of this fruit was comforting with memories of hot biscuits and muscadine jelly. But no luck, there were grapes, but, they were tiny, hard, and bitter.

Then, I learned about growing good grapes and there’s nothing natural about it. Grape vines grow in the woods. They climb trees and bushes. Left alone with plenty of water, grape vines go wild, sending fast-growing tendrils to capture everything in reach; so, it can climb.

If the vine is left alone, it makes small tart grapes. They aren’t good fruit.

The vine likes the wild. It will make beautiful leaves and long reaching branches, growing bigger. The nature of the vine says, “What a good place to be a vine.” It doesn’t put too much into making grapes.

To make good fruit, the vine must struggle.

If water’s restricted and nutrients scarce, if pruning’s hard and it’s crowed by other vines, nature says, “This is not a good place to be a vine.” So, instead growing big leaves and sprawling tendrils, it focuses on survival. Roots grow deeper. It must find a better place to be a vine. The plant makes its fruit more desirable so its seeds will be spread. To insure this, the grape vine makes bigger, better grapes. In this struggle, the branches on the vine make much good fruit. This is the way the best vine grower cares for his vines.  

God planted a vine in the human heart. It either grows in the care of the vine grower or grows in sin. Growing it sin, the vine in our heart goes wild overtaking our lives, producing little fruit. The fruit it does produce are the hard and bitter things found in the human heart: sin, shame, hate, pettiness, greed, selfishness, pride, resentment.

An unusual source for theological inspiration is Saints TE, Benjamin Watson. He wrote this about the violence in Baltimore:

"Our problems are holistic and common to the human heart. Hatred, prejudice, exploitation, pride, self-righteousness, secrecy, and rebellion, manifest itself in the explosions we've seen over the last year, the last century, and the last millennia."

Watson is telling us, the world is full of wild vines growing in sin. A world tempted by evil.  This is the same evil that tempted Jesus in the desert.

Wild vines are trying to overtake the vineyard; but that’s not what God the Father wants.

God sent the good and true vine in Jesus Christ. By God’s grace, we are part of that vine. The true vine made strong in the struggles found in those temptations, "the way of the cross," and his death on the cross.. God’s love prunes the good vine, breaking away the dead branches and bitter fruit. So in Christ, we bear the good fruit of the Holy Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Look at your life, what fruits do you bring to the world? 

Benjamin Watson, a true witness for Christ who happens to be a pro-athlete, brings abundant fruit to the world in a message shared on CNN,

"Be the example.... Show the world that hearts can be changed, not just through peace but also through the love of Christ."

These words are a testament to his confidence in God, the vine grower. I find this fruit truly comforting way better than hot biscuits and muscadine jelly.