My Soul waits for the LORD -Homily Wednesday Sept 4, 2024

The psalmist sings - “Our Soul is waiting for the Lord.” It is a truth so basic to our humanity, but in our human faults of pride and selfishness, we can’t realize that truth.

We know something is missing. We look for something more in our life.  It may be called by different names -  meaning, purpose, or satisfaction. It is the realness we need from this life. 

We look where we should not be looking. We look to a certain places, certain things, and even certain people.

That’s what Paul was telling the Corinthians. Friends your looking in the wrong place. Some were looking to Paul as the answer. Others preferred Apollos. (1 Cor 3)

Those Christian’s of Corinth didn’t have focus. They didn’t have center.

Paul blames it on the immaturity of their faith. He has been feeding their faith and scripture as you would feed a child milk. That seemed to be what they liked. Some liked Paul’s brand of milk. Some liked Apollos brand of baby food. 

They were not ready for solid food. They were not ready for a mature faith. So, the people of that early Christian community of Corinth were looking in the wrong place, looking to the wrong person, and looking to the wrong things.

They should have been looking to God. God should have been center of their faith. Not the preacher. Not the evangelist.  Maybe, they did not know how to find that center. So they looked in the wrong places. They were merely being human.

The imperfection and fault of humanity is our our folly. We live our life as if there is something more important is to be found outside of Christ. Even though God is always with us and always drawing nearer to us, we find it hard to stay close to the Father.

We find ourselves off course. We either have not found or have lost our center in relation to God. Maybe, something flashy catches our eye or a new trend becomes popular. A new hip worship service, a flashy preacher, or a new church building that all the movers and shakers attend. They can cause us lose focus by taking our eyes and heart off God

Despite what our human ideas and thoughts, God has not changed. God’s desire for has not wained. How do we return our focus to that?

“Follow me.” says Jesus. Follow Jesus to his center, just like the crowds in the gospel.  

After he healed the sick, touched the wounded, cast out demons, and fed the multitudes - Jesus went to a quite place to pray. The crowds followed him. Those who were paying attention found that Jesus’ was focused on prayer. Jesus turned to prayer for the strength, love, and presence of God the Father.

The realness people are looking for - meaning, purpose, and satisfaction  - in this earthly life can be found with prayer. From that center we can realize the love and presence of God which is our meaning, our purpose, and our satisfaction.

Our Soul is waiting for the Lord.

Amen

 

Lilly’s Pizza a Homily for the 20th Sunday OTB

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081824.cfm

Praise God! Praise be to Jesus Christ, fore ever and ever. Amen!

Paul’s advice to the Ephesians is for all of us, “ be careful about the sort of lives you live. Live like intelligent not foolish people…, recognize the will of God… “

As a Deacon, I take that to heart. With a family, a job, and as a Deacon and Spiritual Director, I see God speaking to people and the world in everyday things.

I am always amazed at faith perceived through the innocence of a child’s eyes and wonder at their understanding of the profound. It can be a wisdom that is often more than the wisdom of adults tarnished by worldly bias. 

I share this perspective from one of my new “grand loves” Lillian. 

Since Lillian has become part of my family, she loves to come to mass. She takes in all that happens around her. She is learning her prayers. She loves to sing. She asks questions. 

“… filled with the spirit…, singing and playing psalms and hymns to the Lord with all your hearts, giving thanks always and for everything.”

One evening, a couple of months ago, my daughter Sarah’s family was eating pizza at Johnny’s. Sarah asked who would like to say the blessing. Lillian volunteered. She holds up a piece of pepperoni from the pizza and prays just as she has heard Father pray. “This is Jesus’s body?”

She was not exactly right; but she is also a long way from being wrong. I will explain that a little bit later.

But in truth, not many understand the Eucharist. Non-Christians have not idea and cannot grasp the mystery. Many Christians do not understand and believe it is only a symbol. Sadly, even those who say they are Catholic do not believe in the real presence.

In the gospel, Jesus said, “I am the living bread that comes down from heaven, anyone who eats this bread will live forever,”

And the Jews became enraged. 

The reason was simple, they were full of pride. They lacked true wisdom. They could not comprehend what Christ meant. They refused to be humbled and surrender their ego and pride in order to become wise in the ways of God.

