5th Sunday of Easter

Posted on May 9, 2020May 8, 2020 by Deacon Joe

Acts 6:1-7; Ps. 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19; 1Peter 2:4-9; Jn. 14:1-12

The church is born in the one priesthood of Jesus Christ! Ecclesiology is the study of the nature of the “church” and traditionally Pentecost celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus after his Ascension as the birth of the church. Recently I heard the argument for the Last Supper as the birth of the church when Jesus by the breaking of the bread and giving of the wine instructs his disciples thereby instituting the priesthood of the church. Thus, the church is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist which we become when we receive the Eucharist at Mass. The unity in the one body the church comes to its’ fullness in the Eucharist. We could say the descent of the Holy Spirit is the “Confirmation” of the church.

In our times it is often repeated “the church is the people” who share in the one priesthood by baptism. This focus on the people is meaningful to the extent the source and summit of the church remains in the Eucharist and is not lost. Unfortunately, too many people identify as Christian without unity to the Eucharist becoming “churches” of their own body. The people are called to “follow” in the body of Christ which they receive in the Eucharist and in the sacramental life of the church. Can there be church without the Eucharist? If history is a sign then we see the multiplication of “churches” into isolated cells when people separate from the Eucharist only to rise and fall.

Easter season is a renewal of the Church as we celebrate its formation in the early church. Today’s first reading in Acts is the birth of the diaconate into the church. “Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom…They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them”. The origins for the call to the diaconate was to serve the needs of the people. In being “reputable”, they were trusted with the resources of the church and not prone to scandal. In being filled with the Spirit and wisdom they served as a channel of grace to minister to the needs of the people as the hands of the church. Deacons called apart out from the people but not to the priesthood become the bridge living “in the world but not of the world” uniting church and people as a visible Christ. The diaconate is to be Jesus as a voice for our times in our homes, work places, and in the community.

Jesus is our cornerstone present in the Eucharist. In the gospel he reminds Philip, “The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.” Today Jesus who dwells in us in the Eucharist is doing the works of the Father “and will do greater ones than these because I am going to the Father.” These are the works of salvation through evangelization as the church fulfills its mission of adding to the house of the Lord many more dwelling places prepared for us. This is our Easter hope and victory as we wait to gather together after this pandemic crisis is won.

“Come to him, a living stone…built into a spiritual house…to offer spiritual sacrifices”. This pandemic is our invitation to offer spiritual sacrifices for the recovery of this nation and the world. It is also a time for renewal of the “church” into a spiritual vessel of faith, hope and love, and prayer is the sacrifice needed. Prayer Matters!! As the nation celebrates the National Day of Prayer bringing people of all faiths we join in prayer for healing, the end of the virus, a return to a healthy work environment, and an opening of our houses of worship.

A spiritual house recognizes we are all created equal but not equally gifted for the same purpose. Each is called by name for a given purpose in the house of the Lord yet all serve the same greater good. As the early church quickly grew in number it realized the need for a house of God united in order of service just as all parts of the human body all come together to create a functioning human. The homeostasis of the human body is in care for its physical, psychological and spiritual needs and as such the body of the church must be cared for also.

The living stone is the Eucharist inviting us to a transformation of our body into his body and our souls into his spiritual vessel each called by name to our place of order within God’s house. Let us enter into it in body, soul, and spirit and our transformation will transform our world into a house of worship with many rooms to serve each purpose in the mystery of faith.

272 views

Homily

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on November 3, 2018November 2, 2018 by Deacon Joe

Dt. 6: 2-6; Ps. 18: 2-4, 47, 51; Heb. 7: 23-28; Mk. 12: 28b-34

Who is this unnamed scribe in the gospel who is not far from the kingdom of God and where did he get this understanding? First we must recognize the context on which he speaks. This is not a high priest with special graces from God. Second, he is living in a Jewish culture where “burnt offerings and sacrifices” were part of the Law of great importance for righteousness before God. For the scribe to be politically incorrect and dare devalue the merits of burn offerings and sacrifices could have been an offense to the Jewish institution, sacrilegious or even worthy of stoning. Again, who is this scribe with courage to question the norms, speak with authority and judge for himself?

He is a scribe and scribes were educated men who could read, write, and discern the scriptures. Most people were not literate but they developed the capacity to memorize long passages of scripture. Today we have an educational system that offers us a great opportunity to study and learn that we may discern with wisdom. The internet search engines are the “go to” to simply ask the question and get information in an instant from the accumulated knowledge of the world. With all this information at our fingertips how do we use these tools to gain our understanding of our faith? I have three Catholic apps on my phone, the Missal, the Breviary, and ETWN. I confess there are five game apps also my grandson downloaded that he plays when he is with us so we have to be on alert what he is trying to download. Outside of Mass what scripture reading do we study? If the goal is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength then our heart must be in prayer with God, our soul in union with God, our mind I the knowledge of God and our strength in service of God. There we fulfill the great commandment and are not far from the kingdom of God.

