Calling Daisy - Homily Good Shepherd Sunday - 4th Sunday Easter

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Herdsman Tending Cattle - Public Domain

Artist - Aelbert Cuyp (National Gallery of Art)

Praise be Jesus Christ for ever and ever. Amen

Today’s gospel is about Jesus the Good Shepherd. In this gospel, Jesus says, "I know my mine and mine know me."  Reflecting on this gospel, I am reminded of my grandparents.

Many years ago, my papaw gave my mamaw a little red and white orphaned calf he purchased at the sale barn. She raised that small little spindly leg calf on a bottle. Caring for and loving it. That spindly leg red and white calf grew into a big ole Hereford bull that weighed over 2000 lbs.

My papaw named it after my mamaw. They called the bull “Daisy.” People looked at that big heavily muscled bull and saw a dangerous beast. That is not what my mamaw saw. She still saw this sweet little calf that followed her around like a puppy dog.

At that time, the hills and bottoms in that part of the country were considered open range and the cattle roamed the woods. In the evening, my mamaw would go out to the hill behind the house and call that Bull “Daaay-zeeee!”

Daisy knew her voice and she knew his bellow. He would answer her and come running along with all his harem of cows. The woods would come alive with response as the sound of the cows coming home. They would all gather on the side of the hill next to my grandparents’ home.

I can still remember my little French grandmother walking the cattle to pasture followed by a giant bull and all these cows. She fed them. She cared for them. She doctored them when they needed doctoring. My mamaw was the shepherd; those cattle were her flock and they followed her.  Since it was a free open range, many times in all the following cows would not just be my papaw and mamaw’s, but others following for the peace, safety, and refuge provided by the fold.

Jesus says I am the good shepherd not just to us, but many others.

What makes a good shepherd? Love....  In his love for us, Jesus gladly laid down his life for our salvation. It is his love, that is the rock, the cornerstone, upon which is built this community of faith, the church. From a community that began as a small flock, love spread to  others seeking God's grace and the safety and refuge of Christ redemptive salvation. There is no salvation except through him, the good shepherd.

It is a transformative love (agape). A love that transforms those who believe in Jesus into children of God. And, the world that rejected Jesus rejects us.

The world does not want us. The world does not tell us why it rejects Jesus or those of us who are believers. The world boldly rejects all that he brings and all that he teaches. Maybe, it rejects peace. Maybe, it rejects goodness. Maybe, it rejects love.

In this world, God calls his children to be shepherds. Shepherds like Pope Francis, Bishop Malone and all the Bishops. He calls shepherds in priest, Fr. John Paul, and Father Tobias, sent to shepherd our flock in faith. These good people give their life to shepherd us, to watch over us, and bring us to realize the gift of God’s saving grace. They feed us. They care for us. They pray for us.  These shepherds lead us to the peace, safety, and refuge of God’s redeeming grace and salvation in Jesus Christ.

“Beloved, we are God’s children now.” We are called to be shepherds leading those we love to the fold of Christ. We are to shepherd those who know our voice and whose voice we know. We are to be shepherds to those around us and in our community and by example lead them to Jesus.

Hopefully, we will hear the sound of many coming to Christ.

Be good, be holy and preach the gospel by the way you live your life and love one another. Praise be Jesus Christ for ever and ever. Amen.

Welcome to April 2024 - Homily 3rd Sunday Easter B

  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041424.cfm 

Praise be Jesus Christ – forever and ever. Amen.

Welcome to April 2024. So far this month has experienced an eclipse, earthquakes, and floods.  The world suffers violence country against country, culture against cultures, and person on person. Political leaders, new agencies, and social media tell us how much we should hate each other. The self-proclaimed prophets in this world are preaching all these things and pointing them to the end of the world.

People believed them. It is something people have done. 

Paul warned the early Church about these false preachings - Don’t be troubled or misled by any means – whether it is spirit, spoken word, or false writings. (2 Thes 2)  Jesus said, No one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. (Mk 13:32)

Why do people calling themselves Christian appoint themselves prophets to spread worry, anxiety, fear, anguish and all those scary feelings and troubled emotions and say it is of God? They proclaim the end is near instead of preaching the good news of Jesus Christ forgetting the Prince of Peace the Word of God,. 

I am not going to deny that the end times will come. I just do not know when. I am not going to live fearing the end of time, because in that fear I will not know the joy, peace, and comfort that comes from God.

One thing each of us should know is if these are from God or from the Enemy. If it is something that moves you to happiness and spiritual joy and brings you closer to God. It is from God. 

