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Homily The Deacon Joe

15th Sunday Ordinary Time – “Go and do likewise”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Deut. 30:10-14; Ps. 69:14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 6,37; Col. 1:15-20; Lk. 10:25-37

“Go and do likewise” as Jesus did “and you will live”.  This was the command Jesus gave to his disciples and to his “appointed seventy-two” he sent forth from last week’s readings.  “Go and do likewise” curing the sick, proclaiming the word, “to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you”.  “Go and do likewise” in loving God with all your heart, being, strength and mind and “your neighbor as yourself” by the acts of charity caring for the needs of others “and you will live”.  “Go and do likewise” as Jesus continues to do in our lives, he is “near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.” Are we ready to carry it out for eternity?

Do we believe in eternity?  Eternity begins now in the flesh as Jesus came in the flesh to show us how to live for eternity.  He came in the flesh and in his divinity to take our flesh, wipe away our sins and open the gates of heaven to begin to live in the spirit, in the divine spirit, in the law of the Lord, love itself.  If we believe in eternity, then it all starts in the here and now.  We see it in the lives of the saints who lived and died in the flesh but were already experiencing the glory of God on earth.  We see it in the mystery of faith through the sacramental life of the church carrying out the mission of Christ to the world.  We also see it in ourselves in our answered prayers where miracles happen every day and we are moved to give thanks and give all the glory to God.

“Go and do likewise” as a sign of our love of God to be his image to the world.  Love of God is a constant movement to act out of our love for him.  It is not a fleeting thought that crosses our mind when we come to church but a constant reminder of his presence in our life.  It is not a fickle emotion that inspires us one minute and then fades as we go on living what we call “our” life. Without his breath of life, we have no life.

Our faith calls us to belong to God, so we no longer live for ourselves, but as slaves of his love for it is then that we are free.  Our heart is then united to his sacred heart.  Love of God is not to be strong but, in our weakness to see his strength active in us to “go and do likewise”.  Otherwise, we are an empty shell of shiny mirrors without substance.  All our being is a gift, and it can all be lived for the divine purpose to “walk the walk and talk the talk” that comes from him “and you shall live”.

Are we alive in Christ?  Life is difficult and we pray to God to be with us, to help us discern his will and to be prudent in making good decisions.  Now what?  Now we walk in faith so God may open the gates of heaven as we “do likewise” being Christ in this world.  The mission of the church is to proclaim the gospels as it nurtures our minds with his word and feed us his body and blood that we may carry him in our being and then to send us forth at the end of Mass to proclaim the gospel in word and deed, and in Spirit and truth trusting in him.  Here is the human dilemma, do we trust in God?  Being alive in Christ is trusting in him. 

“Jesus, I trust in you” is easier said than practiced.  To trust in Jesus sometimes requires us to “go forth” taking the right next step and sometimes it requires us to wait upon the Lord in God’s time to answer our prayers.  The best discernment comes through prayer when to act and when to wait.  There is the old expression “reading the tea leaves”.  It is being observant, keeping watch, listening for the movement of the Spirit around us and in us.  Trust is a letting go and letting God be the driver as we follow and look at the signs for direction.  “Direct us O’ Lord according to your will.”  Trusting in God is living the Serenity Prayer:

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.  Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as he did this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that he will make all things right if I surrender to his Will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.  Amen.” 

The works of the Spirit brings unity as it works in and through us as well as in and through others.  The mystery of faith comes through unity, the unity of the Trinity, the unity of the church, and the unity of the people of God.  It is a welcoming, inviting and calling spirit where two or three are gathered in his name.  If we do not discern this spirit of unity then it may be time to dust off our feet and move on trusting in God where he may lead us. 

Are we ready to “carry out” the will of God in our lives?  The will of God is to love others, “your neighbor as yourself”.   We assume we know how to love ourselves well and from our goodness we know how to love others.  This small word “as” implies knowledge of true love, Godly love, perfect love.  As we love ourselves poorly, we in turn will love others poorly.  This poverty of love is controlling, demanding, objectifying, failing to respect the dignity and worth of others.  It does not try to meet others where they are at but judges them based on where they are not.  Can anyone be saved if God judged us based on where we are not?  God meets us with his mercy as we are and calls us to something greater that he desires for us thus “go and do likewise”. 

