Homily for August 31, 2014 (22nd Sunday A)

May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.

There is something different in our Gospel reading today.  For several months our Gospel readings have begun with the Lord Jesus teaching his disciples or speaking a parable to the crowds.  Today there is a different word.  Today, our Gospel begins: “Jesus began to show his disciples.”

Living out the teaching of the love of the Father, proclaiming the goodness of creation, and announcing a universal call to holiness of life, would lead the Lord Jesus to a lonely cross on Calvary.  He begins to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly, be killed, and rise again.  Last Sunday we heard Peter’s confession of faith.  Today we hear Peter’s objection to the suffering of the cross, and the correction that the Lord Jesus offers to him.

At the time of Jesus, there was great religious expectation for the coming of a messiah.  However the messiah that they expected would be a political and military ruler who would overthrow the Romans, restore the Kingship at Jerusalem, and make his power felt throughout the world.  And yet now, believing and confessing that this Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the disciples are confused.  Expecting a military ruler, they now see a shepherd who promises to become a suffering servant.  The cross of Jesus would be daily offered to them, and sharing in his cross they would share in his promised victory.  This conviction about and this experience of the Lord Jesus would change how the disciples thought, how they lived, and ultimately how they died.

It was the same for Jeremiah in our first reading. He was called as a young man to a prophetic office.  The majority of the book of Jeremiah deals not with his prophetic words, but his prophetic actions.  He taught and showed that he had experienced the power of the Most High God, but that his call to be the Lord’s prophet had led him to derision and reproach.  Jeremiah suffered for the message that he believed and that he proclaimed.

Saint Paul, in his Letter to the Romans, invites us “by the mercies of God, to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.”  When we were baptized into Christ, we were anointed priest, prophet and king.  We each received, in virtue of our baptism, a priestly office of sacrifice so that we are capable of and responsible for offering ourselves as living and holy sacrifices to the living and holy God.  We offer ourselves in sacrifice each time we, like Jeremiah, are criticized or mocked for our faith.  We offer sacrifice when we daily take up the cross and the suffering of illness, our own suffering or in compassion the suffering of another.  We offer the sacrifice of praise when our hearts and lips are joined in prayer.  And in simplicity, we offer the sacrifice of fidelity to our vocation, confident that the daily sacrifice of our daily duties is holy and acceptable to the Father.

But chiefly brothers and sisters, we offer our sacrifices in union with the one sacrifice of Christ.  Made present daily in the celebration of the Eucharist, we are invited to join in the offering of Christ to the Father.  We join and are joined to the cross of Christ and to his victory each time we are present, really present, for the celebration of the Eucharist.

As we celebrate this Eucharist today, let us be attentive to the ways that the Lord Jesus is showing us his love.  Let us fix our gaze on Jesus, the shepherd and suffering servant.  And let us gather our daily sacrifices and crosses, the light and the heavy, and present ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC

Homily for August 24, 2014 (21st Sunday A)

May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.

It all began with an invitation from the Lord Jesus.  Walking by the Sea, the master called two sets of brothers.  It all began with the words, “Come, follow me.”  In our reading from the Gospel today, it all begins with a question: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  The Lord Jesus then asks a more direct question, “But who do you say that I am?”  By a special revelation from the Father, Simon professes, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”  From the mouth of Simon the Fisherman come the words of Peter the Shepherd.  On him and on his profession of faith Christ our Lord has promised to build his Church and the gates of the netherworld shall not overcome it.  Death will not conquer the Church.  Death will not bring an end to the mission of Peter.  In every age, and from generation to generation, the office of the Apostle Peter continues in the Church.  The office of the Apostle Peter continues in Our Holy Father, the Pope, who is the Bishop of Rome.

It is the task of our Holy Father, the Pope, to confess the faith of the Church.  It is the task of our Holy Father to confirm the brethren as the head of the college of Bishops, and it is his task to bind and to loose with the authority of Jesus Christ.  It is his responsibility as the Successor of St. Peter to declare that which is in conformity with our profession of faith and that which is not in conformity with the faith of the Church. 

But chiefly, dear brothers and sisters, the Holy Father exercises the office of unity.  The Holy Father keeps us united to the Apostles, to the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, to the saints of ages long passed and the saints whose voices we heard with our own ears.  The Holy Father keeps us united to our past.  Like a good shepherd, the Holy Father leads the flock into the green pastures ahead of us.  For the whole Church he guards her faith from error so that the gift that we have received from the Lord through the Apostles might be faithfully handed on to the next generation.  Saint Peter, now through Pope Francis, continues to profess the faith, to shepherd the flock and to proclaim the message of salvation.

And yet, dear brothers and sisters, what Christ the Lord has given to Peter in a very particular way, Christ has also shared with each of us.  We are here today because we have made our own the confession of faith made by the Apostle Peter.  We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.  We make that profession of faith our own each time we say “Amen.”  We make that profession of faith our own in a very profound way when we pronounce our “Amen” at Holy Communion.  For Simon, the Fisherman of Galilee, this profession of faith took him from his homeland and from his culture and from his daily work.  This profession of faith took him to prison, to persecution, to crucifixion in the circus of Nero, and to burial on a hillside where his bones still rest.  Our journey will likely be different, but the one who calls us, the one in whom we place our faith, and the one who’s Gospel we live and proclaim is the same.  It is Christ the Lord who invites us.