Moses links the love of God with “Fear the Lord and…keep…all his statutes and commandments”. This call to obedience was a way of demonstrating love but it did not capture the hearts, minds, and souls of the people as seen by the continuous rebellion against God in the desert. This is also a people who came out of slavery where obedience meant survival not love. I remember a young couple coming in for marriage counseling many years ago. I asked them to complete the sentence, “I feel you love me when__”. The young man stated, “I feel you love me when you are obedient to me.” In today’s world that brings charges of sexist, macho, and abusive language.” Scripture says, “Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ…wives should be subordinate to their husbands…husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.” (Eph. 5: 21-28) There is a mutual sacrifice for each other.

The development of the behavioral sciences tells us the cognitive-behavioral relationship is a form of being subordinate to each other. Cognitively we reason to believe and change behavioral patterns and behaviorally we modify our behavior in obedience and discipline to bring about the understanding that can only come by doing. God the Father gave us the commandments of doing to come to understanding and Jesus the Son gives us the spirit of understanding that we may grow in relationship of love a covenant relationship with him.

Jesus did the ultimate sacrifice for us to bring us understanding of the Father’s love. Mass is our time to offer our gifts of self to him, our joys, sorrows, our sacrifices. It is not a love from obedience to rules but commandments that build loving relationships. The commandments foster love, unity, fellowship, peace, and justice the visible signs of invisible love.

The search for the “fountain of youth” has captured the human psyche throughout history. There is the mud from the Dead Sea to make you look years younger; the anti-aging science of cell regeneration for tissue and organs, the life-style changes of diet and exercise; and finally going back to ancient times the cover-up of makeup and dress-up in style. Today we are reminded of the life-style commandments of God to realize our growth, prosperity, and having the “long life”. It comes from Jesus teaching, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” If we abide in him he will abide in us and our riches in Jesus will be multiplied.

One of the biggest factors in aging, sickness, and poor health is stress. What fosters stress in our life cognitively is the thinking, “I need to be in control” and the behavior of being in a hurry in life. The anti-aging formula from God is summed up in the Serenity Prayer, “God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference.” As the commercial says, “Stay young my friend” not with beer but with prayer. Beer only adds more wrinkles to life.

The world keeps racing with the next faster internet speed and automation inventions. We have gone from camp fire cooking to wood stoves, gas and electric heating, microwave and now fast drive through windows all to get more done in less time. The result is we create more to do but are we more fulfilled? We have created an imbalance of lifestyle.

Here is an alternative called Lectio Divina. It is a balance of heart, mind, body and spirit. We open our hearts to God by reading scripture called “Lectio”; we reflect in our minds on the meaning of God word with “Meditatio”; we then try to simply rest in silence in God’s presence to listen what word of knowledge he conveys to us in “Contemplatio”; and we respond in spirit to the revelation God gives us in prayer called “Oratio”.

If Jesus priesthood is forever then our priesthood through baptism is forever. What our ministry in heaven will be God will determine but one thing we know from living and from scriptures is that life is in constant motion fulfilling a purpose greater than ourselves.

Jesus makes it clear, “The Lord our God is Lord alone!” The scribe adds the exclamation point, “He is One and there is no other than he”. Focus on him on the cross, focus on him in our neighbor, and focus on him in all creation the source of life, love, freedom and justice. Focus on heaven in the communion of saints, angels, and our Blessed Mother and then go forth to love him in our neighbor. The commandments are the means to the end. The Lord our God is the beginning and the end there is no other. The scribe is right in saying, “He is One and there is no other than he”. The One who has created us as one-being and there is no other like us just like out of his love. Who is this scribe given such wisdom? He is a testimony of what God does with a soul who fulfills the greatest commandment. Be THAT one!

279 views

Homily

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on October 28, 2018October 28, 2018 by Deacon Joe

Jer. 31: 7-9; Ps. 126: 1-6; Heb. 5: 1-6; Mk 10: 46-52

The father to Israel loves all his people “the blind and the lame, mothers and the unborn child with his mother and delivers us from stumbling”. The people of Israel “departed in tears” remembering the suffering, sickness, and hardships they endured in their struggle for freedom though the desert. In an age when women and children were considered more of a property and the blind and the lame as cursed, the father of Israel makes known there is no one he does not love, no one he rejects, and he is there to console them and guide them. He is here to console us in our weakness and suffering. We are his beloved.

Fast forward to Jesus coming and today’s gospel, Bartimaeus a blind man, a beggar on the roadside cries out to Jesus. What is the people’s attitude towards the beggar? “Many rebuked him, telling him, be silent”. In their eyes he is but cursed, insignificant to the people. The beggar calls out to Jesus “son of David”. The Jews awaited the messianic king from the line of David. The beggar in his faith recognizes Jesus as the long awaited messianic king and his faith brings him salvation with his sight restored.