To love ourselves well is to recognize ourselves as a creation of God according to his image.  Created in his image we then look to him to perfect us in love through the gifts of the Spirit, through his mercy, and through the power of his sacraments he left us in the Church.  To love ourselves well begins with Him and ends with Him and as we think in between “He is!”  He is the creator, the lover, the sanctifier, the consoler, the savior.  He is and always will be the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, so let it be Him the acting source in our lives and our love will grow in perfection fulfilling his word, “So be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  (Mt. 5:48) 

“Be perfect” is a command.  When we raise our thoughts, hearts, and will to God we enter into his perfection.  We are to “let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (Jam. 1:4-6) Let us unlock the significance of the command “be perfect”.  It does not say “try to be perfect” for this implies something less than perfect is all that is needed.  We accept the idea “I try to be good” as if that is enough. We turn to the excuse “no one is perfect” and settle for less than the command.  Let our prayer be “I will be perfect as called to be in the perfection of this moment by the will of God”.  We are calling our being to “be perfect” and on God to raise us up to his perfect will at this moment. His promise will be fulfilled for we are asking God to be perfect in us as we “go and do likewise”.  God answers the call when we call upon Him which is his desire all along that we turn to Him, and he is there.  In your perfection Lord, guide us to your perfect will. Amen. 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Pentecost – Solemnity “Jesus is Lord”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 2:1-11; Ps. 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34; 1 Cor. 12:3b-7,12-13; Jn. 20:19-23

“Jesus is Lord” is spoken by the believer as a confirmation of faith through the Holy Spirit with the grace to be proclaimed to the world.  Those possessed by evil cannot make this claim for it is an anathema to Satan.  “Jesus is Lord” is a proclamation of the Trinity as three persons in one God from the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit.  Just as we are to pray “In the name of Jesus” we are to proclaim “Jesus is Lord” as children of the highest God creator of all, there is no other.

Before Easter we enter into the time of Lent for forty days to fulfill the sacrifice that brings us Jesus our Lord through his passion, death, and resurrection.  Now is the time to fulfill the coming of Pentecost through the nine days after Jesus ascension and fifty days after Easter.  It is the coming of the Holy Spirit to give birth to the Church who is to forgive and retain sins.  The Church through the Holy Spirit works to discern the moral, ethical, and spiritual practices of the people of God as both an institution and through the body of Jesus our Lord.  Jesus is Lord of his bride the church and all who come to receive him in the Eucharist as one body in one Spirit though many parts. It is the same Spirit.

We see in the first reading the gift of the Holy Spirit as “tongues as of fire” coming to rest on now the apostles giving them the power to speak in different languages to all gathered in Jerusalem from the ends of the “world”.  This Spirit comes to us with “different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit…for some benefit.”  What is our gift and are we in service of our gift “for some benefit” of God’s greater good?  It is a treasure to do the labor of love. 

We are to reflect on the “benefit” coming from our gifts.  Who benefits?  Is our life lived for simply our benefit, our treasure, our glory or are we serving someone greater than ourselves?  That is the question where the answer will bring us to salvation where the only true answer is “Jesus is Lord” of my life.  If Jesus is Lord of my life then we offer up ourselves as a sacrifice for the benefit God wants to deliver through us in all our encounters this day.  It is in the encounter where the Lord makes his presence known beginning with the encounter in Mass and as we go forth to encounter the world. 

In a world of sin, we need the fire of the Holy Spirit to raise us up with the gifts of fortitude, justice, prudence, and temperance known as the Cardinal Virtues to go into battle as the militant church on earth.  After Jesus “breathes” on the disciples and ascends into heaven, they pray their “novena” that is their nine days in wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit to bring them the confirmation of their call to go forth as Apostles and proclaim the good news. 

