Third Sunday of Easter

Posted on May 3, 2019May 5, 2019 by Deacon Joe

Acts 5: 27-32, 40b-41; Ps 30: 2, 4-6, 11-13; Rev 5: 11-14; Jn 21: 1-19

“Follow me”. The core message of the call to Christianity is follow Jesus. In the third apparition of Jesus to his disciples Jesus continues to bestow on them the power to follow with the authority of Jesus. He has already appeared to them and called them to go forth with authority as he breathed on them in the first apparition with the words “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He has given them the power to forgive sins, “whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, whose sins you retain are retained”.

These disciples are now being given authority to be the witnesses of Jesus himself as apostles and carry forth with authority the will of the Father. What is their response? Jesus finds them back at their trade as fishermen going back to the day in which he first called them to follow him at the beginning of Jesus ministry. This is the process and the cycle of conversion and growth in holiness.

We have been called from the day of our baptism to follow not in weakness but in the power of the name of Jesus. Baptism has given us the virtues of faith, hope, and love to believe in God and to practice what we believe. In the waters of our baptism we are cleansed and we receive the Holy Spirit. It is the fire to grow in perfection living out the virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. This spirit of courage gives wisdom to understand in right judgment the will of the Father, seek justice for all, have the fortitude to act rightly, and the temperance of balancing the scales of love of God and love of other in our unity to him.

Then comes life in all its truth, goodness, beauty, and unity to be one with our creator, to “follow me”. Our response is often “I go my way.” The disciples have seen the miracles, the sacrifice of Jesus for them, the resurrection of the Lord, the fire of the Holy Spirit descend on them and they go seeking their way. Their way is often our way, the way of our comfort zone. We seek to return to what is known than to for forth into the unknown but that is not the cycle of life.

Life is always going forth into the unknown but not alone. In the unknown God is with us to lead the way. We are not the same person of our childhood, our youth, or our later stages of life. I am reminded that every five years our cells completely replicate and we are not the same person we were before. If we question that reality then just look in the mirror and be convinced. Not only our features change but we are in a transformation into someone new and the old passes away. The laws of physics are the force of motion forward and we must prepare for this destiny. Mortal life is but a fraction of this destiny thus we are called to vigilance and readiness to respond to the call of this moment. What is God asking of me to respond in faith, courage and love?

The unknown is the journey of faith what tomorrow brings us. It brings us growth and maturity for the young, hopes and dreams as we discover our gifts and God given graces, struggles and challenges in our obstacles that strengthen our spiritual muscle, and letting go to let God move in us to go forth and follow him. Our temptation is to hold on and not let go or let God be our God. We hold onto our self-image when God offers us his image. We hold onto our strong will that is unreceptive to the guidance of the spirit simply because as Jesus prayed, “they know not what they do”. We hold onto our control because of our insecurity when God offers us a power greater than ourselves. We also hold onto our sins because we find a false identity in our weakness and hide in our darkness of the soul.

The soul is given the light of Christ to be kept brightly burning, not looking back but going forward in this light. The disciples first left their nets to follow Jesus to be baptized, catechized, to live the passion with Christ and now receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Where does Jesus find them in today’s readings but back in the comfort of their trade still waiting for a messiah to come? Jesus has come for them and for us to go forth giving testimony of God’s real presence in our lives. Trust Jesus and your light will shine with the power of the word made flesh in our being.

Still they needed the real presence of Jesus to go forth after the resurrection. We need the real presence of Jesus to go forth in our lives. He makes himself present in our prayer life, in the Eucharist, and in our sacrifice of love for other. He is prepared to manifest his miracles through us and bring all to salvation. He instituted the church as one body of authority to carry forth his love in the sacraments and in fellowship as Christians.

Three times Jesus asks Peter “Do you love me?” Do we really love God? He waits for our answer with the rising of the sun to rise to follow him. He wants us to follow him by doing the will of the Father. Jesus lets Peter know his calling is “feed my sheep, tend my lambs”. We need more holy priests. We need them as pastors of the flock not administrators of the parish. To administer the parish is the “other duties as assigned” but the call is to be a pastor. A pastor tends to the spiritual needs of the people, administers the sacraments, and goes out to be with the flock in their world in order to call them back into God’s kingdom.

“Follow me” into the light and release the yoke of sin we carry with false pride. Our pride is in the one who gives us the power to follow in ways of truth, goodness, beauty, and unity. This is the resurrected life of our Easter time. This is living in the perfection of the Lord this day. We are in this moment in time called to follow. Fear not the call into the unknown but in unity to our God be open to amazing grace and we will be his apostles in Christ.

Tags

Shared this

Views

347 views

Homily

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on October 14, 2018October 12, 2018 by Deacon Joe

1 Wis. 7: 7-11; Ps 90: 12-17; Heb. 4: 12-13; Mk 10: 17-30

Wisdom is naked truth! “Perfection is not when there is no more to add, but no more to take away” wrote Antonine De Saint-Exupery. We have all grown up with “dichos” those sayings with one liners of wisdom that capture the essence of a teaching. They are easy to remember but serve to penetrate our minds and hearts “sharper than a two-edged sword” cutting “down to the bone” as we say and to our souls.

When Solomon prayed in the first reading prudence was given to him. Prudence as in having the ability to discern with right judgment was his reward. He could have prayed for victory over his enemies, his health and his wealth. He recognized the one priority as “wisdom greater than any priceless gem, silver or gold.” When Solomon set his priorities according to God’s order “all good things together came…and countless riches at her hand…” He was given the treasure of wisdom but also the earthly treasures of his kingdom with honor.

The Word of God cuts judicially “both ways”. One side cuts through to the prime rewards of obedience to God’s commands. We see this in the Gospel when the young man “with many possessions” testified to his obedience to the commandments Jesus presented to him saying, “Teacher, all these things I have observed from my youth.” His life has been blessed with many material possessions. It also cuts from the other edge where sin and reckless behavior gives rise to adversity and sorrow. Having entered my 60’s already I realize the sins of my youth have already started to be revealed in my aging problems. I have quite a bunch of friends. I wake up with Buddy Aches, spend the day with Arthritis, eat with Tummy Hurts, and go to bed with Ben Gay. These are the good guys to help me face my enemies. We pick our lifetime friends by the choices and lifestyle we live and they are very loyal in sickness and in health.

Hebrews however gives us God’s wisdom in his order to judicial process. In the world we normally have an inquiry that leads to judgment and ends with verdict for execution. In Hebrews we see the execution has already been set by the Word of God “living and effective”. Those who “follow me” receive the retribution of reward or suffering from the judgment of naked truth as our minds and hearts are revealed. At the end comes the inquiry “to render an account” no one escapes in the final opening of the seal revealing our life story. This revelation is the judgment set to be executed though our life journey “living and effective” in our days and the account will come beginning at the moment of death into our afterlife and the naked truth is revealed. It is said freedom is the right to choose what I want, when I want it, and how I want it. Sounds good until we recognize it comes like a two edge sword with the consequences of our choices. Wisdom recognizes freedom as the right to take responsibility for ourselves. Which way is cutting is in our hands.

In Mark’s gospel the young man calls Jesus “Good teacher”. His title for Jesus limits his view of Jesus as a prophet, a man of wisdom. Jesus wisdom is to pose a question and without waiting gives the answer. Indirectly the question is asking him ‘who do you say that I am?’ He cuts to his heart by responding “no one is good but God alone”. Hint, hint! The young man is to discern the divine nature of Jesus but apparently doesn’t get it since he continues to call him “teacher”. Jesus presents six commandments to follow to which the young man affirms “Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.” Jesus looks at him with love to penetrate his heart like a two edged sword. It is always easy to look at an infant with love. Not so easy to look at our enemies, our friends, or sometimes even our family with love. It makes us vulnerable. Do it and people will question you, “What’s wrong or what do you want?” We don’t know how to accept love as easily.

Jesus is calling him to love God as the first priority noted in the top three commandments not stated but implied by the action he calls him to follow. He gives him two directives to fulfill his call to perfection. The first is the perfection of letting go to the degree there is “no more to take away”, no more to hinder his journey of faith to God. William of Ocam says, “It is vain to do with more what can be done with less.” We accumulate our “stuff” all with special meaning, stuffing our closets, garages, and even get a storage shed unwilling to let go. Every now and then we shuffle through it, forget how most of it ended up with us and then reorganize our stuff again.