As we celebrate this Eucharist today, let us pray for our Holy Father Francis as he professes the faith and shepherds the flock.  Let us commit ourselves to faithfully handing on the gift of faith that we have received.  And let us renew our own profession of faith and in the silence of our hearts profess to the Lord Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Amen.

Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC

Homily for August 17, 2014 (20th Sunday A)

May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.

Her faith is great.  The Canaanite woman in the Gospel possesses great faith.  She is an outsider.  She is not part of the people of Israel.  She is not, at least in the minds of the disciples at that moment, a recipient of the promise of God.  Yet she shows the disciples what it means to have faith.  She shows us what it means to have faith.

The Canaanite woman approaches the Lord with humility and reverence.  She calls upon Jesus as the Lord and the Son of David.  She does him homage.  She recognizes that healing and salvation are present and active in Him.  With humility and reverence, she demonstrates her faith in the Lord Jesus.

The Canaanite woman reveals her request to the Lord.  She does not hide her need.  She announces that her daughter is tormented by a demon.  She fearlessly proclaims, “Lord, help me.”  There is no reservation in her words.  There is no pride that prevents her from making her petition known to the Lord.  Even though she is not a Daughter of Israel, she approaches the Lord Jesus with the confidence of a child.  With the confidence of a child, she reveals her request, and demonstrates her faith.

The Canaanite woman is persistent.  She will not allow the cultural differences to keep her from the Lord.  She will not allow the silence of the Lord Jesus to prevent her from speaking.  In her persistence, she demonstrates her faith in the Lord Jesus.

As we approach the Lord Jesus, and through him, approach the Father of all mercies, may the example of the Canaanite woman inspire us to approach with humility and reverence.  With the confidence of a child let us make known our needs and petitions to the one who is worthy to receive our prayers.  And with the persistence of a loving mother interceding for her child, let us offer our prayers to the Lord with the confidence of faith.  Amen.

Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC

Homily for August 10, 2014 (19th Sunday A)

May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.

Elijah encountered the Lord in the silence.  Peter and the apostles encounter the Lord in the storm.  We have encountered the Lord in this retreat.

It was not in a mighty wind that we heard him.  In was not in an earthquake that we felt his presence.  It was not in the fire that we saw him.  In the silence, we knew the Lord was near.  In the silence, the Lord spoke to us.

The Lord Jesus brought us here to tell us who we are.  The Lord Jesus brought us here to remind us that we belong to him. The Lord Jesus brought us here to tell us that he is with us in the storm.  The winds and the waves have no power over us when we gaze upon the face of Jesus Christ.  He is more powerful than the storm.  He is more powerful than the wind, the earthquake and the fire.  He is more powerful than the storms in my life.  He is more powerful than the storms in your life. 

In the silence the Lord is with us.  In the storm the Lord is with us. Let us listen to him in the silence.  Let us look to him in the storm.  Amen.

Preached in Spanish at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC at the conclusion of a retreat at the parish.

Homily for August 3, 2014 (18th Sunday A)

May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.

Our message today is simple:  Jesus Christ feeds his people.

In that deserted place where the Lord Jesus went after he heard about the death of John the Baptist, he fed the people who followed him.  He fed them in abundance.  He fed them through the hands of his disciples.  He fed them until all had eaten and were satisfied.  In that deserted place, the Lord Jesus fed his people.

In our reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah, the Lord God promised to feed his people.  The Lord God promised a rich banquet with grain, wine, milk, and all kinds of rich fare.  The promise of this banquet was given to all who were hungry and all who were thirsty.  God himself would provide the banquet.  All who were willing to hear the call of the Lord were invited to the banquet.  Those who attended the feast needed only to bring themselves.

In that deserted place, the Lord Jesus invited the disciples to cooperate with him in feeding his people.  It was the disciples who recognized that the large crowd needed to be fed.  It was the disciples who presented this need to the Lord.  And it was from the disciples that the Lord Jesus received the five loaves of bread and the two fish.  The disciples were privileged to participate in the work of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus invited his disciples to share in the banquet.  The Lord Jesus invited his disciples to share in his work of feeding his people.

When the Lord Jesus fed his people in that deserted place, he took the gifts of bread and fish.  He raised his eyes to heaven and said the blessing.  He broke the bread.  Then he gave it to his disciples and his disciples shared it with the crowd.  He took.  He blessed.  He broke and he gave.  In that deserted place, the Lord Jesus fed his people through the hands of his disciples.  In that deserted place, He showed how he would continue to feed his people, in every time and place, through the hands of his disciples.

In every celebration of the Holy Mass, the Lord Jesus takes bread, says the blessing, breaks the bread, and gives it to his people.  Christ himself is the celebrant of the banquet.  Christ himself, through the ministry of his priest, takes, blesses breaks and gives.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Sacrament of Holy Orders, Jesus Christ himself feeds his people.  This is not my work.  This is not your work.  In fact, this is not our work.  This is the work of Christ the Savior and High Priest in which we have been invited to participate. 

We have been invited by the Lord Jesus to bring him our five loaves and two fish.  We have been invited to present the needs of the crowd to the Savior of the World.  We have been invited to share in the work that He is doing.  As we celebrate this Eucharist, and Lord Jesus takes, blesses, breaks and gives himself in our midst, may we hear his invitation, share in his work, and rejoice because Jesus Christ continues to feed his people.  Amen.

Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC