Time to Stand - Homily 3rd Sunday OTC

Readings

This past week there have been attacks on faith and what is right.  First was the attack on our faith in the Saints; the New Orleans Saints. A blown call or two and Saints fans and most fans of the NFL are outraged; but, some are pleased. For Saint Fans, it appears officials turned a blind eye to the rules, ignoring what is right.

The world can ignore what is right. It is the way to attack our Christian faith. It shouldn’t surprise you. Look at things that happened this week

The state of New York has legalized abortion up to birth. If a child is born alive after an attempted abortion, it is to be ignored and forsaken.

It’s a law that makes it legal to murder children. Horror on top of horror is this law was signed by a self-identified devout Catholic Governor and there was celebration and rejoicing. Hearts turned away from God ignoring what is right.

Then there was the Covington Catholic School fiasco. If you are not familiar, it took place at the National March for Life. There a video was taken out of a young man smiling and standing in front of a Native American elder. The young man said he smiled to show good will and prayed a silent prayer..

The world turned against that young man and his friends for something that didn’t happen. A confused and nervous smile was called a racist smirk. Their school and Bishop condemned them before they made it home. Judgement made without the facts. Seems someone has forgotten the rules of Christian life. They accused and judged, ignoring what is right.

The Bishop says he was bullied into passing judgement. Think about that. Darkness with its pawns of politics and politicians fights the Light in the world. It doesn’t even try to hide yet many still we can’t see it.

I won’t judge the Bishop; but, what if he had waited and stood up for what is right.

Our readings today tell of two men stood up when it was needed.

Ezra, priest and scribe, stood before the crowd and read plainly from the book of the law of God, interpreting so all could understand.

And all the people, their hands raised high, answered, “Amen, amen!" Then they bowed down and prostrated themselves before the LORD, their faces to the ground.  

Ezra said, today is holy to our LORD.

The ancient Israelites, once a strong and powerful nation, had forgotten God. Conquered by the Babylonians and taken into exile, they forgot their land, their language, and their God. Of the hundreds of thousands of people, only 5000 returned. Though they worshipped God, they no longer knew the law of God

Those who know God need to stand higher than the rest of the world. Not for pride, not for ego, not in aloofness; but, stand in peace and love. We are one body in Christ. As a one body with many parts, even the unborn are important. We all are part of the body of God’s creation.

When Jesus time had come, He stood up. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring joy to the poor, liberty to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, and to the oppressed, freedom.

Today, this is fulfilled in your hearing.

With all the attacks on our faith, how many have forgotten God.

Don’t weep; don’t be saddened. For the body of Christ has Jesus our strength. As the body of Christ none are more important than the other, even the unborn. When one part suffers all suffer.

That is our call to be strong and stand for truth, for the Gospel, for right, for those ignored, and for the dignity and justice to those the world is against. When the world is in ruins around us, it is time to stand up and be strong. And the spirit of the Lord will be upon us, to bring us strength through joy in the LORD.  

With joy in the Lord, we will fight the devil in the world. We will fight an enemy strong enough to bully a Bishop. We fight an enemy strong enough to make the world turn against a young man with a nervous smile and a prayer in his heart. We fight an enemy strong enough to fools the weak into celebrating the killing of children.

We are strong because Jesus stood up for us. He stood on the cross with his arms outstretch for us. He stands before God the Father, pleading for us.

Now is time to stand up in the strength of Christ: the strength of his joy; the strength of his love; the strength found as part of the body of Christ; the strength and joy in sharing the love of Christ.

My friends, today is holy and today we fulfill the promise of scripture as the body of Christ standing up and working together for faith and what is right. All the people, their hands raised high, answered, “Amen, amen!" Be good, be holy and stand up to preach the gospel by the way you live and love. Amen

In all His Divinity, Jesus knew Ordinary - Homily 2nd Sunday OTC

Readings 

I’m an ordinary person telling stories to proclaim the gospel. Sometimes, I offend people. Sometimes, it’s an accident. Sometimes, it’s my intention to offend.

I’m going to offend if you don’t want to hear about right and wrong or good or evil. I’m going to offend if you don’t believe in sin or the devil. I’m going to offend if you don’t believe in the church.

I offend some by my style. It’s simple, unrefined, and about finding God in our ordinary lives. I offend because I’m too loud or too bold or maybe I’m too big.

I hope and pray Jesus likes my style.

As a man, Jesus knew ordinary. He was not born in a palace, but a manger. His mother was young girl betrothed to a good and honorable man. From that good and honroable man, Jesus learned to be a carpenter. He was born into ordinary life.

His disciples and apostles were ordinary people living in the world; common everyday people bringing the good news to the world.

Jesus’ parables are ordinary life. He preaches and teaches with stories about fishing, farming, parenting, spoiled children, and weddings.  The wedding at Cana begins as an ordinary human story.