Sound familiar? It sounds like the wisdom of people today. People, who think that in the broken faults of human pride and ego, constrained by limited human wisdom; they can comprehend the infinite vastness that is the wisdom of God. 

They take their human experience and try to understand the mystery that is God. It was bread and grape juice. Jesus would not give anyone wine. God would not give you his body to eat and blood to drink. What kind of a person would not do that?

For many, it has become their truth. Sadly, even those who profess themselves Catholic do not believe Jesus' words. People choose to accept what they think they can handle. So to many Christians, the bread and wine are just a symbol. 

Unless they change their minds and hearts to welcome Christ completely, it will be nothing more than a symbol to them. For the true believer, the truth of the Blessed Sacrament begins with the simple fact that the Eucharist is not a thing. 

It is a person.  

That fact and this gospel is why this son of a Baptist preacher stands before you as a Catholic Deacon. I believed when Jesus said “I am the living bread that comes down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

The way one comes forward to receive Christ can show the truth in their heart. We who believe prepare ourselves properly because we know that we are in the divine presence of Christ. We who believe come to the Eucharist with reverence. We who believe are blessed to receive such a precious privilege. 

• Coming forward, we are saying yes I believe. 

• Coming forward, we are saying yes to Jesus. 

• Coming forward, we are saying yes to eternal life

• Come forward, taste and see the goodness of the Lord, the power of Christ

• Coming forward, receiving the Blessed Sacrament, the body and blood of Christ, opens our hearts and souls to the experience of the divine.

Lillian held up that pepperoni with the purity of childhood innocence and prayed “This is Jesus‘s body.” She was not exactly right. Neither pepperoni or pizza can be the blessed sacrament, unless Christ himself said it was so..

She is truly right in her desire for Jesus. She strives to know and understand all about Jesus, faith, and the Eucharist. She is coming forward with a beginner’s mind that is not tarnish by the world or belief stifled by ego and pride.  

That is why the innocent and profundity of that 6 year old’s prayer is something we should all have. The innocence of the beginner’s is to believe.  

“Believe me” Jesus said, “unless you change your whole outlook and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven.”

Come in the awe and wonder of experiencing Jesus for the first time. Come to mass for the first time every time and realize the smells, sounds, and sights of the Church. 

Come receive the blessed sacrament in the purity and innocence of a child. Come with a beginner's mind that is not tarnished by the world or our own egos. 

Come for the precious privilege to receive the true body and blood of Christ. Come for the profound and divine experience of Christ. Come, receive the Eucharist as if you are receiving it for the first time.

Forsake foolishness so you may live, in the innocence of a beginners mind, come and receive the Eucharist as if it is your very 1st time. 

Come with a beginner’s mind wanting to know Christ. Grow in understanding and wisdom. Bring your children to PSR/Catechism, attend OCIA, bible studies, or other faith enrichment events. 

Thanks to all who have taught me so much about God. My children, my grandchildren, my grand loves, and each and everyone of you.

As together we live to be good, strive to be holy, and preach the gospel by the way you live your lives and love one another. 

Praise God, Praise be to Jesus Christ. Amen.

Boldness of the Moment - First Friday Homily

 

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070524.cfm

One of the things I have been praying with lately is the mystery of God found in the moment. Everything is right here and right now – the total mystery of Christ. Christ totally hidden and yet totally revealed.

And Jesus passed on and saw a man call Matthew sitting at the tax both and he said to him “follow me”

In the boldness of the moment, with a sudden and dramatic conversion, Matthew, the tax collector, responded promptly. He responded boldly and without delay. Matthew found life in that moment. He did not dilly-dally or put it off until tomorrow. In that instant, Matthew left everything behind to follow Jesus in a moment of absolute faith. Faith in Jesus.

Faith is never going to be anything other than faith. Faith is a hope in love. Absolute hope in love was the way of faithfulness Matthew chose; and, he became consumed with the longing for the Lord.

This overpowering faith in Christ comes when we find God in our ordinary lives. Matthew found it sitting in the tax booth. We have to have a faith found in our everyday lives. Faith is never going to be easy; yet, if we cannot find God in the moment can we truly find him somewhere else.   