If it brings turmoil and sadness to our hearts and to our lives, it is not of God.

That was on my mind as I prayed with today’s Gos pel. The Gospel Scripture begins in a room full of excitement, anxious chatter, and probably confusion. Just like our world today. Into all of that, the Risen Christ came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

The people in that room were afraid the end was near. Their leader, the one they loved, was crucified. They had a time when sudden darkness came over the whole land from about noon until three in the afternoon, the earth shook, the rocks split, tombs broke open, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. They hid behind locked doors, because people wanted to kill them.

Then Jesus appears in their midst. All those in the room were startled and terrified. Maybe Jesus should have asked, have you already forgotten me and all I told you? Instead, he brings peace. “Peace be with you.” And  asks, “Why are you troubled? And, why do questions arise in your hearts?” 

Jesus did not want them worried, troubled, or terrified; so, he speaks to them this word “shalom.” The word shalom means peace be with you, welcome, hello, and goodbye. It literally translates “may you be filled with a complete and perfect peace and be full of well-being.”

But, Jesus’ shalom is much more. It is shalom of the “peace of mind and spirit” that comes from the love Jesus taught. (Shalom) Peace I leave with you; my peace (shalom) I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid. John 14:27 

Jesus' shalom was spoken not just for the disciples gathered in that room. Christ speaks his shalom to all humanity. The ones who denied him. Friends that ran away when trouble came. People that did not understand.

The Risen Christ gives his shalom to those whom Peter preached. The ones who denied Jesus and chose another. People like us today.

We are the same people denying him by looking away; not seeing the poor, the hungry, the sick, or those in prison. Denying him finding it convenient to miss mass; but, inconvenient to stay past the hour. 

In our denial, Jesus speaks to us his “shalom.”

We are the same people, who instead of preaching the good news of Jesus Christ sit in dark rooms worried and troubled by false teachings and not opening their mind to understand truth. We do not know the Word of God. We do not know the love of God. Maybe it is ignorance. In our ignorance, Jesus speaks to us his “shalom.”

We are the same people, who crucify him by choosing the world and rejecting him. The same people who have time for rumors, false prophets, and sinfulness; but, no time to stop, pray, and discern the voice of God speaking to us. In a world of sinners that chooses death over life, the risen Christ brings his love and peace, his “shalom.”

Christ brings the divine shalom of God.  Jesus brings the peace of God to each of us who believe in him. He brings peace to the hearts and minds of those who seek to know his truth.

Peace that comes to us from the forgiveness of sins. Peace of mind and spirit found in our justification and redemption. His “shalom - peace” is wholeness, soundness, tranquility, fullness, rest, perfection and harmony. Jesus does not want us to be worried, troubled, or terrified.

The Risen Christ brings his “peace” full of grace and righteousness. Friends, it is for us to preach the truth of that good news to the world.

Be good, be holy, and preach the Good News of the Peace of Christ by the way you live your life and live him shalom. Praise be Jesus Christ – forever and ever. Amen.

Homily - Fishers of Men - Unnamed, Anonymous, Hidden

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040524.cfm 

Alleluia Christ has risen- Truly, he has risen indeed, Alleluia

The Gospel of John is full of metaphor and symbolism. Today scripture is no exception as we find Peter going fishing. Six others join him, four we know - Thomas, Nathaniel, James & John (sons of Zebedee) But there are two unnamed disciples. Maybe they are unnamed because they represent us, the anonymous, hidden faithful souls who are the unnamed saints.

Were Peter & the others wrong to go fishing? Was he thinking of leaving his calling as a disciple of Jesus and going back to fishing?

Jesus told them to meet him in Galilee. The Sea of Tiberias is the Sea of Galilee. The Romans called it the Sea of Tiberias for the Roman City of Tiberias on its shores. It was a pagan city. 

The disciples were fishing at night. In Scripture, darkness is a metaphor for negative, fearful human experiences and the sea identifies chaos. On the dark sea in a pagan world, the disciples were depending on their own experience and talents. They looked to their own self and each other. They did what they thought they should do. And, they caught nothing. 

Dawn came. The light that was Jesus stood on the shore. 

Jesus spoke to His disciples “Children do you have any fish?” They had to answer him No. They had caught nothing because they were depending on their own work. The disciples were depending on the truth of men instead of the truth that is of God. 

Jesus tells them what to do – put your nets to the right side.

They didn’t know it was Jesus’ this was a stranger standing on the shore, telling them how to fish. Maybe, the disciples remembered something similar happening when Jesus called Simon Peter and his friends, come and follow me I will make you fishers of men.

