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Homily The Deacon Joe

Twelfth Sunday Ordinary Time – A new creation

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Jb. 38:1, 8-11; Ps. 107:23-26, 28-31; 2 Cor. 5:14-17; Mk. 4:35-41

“So, whoever is in Christ is a new creation”.  The one who died for all is Christ that we may no longer live for ourselves but for him.  As he died in the flesh, we too are to must put to death the “flesh”.   This does not mean we deprive ourselves of food, water, or neglect our health.  To put to death the flesh is to separate ourselves from the sins of the flesh we call the seven capital sins, that is anger, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride and sloth.  As Jesus died and rose again, we too can die to ourselves and rise as a new creation each time we come to receive a sacrament.  We take the step to die to ourselves and Jesus is the one who brings us to new life. 

Jesus died once for all, but we must die endlessly while we live in the flesh.  Each time we deny ourselves a pleasure, offer a sacrifice for a greater good, refuse to retaliate for an offense we die to ourselves and the God who makes all things new gives us the greater graces and blessing.  The expression we know very well is “easier said than done”.  We are weak and as soon as we deny ourselves one pleasure, we are tempted with another.  If we say to ourselves “I refuse to get angry” it seems that is when someone upsets us the most.  The test will come and it is never easy to deny ourselves. 

God knows but he is not waiting for us to fail the test but to turn to him for the power to overcome the test.  He has already demonstrated his power throughout salvation history and yet who do we turn to first and last?  First, we turn to our pride to say “I am going to do this” only to see ourselves giving up because we never gave it to God that he may be glorified in us.  We are reminded of the words of Jesus, “Do you not yet have faith?”  When we make it about us, we already took a step in the wrong direction.  Our faith must be to trust God.  We can never become the new creation without surrendering to our God. 

Our God is the one who makes all things possible.  He reveals himself in Jesus “whom even the wind and sea obey”.  He revealed himself to Job with the same power to make still the “proud waves”.  Jesus is Lord of the seen and unseen.  If we believe he is the God of all creation then nothing is outside his power.  What is more marvelous is that he wants to reveal his power through us.  This is the reality that all the saints came not only to believe but to desire.  As Saint Teresa of Calcutta said her desire was to be a pencil in God’s hand.  God does great things with those who trust in him.  One of those great acts he does is to take a sinful person and transform them into a new creation, a great saint. 

Saintliness is not reserved for the few who the Church may recognize.  Saintliness is the call for all the people of God.  In our own state in this world, we can live a saintly life.  In fact, God is not about giving people the recognition of being a saint in this world.  He is about doing his work in the poor in spirit, in the suffering, in the humble, in the least thought about.  God works in the simplicity of the heart who just want to love him and serve him.  Those that the world is quick to reject are his greatest treasure. 

It is not where we start out in life but where we end up being.  We start out seeking glory and we end up giving God the glory.  We start out building up our own little kingdom of treasures and we end up giving away what we have that has lost its meaning.  We start out living for ourselves and end up living for others.  We start out fearing death and end up welcoming the freedom that comes with the death of the flesh.  We start out seeking meaning of life in who we are and we end up finding meaning of life in who God is.  We start out as creatures of God’s creation and end up being a new creation as a child of God.  The beginning has happened and where we end up being is for all eternity.  Never be fooled that “it” does not matter because whatever “it” is know that for God it all matters. 

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Homily

Eleventh Sunday Ordinary Time – The Seed

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Ez. 17:22-24; Ps. 92:2-3, 13-16; 2 Cor. 5:6-10; Mk. 4:26-34

The seed we receive today is the word of God.  Each time we come to Mass we receive the seed in the liturgy of the Word.  We are the ground in which it is to rise up and give fruit to the world.  This is our calling to receive the word and to give testimony to the life of faith we have received.  The seed needs to be attended to in order for it to grow.  Prayer and reflection help fertilize the ground so it can take root but the lifegiving water is the Eucharist that allows it to grow and spread throughout the soul of a person. 

The essence of the soul is in the unseen but it reveals itself to the mind that we may unite our thoughts to the mind of God, in our love for God is love who speaks to the heart of love, and in our will that we may seek to do the will of God.  The seed gives us the eyes of faith to transcend what is seen and believe what God has revealed.

While we are in the body “we walk by faith not by sight”.  Does this mean that we are not to trust our own eyes?  To walk by faith is to trust in the unseen. Our eyes only allow us to see what is outside of the body, a person’s actions, the words they speak and what they fail to speak and do.  We see the world and all its creation and by faith realize this does not exist from random selection but by a prime mover that gives the world all its beauty. 

Faith transcends the external world to “see” with the eyes of faith what is revealed that lies inside the heart of a person.  It allows us to become united by faith with a common understanding, similar hopes, and right intentions.  It is the faith that seeks understanding, to understand the will of God in our lives in each and every moment in order to take right action.  It gives us the courage to go forth even when we cannot see what lies ahead.  Without faith two people could never come to trust the other with their love and enter into sacred matrimony.  In faith we bring a child to the waters of baptism to become children of God. 

The seed is planted in baptism before the child can even speak because it comes as a gift of God himself through the Holy Spirit to overcome the weakness of the flesh.  Recall that in the beginning was the Word and the Word became flesh so that in baptism now the Word is united to our very being to become incarnated in us.  This is why we bring a child to be baptized to receive this gift and grow from the seed of faith to the maturity of a majestic cedar that draws others to it.  The world will also see but falsely claim that the person has good “Karma” because they refuse to give God the glory.  Today we are reminded it is the Lord that brings low and lifts high, withers up and makes the cedar bloom. 

Baptism of a child places the responsibility on the parents to bring up this child in the faith it has received.  Just like the seed on the ground still requires the farmers attention, the child requires the constant attention not only to the physical and emotion needs but also to its spiritual needs.  The child of God never outgrows this need no matter the age thus we are that child of God.  We need God and he comes to us in the sacramental life of the church to keep feeding us in Word and his body and blood.  Where are we in this journey of faith? 

Do we walk by fear or by faith?  If we don’t have that connection with God, listen for his voice, and realize the guidance of the Holy Spirit then we will walk by the fear of our own limited capacity.  In the words of many who claim to be “lucky or unlucky”, the world will seem to be no more than random probability.  In the eyes of faith, we recognize the hand of God, his divine providence, and our God given purpose in this world.  The seed has been planted in us so how are we doing as farmers caring for it?  It can be seen by the fruit that comes from this gift. 

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Homily

Tenth Sunday Ordinary Time – What is unseen!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Gen 3:9-15; Ps. 130:1-8; 2 Cor. 4:14—5:1; Mk. 3:20-35

What is unseen has been revealed through the eyes of faith.  What is unseen is the beatific vision of heaven yet it is revealed in the person of Christ in mercy and fullness of redemption.  What is unseen is our resurrected body yet it is seen in the resurrection of Jesus to his disciples and to many others.  Everything we see before us is transitory and we cannot hold on to even a moment of this life but what is unseen is eternal always in the present outside of time.  Do we believe?

Adam and Eve were created to see and believe all of God’s creation but failed to see the enemy.  The enemy is the angel of God disguised as a serpent who could not bear to have a new creation be greater than himself.  He knew the way to bring death to this creation was to have it desire the fruit of knowledge of good and evil and commit mortal sin.  It was the angel’s sin of pride with which he tempted Adam and Even in order to remain greater than humanity.   In the end both humanity and the angel fell from grace.  Adam blames the woman and the woman blames the serpent but God makes everyone fully responsible something to contemplate. 

We live in a time where we value individual accountability but we forget that individual accountability does not mean that the person who committed the crime is the only one responsible.  How have others contributed to nurture, discipline, teach, and/or fail to love a person in ways that also bear some responsibility.  Perhaps in no way or perhaps in many ways that only God knows.  We are reminded that God knows every hair on our head thus how much more every sin of our lives.  Who can stand before the Lord?  That is why we pray for every sin we have done, those we know and those we fail to recognize seeking his mercy and forgiveness. 

We see ourselves grow in age at first with excitement as a child grows and develops into a man or woman.  We look forward to exploring our talents and becoming the best person of ourselves God created us to be.  Then suddenly we become anxious as we see time moving quickly and wonder if the best years have already passed.  Every material thing we struggle to obtain becomes old and broken and soon our own body begins to resemble what we possess, something less useful, less wanted, less capable of serving our needs and less in demand from others.  How is this just?  We were never meant to be our own god but to serve our God.  God’s plan is the greater gift we strive for and believe in. 

His ultimate justice is to free us from our sin and restore us to our greatness before him.  This is what is so amazing that he brings us justice through self sacrifice of his only begotten Son.  Humanity cannot understand this and will join with the voices who claim “He is out of his mind.”  God is possessed by God that is by his agape love, a love so great in search of souls in his own image.  We are redeemed and restored as children of the lamb as he alone strikes at the head of Satan.  With the Lord “there is mercy, and fullness of redemption.”  Therefore, we can speak and not be silent “since we have the same spirit of faith”. 

This day our inner self is being renewed, in the Eucharist and in the Word of faith.  The Lord comes to raise us up to himself as he promised “everything indeed is for you”.   God desires that we his people receive an abundance of grace but it can only be poured out to those who in return offer themselves in worship, sacrifice, and love to the God of love.  We cannot be children who sit in wait for his coming when he has already come and is with us, remains in us, and purges us of our sins through the sacramental life of the Church.  We are children who act in faith with our vision focused on Jesus, strengthened by the Holy Spirit and loved by our Father, the God of all creation.  Together we belong to the Church with our Blessed Mother Mary and all the heavenly angels and saints. 

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Homily

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Ex. 24:3-8; Ps. 116:12-13, 15-18; Heb. 9:11-15; Mk. 14:12-16, 22-26

On this the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the gospel returns to that last day of Passover for Jesus and the first day of the institution of the Eucharist celebrated on Holy Thursday.  From that day until now in the Church we have celebrated the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus together with his appearance to the disciples, his Ascencion and the descent of the Holy Spirit.  This is our Easter to celebrate the Lord’s victory over sin and death and our redemption by the Body and Blood of Christ. 

“This is my body…this is my blood” is the power of Jesus to transform bread and wine into the sacrifice of his life to be repeated as a covenant of his redemption for our sins.  In a world where sin abounds his mercy comes to us through his body and blood not only on the cross but also on the altar.  Who can deny his words and live?  Yet many reject his words and fail to recognize that the God who brought us creation, who changed water into wine and multiplied loaves of bread has the power to make of himself a perpetual sacrifice on the altar of salvation. 

Many will try to explain that Jesus is the “living bread” who comes to us in his Word.  That the bible alone is the living bread made flesh capable of transforming hearts.  They will proclaim that we are to figuratively consume God’s word and allow it to change hearts and minds.  The Word does have the power of transformation however the Word was given to Moses and the prophets and that alone did not bring about salvation.  Salvation comes to us through Jesus, the incarnate word and this incarnation is the fulfillment of the promise of God to be with us as we consume him in body and blood to be incarnated in us.  This is why the Mass is both the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist.   

Jesus is the “mediator of a new covenant” not simply by his teaching but by his sacrifice on the cross.  It is this sacrifice that remains on the altar as a perpetual reminder of the Lord’s suffering to this day for our sins and those of the whole world.  He is both risen in his glory and remains wounded by our sins.  Recall that God is outside of time thus he can be both risen and crucified all according to our sanctity and sinfulness.  Sanctity brings his great joy and sinfulness great pain and we each participate in bringing him both according to our love of God and neighbor or our rejection of each. 

With Christ “good things have come to be” for he enters this sanctuary called the Mass where heaven and earth meet and kiss.  The “more perfect tabernacle” he wishes to enter is into each one of us.  If God is with us, that is in our very being, body and soul, good things will come to pass for he comes also with the power of the Holy Spirit.  That is why we must come to him prepared to receive him, having confessed our sins and received his forgiveness, though unworthy he transforms the imperfect into his perfect tabernacle one soul at a time.  Good things come through the power of the Holy Spirit as we saw on Pentecost Sunday.  These good things were not meant only for the disciples but for all who come to believe and follow Jesus. 

Today we receive the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord and he will answer us.  This is how we are to return to him redeemed by his body and blood.  Do we believe?  Let us say “we will do everything that the Lord has told us”, from the Word of old to the new Word it all comes together in the person of Jesus Christ who makes all things new. 

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Homily

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Dt. 4:32-34, 39-40; Ps. 33:4-6, 18-20, 22; Rom. 8:14-17; Mt. 28:16-20

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity is the mystery of God’s salvation in the history of the world revealed in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  In the Old Testament, Moses asked his people, “Did anything so great ever happen before?”  The people heard the voice of God the Father, they experienced the hand of God coming to save them as a nation among nations and how he tested them.  Now they “must keep his statutes and commandments” that they may prosper.  No nothing so great happened before Moses, but a greater thing has happened in the history of salvation with the incarnation of Jesus, God the Son coming to his people.  Not only that but with his ascension into heaven came the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit to remain in us, who he calls his own. 

Who can explain the mystery of one God in three persons?  Early in church history this was the center of the debate trying to make sense of who was Jesus.  How could he claim to be God and yet pray to the Father?  In the same way he would say “The Father and I are one” (Jn. 10:30).  In what is known as the prayer of Jesus, he prayed to the Father, “Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began–that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us” (Jn. 17: 5, 21).  Jesus always was before the world began and is for all eternity.  The Catechism of the Catholic church teaches us that “God has left traces of his Trinitarian being in his work of creation” (CCC 237).  The work of creation in which we can seek him is from within ourselves.   

We can seek to know the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit from within, from our own nature though imperfect as it is.  The nature of humanity is that it exists as body, soul, and spirit.  The body is not the soul for the body dies and the soul remains alive.  The body has a brain but the mind comes from the soul and yet body and soul are one for what affects the body affects the soul and what affects the soul affects the body.  The body and soul however are not separate from God their creator who gives us the breath of life and who without his breath we would immediately die.  His breath is the spirit of life that dwells within and yet it remains the spirit of God who is the life giver and still we are one person in a multitude of humanity. 

The Catechism teaches us that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are consubstantially one God in three persons, one in being of the same substance in relation to each other CCC 251-254).  Our calling is to bring our humanity, body and soul in unity with the Trinity, to be perfect as God is perfect.  To the degree we remain a sinful people this cannot be, for the flesh and the will are weak.  Our flesh and soul are in battle for we now have the Word given to us by God the Father, made flesh to be one with us in the Son and strengthened by the Spirit of truth and yet we resist.  We carry our sins beginning with pride before us and turn away from God’s revelation to his people. 

We do have hope, but our time is limited.  When we see the visible sign from saints who remain incorruptible, we see how the soul overcame the flesh by the power of love.  A soul that is perfected by God gives witness to his call to perfection.  This is the prayer of Jesus that we may be one with the Trinity but also one within ourselves body, soul, and spirit.  The battle is won when we turn to him with all our love and desire. 

The day is coming when those who have responded to the call to perfection will be transformed and receive a resurrected imperishable body.  Then we will see God as he is and come to know him in his glory.  Let us prepare ourselves that we will be numbered among his own in his kingdom for all eternity.  God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and we are called this day to be one in being with the Trinity. 

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Homily

Pentecost Sunday – “Graduation Day?”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 2:1-11; Ps. 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34; 1 Cor. 12:3b-7, 12-13; Jn. 20:19-23

Pentecost Sunday is about the “mighty acts of God” coming through the gift of the Holy Spirit.  It is given to his disciples that they too may go forth doing the mighty acts of God.  In the gospel we see the mighty acts of God in the form of speaking in different languages so that “every nation under heaven” can hear and believe.  What enters the mind leads to conversion of the heart and confession of the lips to say “Jesus is Lord”.  It is through the Holy Spirit that we see the mighty acts of God, the healing of the sick, the exorcism of demons and the authority to forgive sins.  These are now his apostles to the world.

The gift of the Holy Spirit is not reserved to the apostles but to all who believe and are baptized.  The same Spirit comes to each one of us with gifts for some benefit in the call to serve the mighty one.  We were all baptized into the one body, the body of Jesus so that he may remain in us and continue the works of salvation.  What mighty works are we called to live out through the gifts of the Spirit? 

We may think, I have not done any mighty works of God.  I have not healed anyone.  Yes, you have, when you care for the sick you give them your love and love is healing.  I have not done any exorcism. Yes, you have, when you bless yourself with holy water or bless your children you reject the evil and protect yourself against the evil one.  I have not forgiven any sins.  Yes, you have when someone offends you or commits a sin against you and you forgive them it brings healing to the relationship. 

We could call Pentecost Sunday graduation day for the disciples.  Today in many places including here in our church young people are celebrating graduations.  It represents their achievement in their educational goals.  As a community of faith, we are proud of their accomplishments.  For some it is a dramatic step of entering the working world and for others the journey continues for higher education. In the spiritual life as in the world, the more that is given the more that is expected.  The expectation is to be the best that you were created to be with the gifts that you have been given. 

The world is ready to test our faith, bring temptation, and reject you if your beliefs are not in line with the norm.  Just this week a football player gave a commencement speech at a Catholic School and spoke about the virtue of mothers who stay home to care for the family.  Immediately he was denounced by the NFL, media, and all types of organizations.  When we stand for our faith, we can expect a backlash from the world.  Remember the power of the Holy Spirit is also ready to protect us against the evil one but we must pray to it, listen to it, and remain in it. 

The disciples are now called to go from being students and interns to the title of “Apostle”.    They had the teachings of Jesus but so many unknowns of what was ahead.  They had a mission but more questions than answers.  The answers were to come through the gift and power of the Holy Spirit.  They not only walked by faith but with authority and power. As soon as Jesus breathed on them the Holy Spirit, he immediately included the authority “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained”. 

This authority goes beyond the sacrament of confession.  It comes with the authority to establish the one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic church and to govern the people through the magisterium of the Church.  Many other Christian denominations try to deny that Jesus meant what he said and that only God can forgive sins.  Let us recall that Jesus claimed the Father was in him and he was in the Father.  In the same way Jesus is in the priest and the priest is in Jesus when he acts “in persona Christi” in the person of Christ.  In the same way we are all called to live in Christ and to receive Christ in the Holy Spirit. 

No other church claims this authority because it was not given to any of these churches who have come later in history.  Instead, they deny that Jesus meant what he said.  Obedience to the magisterium of the church is obedience to God and this is not just confession but the whole sacramental life of the church.  Why the magisterium of the Church?  Because the church always speaks as one body and we his servants, bishops, priests, deacons, and religious should always be his instruments in doing the will of God. 

Recall that when we are born, we are given the gift of ourselves and what we do with ourselves is our gift back to God.  What mighty deeds is God ready to fulfill simply because we remained faithful and obedient to God.  Our graduation in the faith came with what sacrament?  Confirmation was our graduation day in the faith.  Today we are called to stand for what we believe and fear not God is with us. 

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Homily

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord – The Promise

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 1:1-11; Ps. 47:2-3, 6-9; Eph. 1:17-23; Mk. 16:15-20

The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord comes to us with the promise of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the promise of God’s power to believers.  It is the power to drive out demons, speak new languages, lay hands on the sick and they will recover.  It is God’s power but we are his instruments of this power.  We are his baptized believers so the fruit of this power is to come through us.    

As it is, research says that we only utilize about 10% of our brain’s capacity.  If we include the potential power of the Holy Spirit how well are we utilizing the gifts and power of the promise?  I suspect the answer is “not nearly enough”.  The reason goes back to the weakness of the flesh that holds on to the powerlessness of its own will rather than surrender to the power of the will of God.  The power of the promise is manifest in our desire to do the will of God.  The greater our surrender the greater the power and miracles that come from it.  This is the testimony of the great saints. 

Too often the sentiment is “I am not worthy”.  God places no standard of worthiness on his people.  He places a standard of obedience, surrender and sacrifice.  He calls us friends but as his friends our commitment is still trying to bargain with a “yes, but not yet” or “yes, but not completely”.  If not now when?  How long will we keep him waiting for our hearts to open up to his love?  The spirit is weak from lack of spiritual muscle.  Spiritual muscle comes from spiritual exercises that includes our prayer life, our charity, and our communion with God.   These are the corner stones that opens our hearts to obedience, surrender and sacrifice.  Practice leads to perfection in any of our life goals corporal as well as spiritual.  Do it! Do it right! Keep doing it! 