We are all sinners. In our sin, we fail to have faith in anything but self. It is hard for us who are sinners to let go of our pride to have a life changing faith that is truly hope in love of God through Christ.  Hope in love is in Jesus who does not call saints but brings salvation to sinners.

Like Matthew, live in the moment. It takes boldness to live in the moment. It takes boldness to admit we are sinners. It takes boldness to let our pride go and surrender to God’s will in every moment.  

It all begins with prayer. Pray for an attitude of boldness, wonder, awe, and grace. Pray for a deepening faith. Be bold and pray for faith the size of a mustard seed. 

Do not pray thinking to prove ourselves to God; but ask God for strength in the moment. Strength to surrender to the grace of hope in love that comes to us in every moment of our lives. It is a faith that brings us to a longing for Christ.

Pray to be open to everything right here and right now, in this moment where we can find Christ totally hidden and yet totally revealed.  

The Lord Will Make Us Clean - Homily on the Anniversary of my Ordination - June 28

Readings - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062824.cfm

Today, on the Feast Day of St Irenaeus, bishop, pastor, evangelist, teacher, prophet, and for being all of those, a martyr. On his feast day, 10 years ago, I was ordained a Deacon.  Then and today, like St Irenaeus, I seek to follow Christ, doing the will of God.

As a deacon, I am asked to assist the Pastor in care for the parish and the people. I strive to do God’s will as a spiritual director, as a marriage mentor, and when called to baptize, marry, or bury.  

Also, as a deacon, I preach the Gospel; called to be an evangelist. This is the vocation given to deacons at ordination - to proclaim the gospel wherever sent and wherever called. I seek to do God’s will, asking the Holy Spirit for boldness, passion, and an excitement when sharing my faith, the joy of salvation, and love of God.

As a deacon, I am called to be a teacher of our faith. That is an important calling no matter if teaching from the ambo, in the classroom, or a conversation. Our faith is not an irrational or whimsical but one of good and strong Theological thought. I turn to God for the wisdom and strength to do this in the example of my life and love.

As a deacon, I may be called to be a prophet. By the power of God, the Holy Spirit speaks to my heart. I do not prophesy against the church or against belief but only in the realization and truth of scripture.

Sometimes all these things come together. Today, on the Feast Day of St Irenaeus, who defended the faith against worldliness and sin of his day, the Holy Spirit has given me this to proclaim: Our faith is under siege.

The enemy has always attacked the people of God. In the world today, the devil built a wall around our faith and the Church. A siege wall of the secularism and culture of the modern world. 

The enemy attacks the Church by targeting priests, religious, and faithful. A breach of the wall is the clergy abuse scandal. Soldiers leaving the fight is evidenced in the shortage of priests and the falling numbers of those attending mass. Famine spreads in unbelief in the real presence of the Eucharist.

The army of the devil is trying to destroy the temple by tearing down its walls. Once faithful believers are carried off as prisoners of the false truths of this secular world. Sin becomes accepted, even expected. In sinfulness, we cannot love ourselves; so we do not love our neighbors. Those trapped by the world love God less and less. The love of sin becomes more.

In a 1969 broadcast on German radio, the future Pope Benedict XVI spoke prophetically of a future where the Church would be smaller. A Church that will move forward but in a different way as a smaller, more distinctive institution.

Our Catholic Christian faith is under siege; but do not fear. The enemy will always leave behind the ones the enemy does not think are important: the poor; the vinedressers, and the farmers. Those the enemy believes are powerless.

But, they are the ones who love God. The ones who care about their faith. The ones who are not afraid of the fear and the suffering the world rains down on them as they seek to follow Christ. They are not powerless. Christ is their power. 

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

When Jesus comes down from the mountain, these will follow him. The Church that remains will fall before Christ like the leper and say “Lord, if you wish, you can make us clean.” He will stretch out his hand and say, “I will do it. Be made clean.” 

Ten years ago today, I was ordained a Deacon. I seek to follow Christ doing the will of God, no matter what this world puts before me. 

Will you do the same? 

The Seed of a Moment - Homily 11th Sunday OTB -

 Happy Father’s Day.  In memory of my Dad, a preacher at a small country Baptist Church, I ask these questions.  Is God great? Amen! Is God good? Amen! 

Praise God. Praise be to Jesus Christ.

We can answer those questions because God is not far off and distant. He is always drawing near to us in every moment of life. God reveals and teaches us His truth by everyday life.

The everyday examples of God’s presence in this world could not be contained in all the books of the world. All the moments God has used to touch the hearts of people just today, if written down, would overwhelm the largest library.

We have the Bible. The Spirit of God in the sacred authors used poems, songs, proverbs, and words of wisdom to teach us God’s truth. Holy Scripture tells us God has always reached out to individuals, peoples, and nations in the stories and writings of those who lived the experiences.

In those moments in time, God planted the seed of his presence and it grew.

He planted a seed in Ezekiel. Ezekiel prophesied with beautiful words of poetry and allegory that used the familiar of everyday life to reveal the truth of God. The ability to know God is not special wisdom or knowledge but from faith. Truth is everyone can know God.

Jesus used parables relatable to everyday life to reveal the Kingdom of God – fishers of men, sowers of grain, and mustard seeds. His life, his passion, his love planted a seed in the hearts of those who heard him. The seed was to grow the Kingdom of God.

St. Paul and the writers of scripture in the New Testament nourished the seed Jesus planted. And, the kingdom of God grew in them and in the world. Their preaching, writings, and the examples of their life and love of Christ became seeds God used to grow his Kingdom. Seeds still planted today.

Friends, do you remember when the seed of the Kingdom was planted in you?  Baptism most of us were too young to remember. The example of your parents, your catechism, maybe a very holy and loving person that was part of your life. Maybe it was at your confirmation or your marriage or the birth of a child.

Like many people, different moments in your life may have planted seeds to help you grow into who you are today, a part of the Kingdom of God.

One the seeds planted in me came from a very unusably place and moment in my life. It was my freshman year in college and I was 18 years old. It was my first time away from home on my own. I was a football player, the son of a preacher let loose in the world. I was very guilty of sin.

One of my classes was Geology 101. My friends called the class “Rocks for Jocks.” The lecture began with Earth’s history based on the study of the planet's rock layers. The professor said, “The earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old.”

A student spoke in protest, “My daddy is a minister and he told me that what you are teaching is evil and against God’s word. The Bible tells us God created the earth 5000 years ago. You do not believe the word of God. You do not believe in God.”

To the best of my memory, the professor sighed and spoke. “I am a scientist and a Christian. Those two do not conflict. In fact, when I study the great mystery of God’s creation in geology, fossils, and all that has passed in this universe, to me, it proves there is a God. For many people of science, reason and study of science proves there is something more than us. I believe that is God.”

I still remember that moment in time from 45 years ago. A little seed planted in my heart.  I though was funny then. As I remember now, I realize that moment in my life has become part of my belief, faith, and understanding of God. It has grown from a tiny seed planted in that moment to the Kingdom of God that is within me.

Jesus is still speaking to us in parables experienced in the life we live. From the gospel, Jesus spoke the word to the people, as they were able to understand, in parables. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own he explained everything in private

The last part is important for us - Jesus explained everything to them in private. Open your heart to Jesus. Pray with scripture. Pray over your everyday life, so to see God reaching out to you.   Pray and open yourself to the moment the seeds of the Kingdom are given to you.  

In this everyday life, we walk in faith. We believe by faith. By our faith, the Kingdom of God is in us. If that is your faith, are you planting that seed in others? This story I shared, tells the importance of how we live our lives and love others. That professor could have humiliated the student, sent them off, and ignored them. Instead, he used the moment to share his faith; planting a seed for the Kingdom of God. It was planted in me.

If we aspire to please God, live life by the greatest commandment. Love God with all you have. Love God in every moment. Be courageous. Witness God and the gospel of Christ in every breath. Whether alone or with friends, family, coworkers, and strangers use every moment as a seed to plant the Kingdom of God.

Yet, be wary for we are a sinful people. Every sin is a moment that lives on in others and can grow in us. Sin is the moment of pulling away from God. A moment that attacks the Kingdom of God.

St Paul writes, “One day we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, each will receive recompense for all those moments in life, whether good or evil.”

In every moment of life, strive to be good, strive to be holy and plant the seed of the Kingdom of God by the way your life your life and love one another. Praise God. Praise be Jesus Christ forever and ever. Amen.