In Matthew, Jesus tells Simon, “You are Peter, a stone; and upon this rock I will build my church; and all the powers of hell shall prevail against it.” The disciple Jesus loved said, “It is the Lord.” Peter, the rock, threw himself into the sea.

When the disciples in the boat got to shore, the net was full of fish and they could not haul it in.  Jesus invites the disciples - Come and eat - Come and follow me. He took the bread and gave it to them.

This scripture is not about the doubts of Peter and the disciples; it is about following the truth of Jesus Christ. Come & follow me, I will make you fishers of men. It is an invitation to saints as wells as the unnamed, anonymous, hidden faithful souls that are disciples in the world.

Alleluia Christ has risen- Truly, he has risen indeed, Alleluia

God's Most Tender Mercy - Divine Mercy Sunday - 2nd Sunday Easter

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040724.cfm

Praise be Jesus Christ - Forever and ever. Amen.

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. One of my favorite passages from St. Faustina’s Diary is: “Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy.”

Alleluia, Christ has risen. Truly, He has risen indeed, Alleluia. Father shared that greeting with us at Easter; but, I wonder if these were the thoughts or the words of the disciples on that first day of the week when they gathered behind those closed doors?

Mathew tells us after the resurection, some of the disciples had doubts. Today we hear they had doubts.

On that first Easter Sunday, Mary Magdalen ran to tell the disciples that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb. Hearing this, Peter and the Disciple Jesus Loved ran to the tomb and found it empty. They saw and believed he was not in the tomb but they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead.

The rest of the disciples felt Mary Magdalen’s words were nonsense. Because of their hard hearts, the gospel of Mark said the disciples did not believe her. In Luke, the disciples claimed it to be an idle tale.

The disciples may have felt the same way when Peter and John showed up and tried to explain what they did not yet understand.

Maybe they had forgotten that Jesus had taught them all they needed was faith the size of a mustard seed. They seemed to be short of that much faith. They were not good at being followers of Jesus. Maybe a lot of us are like that. 

It is the first day of the week. That would have been the day Mary, Peter, and John ran and discovered the empty tomb. The disciples were locked behind closed doors, hiding. Jesus came and stood in their midst. He gave them peace and showed him his hands and his side.

He breathed upon them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit”

https://www.wga.hu/html/c/caravagg/06/34thomas.htm

Thomas was not there. When he did show up, the disciples shared what had happened. Thomas thought it was nonsense. Thomas would not believe it until he saw it with his own eyes and touched the wounds with his own hands.

Eight days later, instead of being out in the world sharing the good news as Jesus had instructed them, the disciples were hiding behind closed locked doors. Thomas was with them.  Jesus appeared among them and gave them peace. 

Jesus turned to Thomas and told him to put his hand in his side and fingers in the nail marks. Telling him “Do not disbelieve but believe.”

Thomas believed. He no longer doubted and proclaimed “My Lord and my God.”

For the disciples to bear witness they needed more than just words. They needed to experience the real risen Jesus. Thomas wanted to feel the scars and wounds of the real risen Jesus.  He needed to feel the scars and wounds of the passion. For Thomas, those wounds corroborated and confirmed Jesus’ reality. 

For the disciples to proclaim the Gospel they needed more than just words. They felt the breath of Jesus upon their face when He breathed upon them. Receive the Holy Spirit. They needed the gift of the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit thrust their hands into the side of Christ. Their hearts reached out to God. They believed. HIs love is everlasting and his mercy endures forever.

I am terrible at being a good Christian, I struggle against sin. If I had been in that room locked behind those closed doors, would I have believed Mary Magdalen or Peter and the disciple that Jesus loved?

I am  terrible at being a good  Christian. We all are terrible Christians in some way. Scarred by sin. Wounded by traumas experienced over lifetimes. Our souls are pierced by the mistakes and misdeeds we have experienced.Our woundedness corroborates and confirms our reality.

I am terrible at being a good Christian because often I am embarrassed and ashamed to bring my wounds and scars to Jesus. Maybe, it is a lack of faith. Maybe, it is pride; maybe, doubts. Maybe, it is something deep inside we cannot voice. 

Because of all these things, I am terrible at being a good Christian, but I am loved. Friends, we are all loved. We exist because of God’s most tender mercy. We are all blessed in God’s Divine Mercy. 

God’s mercy is beyond what you or I will ever be able to comprehend. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. 

Be good, be holy and preach the gospel by the way you live your life and love one another. Amen. Praise be Jesus Christ - Forever and ever. Amen.