It all begins with taking the next right step.  It comes as an inspiration from the Spirit, it passes through right judgment, and leads to an act of holiness.  That is why we are called to be holy as God is holy.   It is the Spirit of truth that he promised and we will not be misled.  This is the promise coming from the Ascension of the Lord that we may follow him both now and at the hour of our death.  The Lord left us the promise of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us in our faith journey but it is a journey we must still undertake. 

Today also marks Mother’s Day in which we honor our mothers who through the pain of childbirth said “yes” to life.  It is a selfless self-giving sharing in the mystery of creation.  It is saying “yes” to God and trusting in the Lord to walk in faith raising up a child with God’s special graces he gives to mothers.  A mother knows her children because her love comes with a spirit of wisdom and revelation.   They have eyes behind their heads, “lol”. 

We also recognize the women who said “yes” to accepting a child raising them as their own because of whatever circumstances the child was born in or found themselves in.  Mothers are an example of how God works through humanity to bring about life, joy, peace, love and salvation.  The reward of motherhood is a great blessing but greater is the promise to come when God will call us to his glory. 

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Homily

Sixth Sunday of Easter – Love one another!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48; Ps. 98:1-4; 1 Jn. 4:7-10; Jn. 15:9-17

“This I command you: love one another”, says the Lord.  Our gospel today is a continuation from last week with a common theme to remain in Jesus by following his commandments.  This is the proof that we remain in God and God in us by the greatest commandment not only by our love of God but when we love one another.  Love of the unseen God is bound with the love of one another who we do see.  This love will bear fruit, lasting fruit that remains “so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he many give you” says Jesus.    

There are many who say “I believe in God.  I am a Christian” Having faith is only the beginning of our relationship with God.  Jesus asked Peter “Do you love me” three times and then he commanded him to demonstrate his love by caring for others.  Love of God is active participation in the salvation of souls.  The Mass is an act of love by our active participation with our prayers, hymns, intentions, and offerings.  Love one another is active participation bringing our family to church, making sure our children receive their sacraments, becoming a community of faith that participates in spiritual and corporal works of mercy.  To love is to receive life from God just as death is to refuse to love. 

God is love.  The God of creation brought us mercy, redemption, and salvation through Jesus his son as an expiation for our sin.  God’s love is always active for our greater good but we also must know how to ask rightly from the Father.  Often when we pray, we focus on what are our needs, wants, hopes and desires.  We begin with the love of “I” and not the love of God.  Let our prayer begin with the love of God by asking and trusting that his will be done.  He knows the desire of our hearts and we can express all those desires in the right context of our surrender to the will of God.  Recall how Abraham was put to his greatest test of faith and love called to offer up his son.  Abraham trusted in God and remained obedient to his will and God proved him to be a righteous man.  Abraham also a human being bore lasting fruit that remains to this day. 

Today we see in the first reading Peter who is given homage by Cornelius but Peter raises him up declaring he is also a human being and treats him as a brother.  There is a lesson here that we are all called to be servants of the Lord even as we are all given different authority in the service of his church.  Peter is given authority in the person of Jesus while we are to reflect the image of Jesus as human beings.  As a family our authority rests in the domestic church at home.  The apostles were given authority to lead the faithful as a magisterium of the Church. 

Peter preaches in the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit descents upon all present, Jew and Gentile, baptized and unbaptized, circumcised and uncircumcised something to ponder.  The heart that is ready to receive the Lord will not be denied the love of God and the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out onto everyone including the unbaptized.  Peter recognized the mystery of faith at work and called for everyone who received the Holy Spirit to be baptized.  He acted not by the law of division but the law of love for unity of one another.  We must remain open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit calling us to unity and love of one another. 