In the Charismatic movement the gift of tongues is a spiritual gift of loving God with all our hearts, minds, and souls in worship often described as “slain in the spirit”.  It is the joy and fire coming to the poor in spirit who die to self to be raised in Jesus our Lord.  The poor in spirit are predisposed to receive the gift by virtue of their humility.  Humility is the gateway to all the spiritual gifts.  Just as Jesus is the cornerstone of salvation through the church the Holy Spirit is the cornerstone of the spiritual gifts through humility in dying to self that Jesus may rise in us. 

In the gospel Jesus appears to the disciples after the resurrection and breathes on them giving them the authority to forgive or retain sins through the gift of the Holy Spirit.  It is a ministerial gift set aside for the church priesthood.  It is not the gift of tongues but the same Spirit belonging to the one body of Christ.   In our confirmation within the Church the spirit comes to us giving us the gift that will serve God for some benefit.  Do we recognize our gift given to us for the benefit of a greater good?  Let the fruit of our gifts be multiplied by each act of service coming from the gifts. 

We are to discern the gifts of the Holy Spirit that lights our fire our joy and brings us peace.  It is our calling and we are not to set it aside or we will wander in the desert in search of the promise land already waiting for us.  Let us stay in the Spirit with Jesus our Lord and neither wonder nor wander but move in the Spirit for the benefit of our salvation and of the whole world.  “Peace be with you…and with your Spirit” who comes to us this day announcing “Jesus is Lord”. The time has come, now is the time to enter into the Spirit and take up our gift to Jesus our Lord. 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

20th Sunday Ordinary Time

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 56:1, 6-7; Ps. 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8; Rom.11:13-15; Mt. 15:21-28

Jesus’ house of prayer! In the eyes of the world according to today’s gospel Jesus would be labeled racist, sexist, and misogynist.  He denies the woman pleading for her daughter three times, first he ignores her “does not say a word in answer to her”, sexist, then he claims “he was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”, racist, and finally he directly rejects her “It is not right to take food of the children and throw it to the dogs”, misogynist.  Do not be surprised if in our times the world will take these stories and use them to reject religion and faith in God.  There is a greater truth revealed in this story that Jesus is about to demonstrate as the faith of the woman is tested.  The greater truth is revealed in both a personal response to the woman and in a universal response to humanity. 

In the personal response, Jesus says to the woman’s pleading “great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.”  The perseverance of this woman overcame the test of faith.  How quickly are we to give up on prayer when God is silent to our pleading.  The question in our minds is “where is God?”  Jesus denies her three times, just like he asks Peter “Do you love me?” three times.  This is the mystery of faith to respond to the Trinity.  Do you love me in the Father?  Do you love me in the Son?  Do you love me in the Spirit?  Who do we pray to, the Father, the Son, or to the Holy Spirit?  Jesus heard Peter’s response the first time just as he heard the woman’s request but the totality of faith and love must be complete in Jesus’ house of prayer. 

In the universal response, we often speak of scripture in the “context” of salvation history.  In Jesus “time” meaning in historical time for all time is “Jesus time”, the Jewish community did not view the gentile people in salvation history.  Jesus is taking this Canaanite woman’s pleading to demonstrate to the Jewish followers who he was “sent” to recognizing the historical significance of “the people of God”.  We see in the second reading St. Paul speaking as the “apostle to the Gentiles” to make his race “jealous” for having rejected Jesus but through the mercy God is giving to the Gentiles he may “save some of them”.  Here we see the prophecy of Isaiah manifested as “The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, ministering to him, loving the name of the LORD, and becoming his servants…keep the sabbath…hold to my covenant…them I will bring to the holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer”.  This is fulfilled in the Gentiles who will be his servants in his house of prayer.

In listening to Christian radio on the way to home from work the person said in a study only 37% of Christian’s believe in salvation through faith only.  She then claimed to find in scripture many passages that supported the doctrine of faith only.  In our first reading we see how faith is revealed in action and while faith is the first step of conversion it is not the “only” step in salvation.

Returning to the beginning of this homily, we see in our time a revolutionary movement to reject faith in God.  While hundreds can gather to protest social injustice, church gatherings are treated as pandemic spreaders.  The real intent is to prevent the spread of the gospel, threaten civil penalties for church gatherings, and force institutions of faith to adopt practices contrary to their faith or bring injunctions until they submit or are bankrupt.  The revolution against faith institutions is spreading in the cultural war and we are a target.   Jesus will again become the target by attacking the head of the church the body will disperse.  Will we deny him or will we defend him by our proclamation of faith in action and enter into his house of prayer? 