Fast forward again to our times and the attitude taken towards the unborn, the disabled, elderly, and the beggar on the street, what has changed in our humanity? The unborn are aborted, the disabled institutionalized, the elderly forgotten in nursing homes and the beggar remains cursed by the poor choices of life. “The Lord has delivered his people” all his people, the unborn, disabled, elderly and beggar. Who are we? I qualify as unborn into eternal life still in the womb of mother earth, disabled by my sins, elderly since I now qualify for senior citizen discounts and beggar fits my prayer life, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me”. If we could see ourselves with the eyes of truth we would be filled with the fear of God. If we could see ourselves with the eyes of God there is his truth, goodness, beauty, and love.

If we look to society for answers we see in history the sins of the people repeat themselves and our deliverance will not come from changing social structures. It comes from repentance and a return to “one God under nation” with us, through us, and in us. A study done by Arthur Brooks on generosity found that out of four possible combinations the most generous group is the religious conservative and least generous is the secular liberal with the religious liberal and secular conservative in the middle. Secular liberalism seeks generosity with other people’s resources. We are a generous people for we recognize generosity of God in our life, “The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.” As the philosopher Spinoza says, “If love is the goal, generosity is the road to it.” If love is the goal then God is our destiny. God is love, deep, generous and revealing.

The Lord has done great things for us, he has given us a high priest Jesus, son of David. Jesus in his humanity is “taken from among men” and in his divinity “a priest forever”. Thus he also calls other men to follow him as “representatives before God” of the people and for the people. Every high priest “must make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people…he himself is beset by weakness.” In the Eucharistic liturgy a priest prays for himself “Wash me, O Lord, from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. (Psalm 51:4) and in the Lamb of God quietly prays, “May the receiving of your Body and Blood…not bring me to judgment and condemnation…be for me protection in mind and body and a healing remedy.” The priest recognizes his weakness as representative of the people with great accountability for his actions and with full transparency before God, the naked truth that awakens the fear of God and the coming of the day of judgment.

A priest is first called to diaconia, meaning servant of the people as a transitional deacon before his ordination as priest. The priest glorifies God as servant in humility. The priest who glorifies himself separates himself from the people in abuse of his authority. The priest who glorifies himself is a blind man in need of pity until he recognizes he is but a beggar in need of conversion. Every “high priest is established for human kind” to offer gifts of sacrifice for sins. That is the offering pleasing to God in the Mass. Christ died for all sinners.

“Master, I want to see” is a confession of a servant who recognizes they are but a sinner. We all have our blind spots where we do not see in ourselves what other see and our ego defenses don’t want to see finding safety in denial whether through ignorance or as an act of will. Denial is a temporary curtain of darkness where our sins run to hide. The light of faith, the faith of Bartimaeus at Jericho who had the courage to seek sight from his blindness and call out to Jesus, “Master I want to see.” It is an act of faith that gave him the will to cry out to Jesus and be saved. What holds us back from that act of faith is pride. Pride sometimes is hidden in false humility. We say, “Who am I to bring God all my troubles.” It comes with the belief that he created us and set us free to live our lives but he is a distant God. We reason God out of our lives when he is waiting for us to cry out to him in faith.

Notice “freedom” we have in Jesus. Jesus tells Bartimaeus “Go your way.” We all have the freedom to go our way in the light of Christ or in our darkness. Bartimaeus chooses to become a disciple and follow him. How do we identify our discipleship? In other words, “How do I follow Jesus?” We may say we follow him by coming to church. It is possible to come to church and walk out without a conversion to live life God’s way but go our way. We follow him by loving our family but even an atheist loves his family and does not follow God. We follow him by respecting life and natural law with some good common sense. Many an agnostic respects life and the natural law because of some good common sense. We can only begin to follow him by having a personal relationship with Jesus himself. When we cry out to him to let us see, he will reveal himself to us. He will give us our identity of discipleship in the way we are to go.

In the gospel reading Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem and has this final miracle at Jericho as a sign that the time had come to recognize Jesus as the messianic king before his passion, death, and resurrection. Jesus’ true identity as messianic king remains hidden to a people who seek an earthly kingdom. True sight comes from recognizing Jesus as the son of God after his resurrection ascending to his heavenly kingdom. Let us be a people of faith, hope and love with the vision to follow him rejoicing for the Lord does great things for us and we “shall not stumble.” “Master, I want to see.”

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Archives

Categories

Meta

5th Sunday of Easter

Tags

Shared this

Views

272 views

The Deacon

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Tags

Shared this

Views

279 views

The Deacon

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Tags

Shared this

Views

439 views

The Deacon