This is not what we see in the news every day, where division, hatred, persecution and even violence is waged on the streets of cities, college campuses, and on borders of nations.  You cannot have an act be racist against one race of people and not be racist against another race.  You cannot call an act as persecution against one group of people but declare it to be justified “equity” when it is returned back to those people.  As the common expression says, “two wrongs don’t make it right”.  Two wrongs make for endless hate carried on from generation to generation.  It is time to bring an end to this cycle of hate or it will bring an end to us.  History has demonstrated this reality in the rise and fall of neighborhoods, cities, and nations.  Mass migration is often a people in flight from persecution and in search of greater freedom.  Love one another!

Love one another is not easy.  People are not easy to accept much less to love.  When a couple gets married the early years are a struggle to accept each other as we are.  We often assume that the other will change “if they love us”.  This philosophy doesn’t work and it takes a few years to come to realize we can’t change anyone.  The vows to love in good times and in bad should also include to love “as is” with all our good qualities and bad faults and pray that God is not done with us yet.    

We say we love God and his people but when we come to church, we avoid “those people”, those we know because of politics, those that have misbehaved children, those that like to sing loud but can’t sing well, and well those “other” people that look different, dress different, or whatever other things we think of them.  The nature of the flesh is not to love one another.  The spirit of love for another is a gift that we must seek because it will always require some form of sacrifice.  The flesh is not open to sacrifice.  We must unite our will to the will of the Father and be ready to respond to act in love of one another for the greater good.  Easier said than done.  Jesus recognizes his own who recognize him with love of one another. 

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Homily

Fifth Sunday of Easter – Remain in me!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 9:26-31; Ps. 22:26-28, 30-32; 1 Jn. 3:18-24; Jn. 15:1-8

Remain in me!  This is our Lord’s command today.  We remain in him by following his commandments.  There is a famous expression that says, “trust but verify”.  The way we verify that we remain in the Lord each day is by an examination of conscience.  Let us examine our word and deed against the commandments of the Lord and what fruit they bear coming “from the Spirit he gave us”, the Spirit of truth.

The Lord says, “remain in me” and “if our hearts do not condemn us” we will “receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.”  Sadly, there are many who follow their conscience and whose hearts do not condemn them but fail to keep God’s commandments.  We see this every day in the secular world who preach their own secular doctrine of agnosticism believing in a world without God.  We also see it in our own community among what is called “cafeteria Catholics” who are selective when it comes to following the teaching of the Church.  With one foot out and one foot in trying to have it their way is not remaining in the Lord. 

The teaching of the Church is the application of God’s commandments in our times on all the issues of life and death, justice and peace, good and evil.  It is not relative to each person’s individual conscience but to sacred truth.  While someone’s heart may not condemn them failure to fulfill the commandments in practice reveal a misguided conscience and the separation from the will of God.  This is the Lord’s teaching on faith without works is dead because they are not the works of the Spirit of God but a misguided faith. 

This is the lesson Saul teaches us when he was following his faith as a Jew zealous in following his beliefs by persecuting Jesus and his followers at the same time.  Saul was righteous in his heart until he encountered Jesus and all things changed.  We need an encounter with Jesus, the world needs an encounter with Jesus, and Jesus is ready for the encounter but he is waiting for someone to be bold in their faith, trust in the Lord and remain in him.  The disciples feared Saul, but Barnabas was brave taking charge of Saul revealing the work of Jesus through Saul and verifying his authenticity by his deeds.  A good examination of conscience can ask how our actions towards others are persecuting Jesus when we failed to love, to forgive, to give of ourselves and denied him what he desires of us. 

Today we recognize the tremendous fruit that came from Saul’s conversion to become Paul, God’s servant to the Gentiles.  Why was Paul such a good evangelist?  He did what the Lord commanded.  His obedience from the Spirit he received was joyful regardless of the risk to his own life.  When we remain in God, we accept the reality that there will be good times and bad times but our spirit of joy remains because he remains in us.  We can offer ourselves in all times for his greater purpose.  Even our suffering can bear fruit and bring others to the foot of the cross and remain in him. 

Finally, the Spirit of truth verifies that Jesus remains in us when we know how to pray, seek and ask.  The God who is “greater than our hearts and knows everything” remains waiting to give to his people the desires of what is good for the soul, what is pleasing to the Lord, and what will bear much fruit.  The Spirit of truth is a revelation of just how much God loves us when we remain in him, trust in him, and seek him.  Jesus entered into our humanity that we may encounter his divinity and remain in relationship with him. 

Every day we are in constant communication with each other over all kinds of things from what to wear, the weather, what to eat and what needs to be done but when do we stop to have a heart-to-heart conversation with each other?   Those are the talks we remember when our parents sat us down and felt it was important enough to stop all the other distractions and share from the heart something that really matters in life.  It may have been that car ride moment, sitting on the bar stool, taking that walk together but it still remains with you.  Those are “the talks” that still have an impact in our life.  Hopefully we are having those type of talks with our children because they will never forget how important it was to us.  That is the type of talk Jesus is waiting to have with us.  His talk will bring us to our knees but when we rise up, we will remain in him and he in us. 

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Homily

Fourth Sunday of Easter – The Good Shepherd

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 4:8-12; Ps. 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28, 29; 1 Jn. 3:1-2; Jn. 10:1-18

The Good Shepherd has come, laid down his life for his sheep and raised it up again but not only his own life but his own people who died with him in faith and obedience to his word.  This is the good news of our Easter season that Jesus is the good shepherd and the God of the resurrection of the dead.  Recall how immediately after Jesus died “the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two…The earth quaked, tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised…they entered the holy city and appeared to many (Mt. 27:51-53)”. Jesus is raised indeed and so are his saintly people.  Jesus is the good shepherd of the dead who have come to life and of the living awaiting their mortal death.

Jesus is the good shepherd of those who hear his voice and turn to follow him.  Unlike sheep who are simply human creatures of this world, in the name of Jesus we are now called the children of God.  Often the question is raised to Catholics asking “why do Catholics baptize infants since they have no knowledge, cannot repent and no free will in the decision?”  In the early church baptism was given to complete families so if the head of the home accepted Christ not only was he baptized but so was his family and his slaves so this practice goes back to early Church history and tradition.  Baptism comes with the free gift of the Holy Spirit, that is the grace of God to enter the soul and be the light of truth, the good shepherd of the soul towards salvation. 

With the gift of the Holy Spirit comes the virtues including to grow in faith, hope, and love.  Who would deny their child this gift to get their life started in perfect sanctity open to hear the voice of the good shepherd as it faces the temptations of the world.  Without baptism the voice of the good shepherd is being drowned out by all the other voices of this world competing for its soul.  

As Jesus said to his disciples “allow the children to come to me for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these (Lk. 18:16).”  The good shepherd wants to enter our souls from the beginning of our life and remain with us all the days we are given.  The test of the good shepherd is less about us coming to him as it is to see if we can remain in him, something to ponder.  In the days that Jesus walked the earth many came to him but few remained with him because his teaching was hard to accept.  The good shepherd proved he was faithful unto death on a cross as he prophesized “I will lay down my life for the sheep”. 

Jesus gives us a tease in today’s gospel.  He speaks of having “other sheep that do not belong to this fold” but drops the topic only to proclaim that in the end “there will be one flock, one shepherd.”  Who are these other sheep?  One question that gets asked of Catholic Christians is whether only Catholics will go to heaven. It is also asked of other Christian denominations who profess to be the “true religion”.  Who belongs to the other flock is a mystery the Lord chose not to reveal.  

Consider first that for centuries the people of God were not “Christian”, they were not baptized in the name of Jesus yet in the transfiguration we see Elijah and Moses next to Jesus.  Consider also how many Christian denominations are now in existence becoming more divided than unified.   Recall what Jesus said his disciples, “For whoever is not against us is for us.  Anyone who gives you a cup of water…will surely not lose his reward (Mk. 9:40-41).  The mercy and love of God came that all may be saved but salvation is a process of purification of souls and God is not done with us yet, not with this world, not with all sinners, not with Christian believers as we struggle to carry the cross of our calling. 

What we carry with us is the promise that “what we shall be has not yet been revealed” but “we shall be like him”.  Today we are already called to live in the image of Christ the good shepherd, caring for those little ones, for the hungry and the poor, for our neighbor and the stranger.  Each according to our state in life has a cause given in which we serve the Lord transformed into the image of the good shepherd, Jesus the cornerstone by which we are saved. 

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