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Homily The Deacon Joe

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Ex. 34:4b-6, 8-9; Dan. 3:52-55; 2 Cor. 13: 11-13; Jn. 3:16-18

The Lord, Our Father, one in three Persons is the answer to our pandemic, our injustice, our violence.  He is Jesus who first appeared to the disciples after the resurrection with the words, “Peace be with you”.  Do we seek peace, justice, unity and community then now is the time to proclaim Jesus is alive!  The power of evil on the streets is calling for “law and order” but the soul is hungry for love and justice.  The church must not be silent nor divided at this time but be one in the faith with the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We must not carry the sin of omission by being silent. 

During this pandemic we have experienced a separation from the Mass, the summit of our celebration of faith.  Is this a “vacation” from our obligation with a dispensation or a realization of our need for the body of Christ in the Eucharist, our need for unity as a people of God, and a need to enter into a deeper communion with the Trinity in our life of prayer.  One of the hardships for the community is having to bury the dead without a Mass.  In addition to the loss of a loved one and limited participation allowed from the funeral homes there is also the sense of an incomplete participation from the church.  The body of Christ is grieving to return to being one again and we must open the doors to the fullness of the sacramental life once more. 

This week was the burial of George Floyd who died at the mercy and in the custody of police.   His death has become a universal call to justice spreading around the world.  In the streets are the peace and justice crowd seeking to build up a community and the call to violence crowd seeking to tear down a community.  One is based on love and the other on hate.  In a post someone stated “The problem is sin, not skin.  The answer is Grace, not race.  Jesus died for all.  Our nation needs Jesus!”  The world needs Jesus!  Jesus came for salvation of the world but the world still rejects the source of peace.  Jesus appeared to the disciples and his first words were “Peace be with you.”  The universal church must be heard and seen as the voice for peace.  Now is not the time to be silent and let others battle the streets.  Now is the time to proclaim peace in Jesus! 

“The Lord, the Lord a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity…so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life”.  In this the promise of the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament in the person of Jesus, second person of the Trinity.  Today we needs the Lord’s mercy upon our nation and the world.

His name “The Lord” is now given as “Father”.  “The Lord” who Moses bowed down and worshiped is now the “Father” who we embrace with the love of the Son to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  He is “Our Father” in one body and three persons from the beginning of time.  From the old to the new the Word remains an act of love for the world but the world must respond to this love to receive its salvation. 

Free will dictates we make a choice and the choice we make is to embrace the Trinity as a member of the community of heaven becoming one in body, soul, and spirit that is one in love.  The opposite choice is to remain “a stiff-necked people” where condemnations comes from rejecting faith in his name.  In who are we to believe?  Some claim science as ultimate truth but science is limited focusing on the study of the elements of truth, incomplete and evolving.  Others look to a political nirvana that exists in theory with no potential of survival in a fallen and broken human nature.  Finally, left without a place to turn many are left to believe only in themselves but there is only one of each person with separate minds alone unto itself, challenged and never at peace, to die without unity to other. 

Who do we serve, science, politics, oneself, or someone greater than and creator of all that is above, below and most importantly with all?  The Lord, Our Father from the beginning is a unity in communion as a Trinity.  This the church proclaims as a revelation from God, our Lord and Father in the Son through the Holy Spirit as the source of life itself.  Do we believe?  Eternity is dependent on the answer.  This is the choice this nation finds itself on the streets of good versus evil. 

History of the church was first seen as an outgrowth of the Jewish faith tied to the scriptures of what we know as the Old Testament until it was clear that Jesus would not be accepted as the Son of God, co-eternal, one in being with the Father and many were martyred in the faith for claiming what was rejected as heresy.  Today the division continues to get fragmented into many other denominations and the justification remains the same, the heresy labeled against the other. 