Homily Easter Sunday 2024 - Christ has Risen

https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2020/01/04/19/20/easter-4741495_1280.png 

Inspired by Fr. Richard Rohr

Alleluia, Christ has risen. Truly, He is risen indeed! Alleluia!; Alleluia, Christ has risen. Truly, He is risen indeed! Alleluia!; Alleluia, Christ has risen. Truly, He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Last night the Easter Vigil started at sunset. It was dark. Preparing for the mass, I had practiced singing the Easter Proclamation for 2 months. Some of you may recognize that I don’t sing well. 

As I got up there, I incensed the proclamation and looked out at the 300 people at the Vigil Mass. My head started to hurt. My stomach ached. I sang too fast. I forgot all my practice and all the instructions I had been given. It didn’t even sound right in my own head.

After mass, I received so much love. People came up afterwards and said Deacon, you did a wonderful job. It was nice to know that love. 

However, one friend came running up after mass and said – Deacon, you are a great person and I love you; but, you can’t sing.

I laughed and said, not in this life; but, maybe, God will bless me to sing in the heavenly choir.

He said, Sorry Deacon, I don’t think you will make the cut.

It was also dark when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb. When she arrived, the stone the had sealed the tomb was rolled away. Fearing what could have happened, she ran to find the disciples.

Simon Peter and the disciple Jesus loved (in case you didn't know the disciple Jesus loved is John’s self identification) were hiding with the rest of Jesus’ followers for fear of the Jews. Mary Magdalene burst into their place of hiding and told them the stone was rolled away. Luke tells us that most of the disciples thought Mary's words were “nonsense”.

The disciples were in the dark.

In that darkness, Peter and the beloved disciple ran to the tomb. They found the tomb empty. Scripture tells us the two disciples saw and believed. But, they did not yet understand the scripture that He had to rise from the dead. 

They were still in the dark. It was darkness created in the world by human sinfulness and a failed relationship with God.

Good Friday was a testimony of that failed relationship of humanity to God. The world did not like what Jesus had to say. People were not ready for the truth of Jesus. In that time and place, the world said it did not want Jesus.

People tend to kill love. In the reality of that moment in history, they killed the love that God sent to the world. Because the world was afraid. Afraid of the freedom, the hope, and even the goodness it would bring. 

The powers of this world rejected Jesus. The world did not just reject Jesus, it tortured God. Humanity tried to drive God away from us.

Friends, even in times of darkness that people of faith can find unreal and even apocalyptic, Easter will come. No matter how dark we think things are, God never abandons us. It is as certain as the dawn.

The two disciples ran to discover an empty tomb. They saw the discarded cloth that had wrapped Jesus’ body. In another place was the head covering neatly folded. To these witnesses, something unprecedented had happened, a miracle. 

They just did not know the totality of the miracle. They did not understand that God raised Christ Jesus up. That morning, the Risen Christ came to the world. God came back to the world that had rejected him. He came back to a world that is not ready for, never expects, and sadly probably does not want the Risen Christ.

But as Christian believers, we understand the Risen Christ is beyond the control of the world. We know the truth. The Risen Christ  is now everywhere and is our guarantee of God’s promise. The Risen Christ energizes us by the power of the Holy Spirit sending us to preach the gospel of Christ testifying He is the Holy one of God. 

As Christian believers, we know Jesus Christ came back into the world, the Risen Christ, for the love of us. In that love we know hope. We know goodness. We know holiness. With the love of Christ in us, preach the good news of the Risen Christ by the way you live your life and love one another.

Praise be Jesus Christ for ever and ever. Amen. 

Alleluia, Christ has risen. Truly, He is risen indeed! Alleluia!; 

Alleluia, Christ has risen. Truly, He is risen indeed! Alleluia!; 

Alleluia, Christ has risen. Truly, He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Good Friday 2024 Homily Reflection

 https://pixabay.com/photos/way-of-the-cross-passion-grief-2654403/

Friends, this world is difficult. But Jesus asks us to pick up our cross and follow him. Sometimes in this world, we get scared that because of the fear that in all the hardships and sufferings in life, we may abandon the cross.

Someone recently told me they were full of fear, anxiety, shame, and even sadness. At the root of those emotions was anger. When we identified that anger, I asked, “Did you tell God you were angry?”

You should have seen the look that person gave me!!!

I continued – Don’t be afraid to tell God you are upset with God. The Church is built for screaming. Our prayers can be full of anger and frustrations we bring to God. 