The second directive was “follow me”. The message for us is “who is Jesus in my life?” If he is my Lord then our first priority is to follow him in our daily lives fulfilling the top three commandments. We then order our lives according to our relationships with others. Material treasure is not to hinder our priorities to God and neighbor. Jesus sets the record straight at the end regarding “wealth”. He does not condemn wealth it is a part of creation. We build wealth out of God’s creation. Jesus raises our awareness with wisdom to the truth wealth can have when we allow it to possess us and keep us from a right relationship with God. The drive for wealth can come at the expense and injustice to the poor when we don’t pay a living wage. It may promote greed not generosity, false witness not truth, stealing not integrity, adultery not chastity, and even murder not life. We allow it to become an obstacle to a right relationship with God.

Wisdom is personified as a woman while the commandments come from a Father. The wisdom of God comes to us through a woman who gave birth to a son, Jesus and his truth is given in the proclamation of the Word made flesh. Mary’s wisdom was her fiat entering into the universal plan of salvation. Her riches and glory came in raising her son, loving her husband, and being obedient. In Mary the execution was set for her life but she had to consent and live the judgment of the Lord’s passion. Mary followed the plan receiving the judgment awaiting her reward for her account on earth and now in heaven as Queen of Heaven and Earth.

The book of Wisdom* written by sages of the time we would consider as our contemporary prophets and theologians. Sages recognized a great truth in the order of the universe. The God of all creation has established natural laws of the universe. In this New Age movement some identify with these natural laws and try to tap into them with meditation, aroma therapies, mineral therapies, yoga meditation, and other Zen like approaches seeking peace, harmony, and well-being. They focus on the universal principles of the cosmos without recognizing the source of creation, the prime mover, the God of the universe. The problem is they stop short of making this connection to the source of life itself. These sages of the past in observing the world recognized each component in this world has a place in the overall plan of God’s design.

Today we would make comparisons of cause and effect, food chain, evolution of nature, and each person in life makes a difference in the larger plan of God. It is not just about you, it is about your contribution to the greater good and for the faithful our contribution to salvation history. Sages also believed if we disregard our calling we will bring about our own hardships. The dynamic of life is in constant motion like riding the rapids in a canoe, sometimes calm and other times fast, rough and rushing. Proverbs says, “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom” (Prov. 9:10) Fear of the Lord is the realization of the two edge sword created by the awesome creation of the natural law we are members of and of the consequences that come by rebelling away from our call to “follow” his plan for us.

We are headed into the holiday season secular and Christian. Some celebrate Halloween, or the Day of the Dead, All Souls Day and we get sugar overload. Then Thanksgiving comes with all kinds of carbs and dressings followed by Christmas and juicy fat tamales by the dozen, ending in New Year’s drinks, nachos, and guacamole. We indulge and rush to get more stuff we call our treasures in toys, shoes, electronic gadgets and there is always the next best phone or 4-D mega screen TV and more. We wake up and discover we just gained another 20 pounds of bondage in our “freedom”.

The knife cuts both ways as we can celebrate in fellowship with church festivals, Posadas, Holy Days of obligation, processions, adoration, rosaries, family reunions and yes some treats in moderation. Freedom is taking responsibility to the naked truth. Advent is coming and it is a good time to move in the direction of having no more to let go of. In Spanish we say, “el que mucho abarca poco aprieta” meaning “the more we try to squeeze into our life the less we gain”. Gain more with less and we will be on our way to perfection.

*The Paulist Biblical Commentary; “Wisdom Literature”; Paulist Press, New York/Mahwah, NJ, 2018. Pg. 423-425.

Tags

Shared this

Views

292 views

Homily

Twenty-fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Posted on September 15, 2018September 14, 2018 by Deacon Joe

Is. 50:5-9a; Jas. 2:14-18; Mk. 8:27-35

Last week we focused on the need for solidarity among the poor, rich, employee, employer, nations and people. Today Jesus calls for solidarity of faithful followers. His word is spoken boldly, “my face I did not shield…I have set my face like flint.” He invites confrontation, “if anyone wishes to oppose me let us appear together…Let that man confront me.”

Generally, we don’t like confrontation and most of us were not taught the art of debate. Think back to your childhood and arguments among your siblings how you were heard. Were you all cordial to each other or did everybody simply yell louder to each other from room to room or face to face. The idea of debate in our time as seen through media is like a rowdy group of siblings yelling to drown out the other person. Everyone needs to be heard but isn’t willing to listen. Today colleges promote “safe spaces” to avoid any debate or dialogue from opposing views.