Who do we serve one God in three Persons or one denomination among hundreds?  God is a unity of one and until we accept this unity to love God as one united in the Trinity and our neighbor as one with us in our one Lord and Father, we have a way to journey in the desert of faith.  During this pandemic the church has closed and the world has become more shattered by evil.  The evil one is claiming victory for souls while the doors of the church slowly are opening.  Let us open the doors wide and return to claim our victory over sin and death.  Jesus is waiting and its our turn now. 

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Homily

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Posted on by Deacon Joe

2 Sam. 5:1-3; Ps. 122:1-5; 2 Col. 1:12-20; Lk. 23:35-43

“This is the King of the Jews”.  The sign on the cross intended as a mockery was the fulfillment of the prophesy “the chosen one”.  “He is the image of the invisible God.”  How many representations of Jesus are made in picture, statue, woven yet regardless of the difference in image they give testimony to the one reality “the image of the invisible God” came in human condition into our history, the uncreated shares in the created humanity to be one with us. 

“For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth”.  This gives testimony to the Trinity, one God in three persons who “is before all things…and in him all things hold together.”  All “things” exist by his will created for a purpose, a divine purpose.  Are we living our divine purpose?  This is where our joy lies. 

“He is the beginning, the first born from the dead.”  The God of the living for those living in Christ where death is but a rite of passage from our mortal bodies into the eternal state…but not all.  Not everyone accepts the gift of life in Christ.  Just as in times past some still believe there is no resurrection for the dead while others believe there is no hell and all inherit the kingdom.  Free will means there is a choice.  Just as scriptures speaks to the fallen angels from grace so is the fallen humanity by choice.  Choose wisely!

His desire is “that in all things he himself might be preeminent.”  Christ the King first in our lives.  In his death and resurrection his kingship in the world “all the fullness was pleased to dwell.”  Jesus dwells in us halleluiah!  The King of Glory comes into our being to be one with us as he is in the Father and the Spirit.  It is an invitation of transformation.  Sometimes this is described as “less of me and more of Christ in me” as a giving up of our existence a “dying to self”.  The God of the living is not asking for our death but to come and give us the fullness of life in him.  Imagine if we allow him in every moment of life to transform us into being the greatest he created us to be “all the fullness” of life, love, and liberty is ours, free in Christ the King.

“It is through him to reconcile all things for him.”  Our sins are forgiven through him as he promises the criminal “today you will be with me in Paradise”.  Did he steal heaven or did Jesus snatch him out of the grasp of the devil because he turned to Jesus for mercy?  Jesus saves!  The wait for his kingdom has passed.  Have we passed into the kingdom already present for us or is it passing us by as we reject the call to reconciliation?  Jesus have mercy on us.

Jesus invites us into his love “making peace by the blood of his cross.”  Many criticize the Church for keeping the image of Christ on the cross when he has resurrected.  His presence on the cross is for the unrepentant sinner and today we have many in this world.  He is the sacrifice on the altar to continue his suffering for our sins.  When will we accept the fullness of his love and why the resistance to such an invitation? 

I would call this a modern version of a parable.  There were three men being offered a choice between a rock and a diamond.  One was Jew, one Catholic, and one Protestant.  Each man chooses the rock and rejects the perfect diamond.  The Jewish man says he chooses the rock because of his sense of unworthiness.  The Catholic man says he chooses the rock out of fear of responsibility for the diamond.  The Protestant man says he chooses the rock to make it into its own diamond according to his image.   Finally, a child playing passes by and grabs the diamond with no self-awareness, no fear, no intent but to enjoy its beauty.  Grab the diamond, what are we waiting for? 

The fullness of the diamond is in the Eucharist, body, blood, soul, and divinity.  The kingdom is present and it comes into our bodies, soul, and spirit.  Diamonds make laser cuts to root out the imperfect.  The Eucharist is the diamond to receive this day and allow the fullness of Jesus to work in our being transforming us into his image, a diamond of holiness.  All are invited to come and receive in this sacrament his love.  The Church sets a process in Baptism and Reconciliation as our testimony of faith to give visible signs of our love of God.  Receive and rejoice in Christ the King of Glory.  Remember diamonds are forever! 

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