In suffering, even Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When we suffer the most … it is good to cry out to God.

The one we pray to understand us — because he lived a human life. It was a life filled with suffering. God chose to bring us closer to him through his suffering. 

Maybe we don’t realize that suffering. Maybe, living in a mostly protestant community, we fail to realize the sacrifice of this Friday. Instead of seeing the sacrifice of Christ on the cross we only see the promise of empty cross.

To realize that sacrifice, I want to use an exercise from Spiritual Direction called imaginative prayer. Take a moment to remove yourself from everything around you. Focus here before the altar on the crucified Christ. Gaze upon our suffering Lord and savior hanging on the cross. Experience all he experienced. Know Jesus crucified and suffering. Put yourself there on the hill of Golgotha. 

Feel the hot air, smell the sweat of bodies, taste the metallic irony mist of blood blown about you by the hot dry wind.  

You see this man Jesus stumbling and falling as he walks up the hill to be crucified. It is easy to tell he has been tortured by his captors. They have a crown of thorns on his head, blood and sweat runs into his eyes. You can now feel the stinging of the sweat and blood in your own eyes. Blood has soaked his clothes. You can see the marks of whip on his beaten body through the tatters of clothes they have left him in. 

Do you feel his suffering? Does your heart ache for this innocent man?

He reaches the top of the hill and the soldiers push  him to the ground. His body hits the hard dusty earth and rock. His head bangs against the cross thrown upon the ground. THis executioners pulled and rip the garments off his body. Tearing the skin and ripping the scabbing drying blood so that his wounds bleed anew.. The soldiers laugh.  His accusers smile in conspiracy. They point and whisper.

The soldiers take their hammers and long metal spikes to nail the Son of God to the beam of wood.

Where is your heart at this moment? Are there tears in your eyes? Do you feel his pain?

Then his arms are spread wide. Large hard metal spikes are pounded into his hands. Hands that fed the hungry. Hands that healed the sick, touched the outcasts. Those wonderful healing hands were violently pierced by the nails and smashed by blows from the hammer that drove those nails. Those beaten and defiled hands are the hands of God that touch the world.

Look to his hands and look at yours. Do you see the nail holes? Would you take his place?

Then they poured on more anguish as the nails were pounded into his feet. The feet that took the same first steps we all took after a loving mother. The feet that walked the land of Galilee. Feet that carried him into the water of a baptism by John the Baptist. The feet that walked on the water. The feet carried Jesus to those in need. Feet that lead the world on a path to salvation. These pierced and broken feet were the feet of God that walked this world.

Then they lifted Him up on that wooden pole and dropped it into a hole in the ground bringing more jarring pain to an already suffering victim. Jesus whose life was love, compassion, healing, grace, peace, and miracles; hangs on the cross.

Jesus speaks his first words, forgiveness - “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” In his suffering He forgives these people. Jesus said that they did not know what they were doing.

Would your heart still be that open? Would you have love and compassion if you were in Jesus’ place?

Between his nail pierced hands and feet was the ravage body of our savior. His head was abused by blows and strikes, pierced by thorns. The blood of our salvation pours down his face. A face, a visage that is a complete and total expression of love. A face full of compassion, love, and understanding. A face full of grace. The human face of God.

His body was scourged and flailed by a whip which had its thong and bolsters studded in metal balls, spikes, and bones. These multiplied the pain and damage of each strike. Splinters driven deep into the skin of his shoulders and back from carrying the cross. His body bruised greatly from the abuse. Ribs broken fram the beating caused him to struggle for each breath of air. He was barely able to breathe.

Do your feel his pain? Do you know his agony? Do you weep for him?

The ones who followed him and said that they loved him had mostly run away. Now those nearest to him mocked him, cursed him, hurled insults, and spat upon him.

Those hard nails fastening his legs and feet in place. He hung there beaten, tortured, and dying. The weight of his body and his wounds made it hard to breath. Yet, Jesus did not hang in silence. Push up on the nails driven through his feet to capture enough air in his lungs to speak,he cried out in his suffering.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  

Do you find it hard to breathe? Is your heart aching? Do you feel the pangs that Jesus felt? Are you crying? Is your heart breaking? Do you understand that God knows the pangs of suffering?

Friends, come back now. 

It is ok for our hearts to hurt for all that he suffered for us. There is suffering in this world that we must face. In those times of suffering and anguish. It is alright to be angry with God. Bring your troubles to him, cry out to him. 

Jesus did. He did it for us.

Praise be Jesus Christ forever and ever. Amen.