In the gospel, Jesus has just finished naming Peter the “rock” for claiming “You are the Christ” and he places him as the head of the early church. He then begins explaining the coming Passion he will undergo. Peter’s response, not wanting to confront Jesus in public takes him aside to “rebuke him” quietly. Peter takes his new authority seriously. I picture Peter taking Jesus aside and whispering, “There is no way you are going to let them do that to you and I will not allow it.” Jesus turns to the disciples and makes a public rebuke, “Get behind me Satan”. In your face Peter so that all know clearly where Jesus stands. One moment Peter is having this high spirit of elation, the next he is deflated into shame. But there is more, Jesus also lets them know how to stand with him in solidarity or against him with Satan.

Solidarity of the faithful with Jesus is to “deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” These three principles in unison are the works of the faithful. The first principle, denial is self is the first work that we must do. To assist us in this work is not to focus on self but on Jesus, what is pleasing to him, what is acceptable in his eyes and as the youth would say WWJD, “what would Jesus do?” If the eyes of the soul are focused on him we realize, it is not about me, it is all about Him who I choose to abide in that we may be one as he is in the Father and in the Spirit. We seek the Lord God who “opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back” This is the first of our faith at work that is pleasing to him.

The second principle is to take up our cross. When we abide in him we take up our cross not with a sense of sorrow in our spirit because we feel denied of worldly pleasures but with a sense of joy to do his will for our life is in his will and “how good it is”. The cross we bear is to feed the hungry, shelter the poor, cover the naked. Solidarity is seen in the works of the faithful, doing the will of the Father. Unfortunately the call for solidarity is confused with the call for salvation by some separated Christian faithful. The argument is that we are saved by faith alone not by works. The intent of the argument implies that we cannot earn our salvation by merits it comes by faith in Jesus Christ. There is no meter reading to count our works and determine if we have been good enough or if our good works offset our bad works.

The Catholic Church would agree we cannot earn our salvation by works of merit but that is not the position of the church as some misinterpret. The church stands behind today’s reading, stresses the important relationship between faith and works. They go hand-in-hand as two sides of the same coin, “faith of itself, if it does not have works is dead.” Nowhere in scripture does it say that faith “alone” brings salvation. Scripture also says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21); “For I will render to every man according to his works…” (Rom. 2:6); “For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgments…?”(Heb. 10:26-27); and finally, “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone” (Jam. 2:24). That is as clear an apologetic “rebuke” without being politically incorrect or pride fully “in your face” because it is the word of God.

The third principle to “follow me” calls upon our baptismal vows as priest, prophet, and king. Solidarity of the faithful is to stand behind the church as one body in Christ. The Mass is the summit of that solidarity in the Eucharist. To reach the summit we journey in life in the light provided by the sacraments to purify our lives and abide in holiness. We all receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit when we search the deep things of God. In the Mass “I confess” my sin, “I believe” in the Trinity in our personal confession of faith; then we celebrate, go forth and follow as one body in Christ.

When one part of the body of Christ suffers we all suffer and woe to those who desecrate the altar by their sin and cause scandal. That is the seriousness and the sorrow of the crisis within the church today. Failure of denial of self by priests breaking their vows of obedience and chastity willingly is a grave sin against God and in some cases a crime against humanity. “Follow me” in rebuking those responsible that the body of Christ in the church will know clearly the will of God. “Follow me” in purifying the church when it identifies those responsible who choose not to deny themselves and are no longer fit for the ministry of leading the faithful. “Follow me” in solidarity with prayer, penance, and good works in atonement calling for healing and mercy. The crisis in the church is beyond the sin of those responsible, it is a crisis of trust in the shepherd. The works of Satan in the church do not represent the voice of God, yet God remains faithful to his bride and will purify her but not without suffering denial of self, the cross, and works of purification. Faith without works is dead.

There is no fear in God in confrontation and we must fear not the confrontation with evil regardless of the source, at home, work, school, public square and in the church. We do not rebel against the church or turn back away from it we confront the evil with truth and seek mercy. The Lord is our help and we are not disgraced. We are also not alone in this battle. We have the Church Penitent and the Church Triumphant. The Church Penitent can be a source of penance for the sins of this world and the Church Triumphant can be a source of holiness for our purification. “Do not forget the works of the Lord”. When we abide in him we are the works of the Lord. He did not come to condemn the world but the world must remain faithful to the covenant and it begins with me abiding in the body of Christ. We hold a great treasure to be guarded, stay alert, keep watch, the hour is upon us and the redeemer comes in glory.