All of us have had that time when our mother has asked us to do something and honestly we don’t want to do it. Maybe, we’re brave and say “No”. Maybe, we take the cowardly way out, by putting it off, hoping, she’ll forget. But, because we love our mothers, we usually do what momma wants us to do.

Mary and Jesus were guests at the wedding. Mary comes to Jesus and says “They ran out of wine!”

Jesus’ answer, Woman, how does your concern affect me? In Greek, Jesus’s words are “How does it concern you and me…”  In other words, Jesus said to Mary in a good and divine way, “Momma, it’s not our problem.” Then he adds, “My hour has not yet come.”

Mary knows her son will do the right thing. She knows He will do what she asks of Him and turns to the servers saying “Do whatever he tells you.”

There were six stone vessels each about 30 gallons used for ceremonial washing. Jesus told them fill the jars with water then "Draw some out and take it to the headwaiter."

The headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine and said: "Everyone serves good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you kept the good wine until now."

In that passage, Jesus (in all his divinity) shows a human sense of humor or irony.

Jesus, a carpenter, and his fisherman buddies came to the wedding. They ran out of wine and Jesus made wine in a bathtub. He made 180 gallons of wine for a party and it was good wine.

In the ordinary is the greatest of gifts. Those washing vessels (bathtubs) are like our lives - ordinary things in which God works miracles. Washing away our sins, we become good wine.

God rejoices in us and our ordinary lives.

He sends the Holy Spirit to ordinary people and gives extraordinary spiritual gifts. One is given wisdom. Another is given knowledge, another faith. Another is given the gift of healing, another mighty deeds, to another prophecy; and to others are different gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts are different for each of us but from the same God through the same Holy Spirit.

Fifty years ago, the small community I lived in had three people with the gift of healing. One was an old man, a farm worker. He couldn’t read. He couldn’t sign his name. But, he had an extraordinary gift of healing. Because of that gift, he fought the devil every day. Most days, it was probably in a bar.

If the doctor could do no good or others could not heal. You’d go to find this old man. He healed by the laying on of hands and praying in the name of Jesus. If it was God’s will, you would be healed.

He prayed for my little brother who had ear problems that  doctors could not remedy. In constant pain, he was losing his hearing. After several stops at different bars, my father found the old man. He came out and leaned into our car smelling like whiskey and cigarettes. The old man touched my 4 year old brother’s ears and prayed. That little boy stopped screaming almost immediately.

If you meet my little brother, you’ll notice the speech impediment; but, it’s all that’s left from an illness doctors couldn’t do anything about.

I praise God, our Lord Jesus Christ for that healing. I praise God for that ordinary old man of faith and the purest of hearts that fought the devil every day of his life. The devil fought him through his brokenness. Even with his extraordinary gift of healing; many people were offended by this simple old man.

It was for people like him that Jesus taught, blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. If we don’t strive to have a pure heart, we are not being the person God wants us to be then we are not sharing our gifts.

I hope Jesus likes the way I bring the gospel and God is not offended by my preaching. I try to bring my message from a pure heart that allows me the ability to see all the gifts in which God reveals himself - the beauty of nature, the love we have for each other, the experiences of life, and the gospel of Christ.

But a pure heart is hard to keep. It is easy to fall to the temptations the world that fills us with cravings and desires, which are not of God. It is the enemy that serves the good wine first, and when we have drunk freely of the temptations, cravings, and desires of the world. The tempter brings out his inferior wine.  

But in Christ Jesus, God takes ordinary sinners and changes us into good wine. God rejoices in us. He does this to reveal his glory. He does this so we believe in him.

We are given the extraordinary gift that is faith in Jesus Christ; don’t be surprised if you offend someone.

Be good, be holy, and preach the gospel by the gifts God has given you, by the life you live and by the way you love one another. Amen.

We Need His Baptism - A Reflection on the Baptism of the Lord

Readings

Inspiration: Christian Prayer, Daily Office,  and notes from the Divine office website.

Jesus did not need to be baptized. So why was Jesus baptized?

Early theologian like Saint Gregory of Nazianzus said that the Lord was baptized to bless the waters.

With His body, with His divinity, in His Baptism, He blessed all the waters, so that water would have the power to give baptism. And then, before ascending to Heaven, Jesus told us to go into all the world to baptize.

St Gregory goes on to say, when Jesus rises from the waters; the world rises with him.

So the answer to why was Jesus baptized is simple, we needed His Baptism. In baptism, Jesus blessed us and blessed the whole world.

We should bless the Lord. The prophet Daniel understood.

Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord. Praise and exalt him above all forever....

All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord.... Every shower and dew, bless the Lord..... Dew and rain, bless the Lord.... You springs, bless the Lord.... Seas and rivers, bless the Lord....

You sons and daughters of men, bless the Lord.... Praise and exalt him above all forever.

Priests of the Lord, bless the Lord. Servants of the Lord, bless the Lord. Spirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord. Holy people of humble heart, bless the Lord.

Praise and exalt him above all forever. Let us bless the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Let us praise and exalt him above all forever.

We bless the Lord by following his words. Christ Jesus told us to go into all the world to baptize.

To bring that baptism of Christ to the world is blessing the Lord and bringing his blessing to the world. We baptize with the same waters blessed and made holy by our Lord and savior when Jesus was baptized by John in the river Jordan.

Following Jesus’ command, we baptize to the present day. It is an unbroken chain. Parents baptized their children, and their children baptized their children, and their children baptized their children, and their children…

And that is the chain of faith!

He saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

God shows no partiality.

The grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires.

As believer, followers of Christ, we have a duty to transmit this promise of faith, a duty to pass these blessings of faith to our children.

It’s the most beautiful of our heritage.

Although we are unworthy, God looks down upon us, Christ says, with you I am well pleased.

Be good, be holy go out into the world and pass on the Gospel, pass on your faith, by living your baptism. Amen

The Epiphany Perspective - Homily Epiphany Sunday 2019

(Inspired by a Homily of Fr. Charles Irvin, frcharlie.org)

Readings

Have you ever heard the expression you can’t see the forest for the trees. It’s all about perspective; the way we see and understand things. We could focus on one thing, one tree and examine its leaves, know the gnarls the branches, and hues of its bark. A tree is a beautiful thing; but, it’s a limited perspective and we miss the beauty that is the forest.

Perspective is our focus, attitude, and way of thinking. It is how we comprehend the world. Sometimes, we need a new perspective.

The ancient Israelites had been focusing on their past. Their perspective was a life of distress, despair, and destruction.

But, in the first reading Isaiah tells them to look to see the beauty that was ahead of them. He was giving a new perspective. Isaiah’s words were of God’s promise, giving them reason to hope. Hope was something desperately needed.

Centuries later the world again needed a new perspective. It was into that world God sent His only begotten Son, Christ Jesus.

His birth was the fulfillment of prophesies. Jesus fulfilled all that was promised throughout the centuries about the Messiah. He was Emmanuel, the anointed one of God, the Christ born to a virgin in the line of David. He was God’s Promise, the long awaited messiah of the Jewish people.

He is hope in a time of distress, despair, and destruction. He is the promise of God the Jewish people needed to see things differently.

But, if that was the perspective the world had of the Christ, it was not seeing the forest for the trees. Jesus was born for all people, the non-Jews, the Gentiles, people all over the world living in times past and times now.

God went beyond offering hope for the Jewish people. God sent His Son for people all over the world. This change of perspective offered enlightenment and hope to everyone, everywhere.

That is the Epiphany.

That was why the magi, wise men from the world came to Bethlehem. They were looking for a new perspective. They were seeking something new, something fresh, and that something was hope and redemption to everyone everywhere.

They followed a star, a light from heaven that promised a new perspective to the world.

They came to experience the Christ. They came to worship and adore him. They came to offer him homage and gifts. They came to learn and see new things. They came for the hope that was promised and to bring that message of hope to the world.   

Sounds like a mass!

But, Herod was full of hate and envy; wanting only his perspective in the world. Even today, the world is full of Herod(s) forcing their perspective - terrorism, fear, clergy abuse, corruption, and the politics of hate. Herod(s) are the secularists and despisers of religion who pursue a perspective that misrepresents people of faith as the problem in the world.

Sadly, many return to Herod not able to see the beauty of the forest for the trees.

We need to go a different way. That way is by church. Attending Mass is the way to know the perspective of hope that is Jesus Christ.

It is at Mass that we come to experience Christ in the Eucharist. We come to worship and adore him. We come to offer homage and gifts. We come to learn and see new things. We come to learn of the promise of hope. We are to bring that message to the whole world.  

Sounds like wise men!

God’s word proclaimed during Mass is the perspective we need.

But, mass is only 60 minutes out of each week; 60 minutes out of a week that totals 10,080 minutes.  Remove the time we sleep, then its 7,560 minutes awake each week. As a good practicing Catholic you have 7,500 minutes between each week’s Mass.

What do we bring from those 60 minutes to the other 7500 minutes of our week?

Here is an example. Teaching my 5 year old grandson to pray the rosary, my daughter says, “We need to say the Our Father.”  

He says “Mommy, I got this…. “Our Father who are in Heaven, hollow be thy name…” then his prayers mix a little. It has Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and the Holy Spirit.

His mommy asks, “Where did you learn that?”

His answer, “It’s easy, we say it at Church.”

His perspective is one we should all have: It’s easy to bring everyday life from Church.

What perspective do we bring? Maybe, it’s an Epiphany perspective, maybe it's hope, the beautiful promise of Christ for the world.

Be good, be holy, and preach the gospel in every minute by the way you live your life and love one another. Amen.