Tags

Shared this

Views

497 views

Homily

Friday 7th Week of Easter

Posted on May 16, 2018May 18, 2018 by Deacon Joe

Acts 25: 13b-21; Jn. 21:15-19

“Follow me”. The question Jesus asks Peter in the gospel is the question of the day and the question of a lifetime. “Do you love me?” It is not a general question but a personal calling to Peter by his name, “Simon Peter, son of John” by your name and your heritage “do you love me?” We are all called by Jesus but who is ready to follow him.

In Paul we see the witness of his readiness to follow unto death, the great sacrifice of faith. Jesus says to Peter “feed my sheep” and “tend my sheep”. The aspect of feeding is a call to the faithfulness in the proclamation of the Word and in the Eucharist. It is a calling to the celebration of the Mass. We are fed the Word but also we are given an “exegesis” in Greek “to bring out” the interpretation of Sacred Scripture in the original meaning and then an “exposition” which is determining the passage’s meaning for contemporary times (CCC 116, 119). Feeding is also the reception of the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus in the Eucharist to strengthen our body and soul to follow him.

Jesus also calls Peter to “tend” the sheep of Jesus. Remember that earlier in the week Jesus is giving thanks to the Father in prayer for he tended to his disciples and none of them was lost “except the son of destruction.” Webster’s (on-line) definition of “tend” is to “watch over” and “apply oneself to the care of “. The archaic meaning is to “attend as a servant” which is the call to the disciples at the Last Supper in the washing of the feet. Jesus is calling Peter to be a servant of the people after the resurrection as he did before the Passion.

In the spirit of Pope Francis his calling is to go out and smell like the sheep. If you care for someone you invest time with them to know their minds, hearts, and souls. I was listening to a program on EWTN and the priest was in charge of seminarians in Alaska. As the seminarians were assigned to parishes they asked what would be their assigned duties at the parish thinking of the traditional roles like teach RCIA or baptism classes. The Priest told them your assignment is to go work with the people and learn about who they are in their culture. That meant if they are fishermen for a living go fish, if they hunt go hunt, meet them in their world and in their cultural needs for survival and learn who they are. This meant smelling like the sheep.

The Pharisees and Sadducees in Jesus time separated themselves from the lives of the people protected by the temple and temple guards “watching over” the people as legislative judges not participants among the sheep. There is a story of Father Groeschel from the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal that was told on “Sunday Night Live” (EWTN). Father Groeschel received Mother Teresa of Calcutta as a visitor. They were walking the streets of the Bronx and passed a homeless man on the street. Father Groeschel gave him a greeting and kept walking. He turned and Mother Teresa was not next to him. She stayed behind and was talking to the man. She later commented to Father Groeschel that she saw Jesus in the man’s face. If we saw Jesus in those around us how much attention would we give them. What love would we offer them? Would we tend to them or simply keep walking after a formal greeting.

The first step in tending to someone is to “listen”. To listen with an open heart and a clear mind to Jesus in the person before us as Jesus makes himself present. Allow Jesus to guide our calling to service in the present moment as instruments in his hand. Then respond as Jesus to others that we may all share in his one body.

As a mother watches over her children she knows by just observation and listening to their voice if something is needed, often with the question, “what happened?” They know their sheep and often accused of having eyes behind their head. They are the eyes of the heart that tend to their sheep. Let us learn from mothers and apply that love to the stranger, the orphan, the homeless, the poor and the sick but also to the neighbor standing next to us as Jesus stood next to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Let us remember to call on our Blessed Mother who stands close to the heart of Jesus to intercede for us with her son. She is a powerful voice tht gets results as in the Wedding of Cana.

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Archives

Categories

Meta

Third Sunday of Easter

Tags

Shared this

Views

347 views

The Deacon

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Tags

Shared this

Views

292 views

The Deacon

Twenty-fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Tags

Shared this

Views

497 views

The Deacon

Friday 7th Week of Easter

Tags

Shared this

Views

281 views

The Deacon