Homily for September 28, 2014 (26th Sunday A)

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

There were two sons in our reading from the Gospel today.  One of them changed his mind and chose to be disobedient to his father. The other son changed his mind and chose to be obedient to his father.  In the reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians, the Lord Jesus reveals the mind of the Father and changes everything.

Our reading from the book of the prophet Ezekiel and our reading from the Gospel of Matthew focus on our human capacity to make a choice.  We have been created with the awesome power to make a choice.  God has created us in freedom.  We are capable of responding to the invitation of God.  We can walk toward him at his call. We can walk on the path that leads us to the Promised Land. We can enjoy with the prophets the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.  And we are capable of rejecting the invitation of God.  We can walk away from him at his call.  We can run on the path that leads to exile.  We are capable of experiencing, even now, the desolation and isolation of those who eternally reject the everlasting love of the Lord God.

The Lord God, for his part, has made his choice.  He has loved us from all eternity. He has called us from the foundation of the world. God has invited us, like the father in the parable, to spend our day in his vineyard.  The choice of God is clear.  In his will, He has chosen us.  He invites us to choose His will.

In the Letter to the Philippians, we hear that the Lord Jesus embraces the will of the Father in humility and obedience.  The Lord Jesus claims no privileged for himself.  His life is complete and total gift to the Father. He embraces the road of humility that leads from the heights of heaven to the Virgin’s womb.  From the poverty of the manger, the simplicity of Nazareth, and to the isolation of Calvary, the Lord Jesus lives in obedience in the vineyard of the Father. The Lord Jesus shows us that true power and authority is revealed in obedience and humility. The greatest act of power of the Lord Jesus is freely choosing the will of the Father. 

God, our loving Father, has made his choice.  The Lord Jesus, our Blessed Redeemer, has made his choice.  The invitation is clear.  The path is marked by the footprints of the Savior.  Let us go, dear brothers and sisters, to the vineyard of the Father.  Amen.

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

Homily for September 21, 2014 (25th Sunday A)

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

Today the prophet Isaiah invites us to seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near.  We are invited to seek the Lord who is generous in forgiving and full of mercy.  From the prophet Isaiah, we hear that we are the ones who are called to seek.

In the Gospel today the Lord Jesus tells us the parable of the landowner who seeks laborers for his vineyard.  Here it is not the servants who are called to seek, but the master who is seeking for them.  The master never gives up his search for laborers for his vineyard.  He called them in the early hours of the morning to go into the vineyard and promised them the usual daily wage.  He called them in the middle of the morning, and promised them a just wage.  He called them in the middle of the day, in the middle of the afternoon, and even in the last hour of the working day.  Each laborer was given the same command, “Go into my vineyard,” and each laborer was promised a just payment.  And when the day of work was ended, the laborers who were the last ones to be hired were the first ones to be paid.  Those who worked in the vineyard for only an hour were paid the usual daily wage.  The payment that they received was far greater than the work that they had accomplished.  Each laborer in turn received the usual daily wage until all had been paid.  Those who had worked the full day were paid as had been agreed, but they resented the generosity of the master in paying all the workers equally.  Essentially, my brothers and sisters, those who had agreed for the usual daily wage, who were paid the usual daily wage, and labored the whole day in the vineyard of the landowner, missed the point.

The apostle Paul, however, did not miss the point.  A devout son of the people of Israel, a student of the law, Paul was a man who had sought the Lord while he may be found.  Formerly he had been a persecutor of the followers of Jesus, but after encountering Jesus on the road and hearing his call, Paul’s life was forever changed.  The last apostle to be called directly by the Lord Jesus tells us today in the letter to the Philippians that “life is Christ.”  We hear that the reward at the end of this life, when the day of work is over, is to be with Christ.  Paul understood what the laborers in the vineyard did not.  The reward was not the payment.  The reward was the relationship with the master.  From the early hours of the morning, they had been privileged to serve in the vineyard of the master.  He had called them unto himself and sent them to do his work.  They forgot the joy of a life spent in the service of the Lord.  They even missed that at the end of the day, the master called one of them, “My friend.”  The apostle Paul never forgot that joy.  Paul never forgot that Jesus had called him, as he called all the apostles, his friend.  Through trials and tribulations, persecutions and imprisonments, Paul never forgot that the life of greatest joy and the life of greatest meaning is the life spent in the vineyard of the Lord.

We have come here today to seek the Lord where he has promised to be found.  In the scriptures proclaimed, in the gathered community of the baptized, in the one though unworthy set apart as his priest, and most especially in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood, the Lord Jesus has promised to be found.  We have come here today because at whatever hour of our lives we are currently in, and that is known to God alone, we have heard the call of the Lord and have gone into the vineyard.  Let us labor in the vineyard of the Lord, in whatever way he has called us and at whatever time he has called us.

As we celebrate the Eucharist today, let us be attentive to the call of the Lord to labor in his vineyard.  Let us remember that Jesus Christ himself is the reward of our labors in his name.  And let us today be thankful, for our Lord is near, our Lord is very near, to all who call upon him and he has called us his friends. Amen.

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

Homily for September 14, 2014 (Exaltation of the Holy Cross)

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

Almost seventeen hundred years ago, Helena was on a search in Jerusalem.  The mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine had become a devout Christian, and she was on a search.  Helena was looking through the rubble and debris on Mount Calvary, searching for the Cross of the Savior of the World.  On a September day in 326, she found three crosses.  The sick people in Jerusalem were brought to Calvary and were touched with each of the crosses.  The cross that brought healing was recognized as the True Cross of Jesus Christ.  In their encounter with the cross of Christ, they found healing.

Almost thirteen years ago, on another September morning, Frank Silecchia was on a search.  Looking amidst the rubble and debris of the World Trade Center in the middle of September 2001, he found two metal beams that were bound together.  On that September day, he found the cross at Ground Zero.  In the face of a most brutal and cowardly terrorist attack, in the presence of the heroic deeds of firefighters and police officers and port authority officers and priests and ordinary people who did extraordinary things, the cross shined through.  In their encounter with the cross of Christ, they found hope.

Our lives have been blessed by the sign of the cross of Christ.  We were claimed in baptism by the sign of the cross.  We were confirmed with the Chrism in the sign of the cross.  We are absolved in the sacrament of reconciliation with the sign of the cross.  We are blessed with the sign of the cross at each Mass and we will be commended to the house of the Father with the sign of the Cross.  The cross of Christ our Savior surrounds us in the sacraments and in our worship.

But the cross of Christ is present in the rest of our lives as well.  This encounter with the cross is often received with difficulty.  Sometimes we are invited to come closer to the cross of our Redeemer and share in his sufferings.  There is the cross of physical illness.  There is the cross of sadness in the earthly loss of a loved one.  There is the cross of anguish in our hearts over our family members who no longer practice the faith.  There is the cross of mental illness and addictions.  There is the cross of Christ in the sufferings of our lives.

And the cross shall be our glory.

Today we celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.  Today we celebrate that the cross which surrounds us, the cross which gives us healing and hope, and the cross that we bear, is a sign of victory.  The cross that lifted the Lord Jesus up from the earth is the throne of triumph from which he draws all people to himself.  The cross is the place of his victory over sin, death and the devil.  Beneath the shadow of a tree, our first parents ate the fruit of disobedience.  Beneath the shadow of the tree of the cross we receive the blood and water of mercy flowing from the pierced side of the Son of God.  By his death and glorious resurrection, Jesus Christ has claimed the cross as the place of his triumph.  By his death and glorious resurrection, and by our participation in his death and glorious resurrection, Jesus Christ has claimed our cross as the place of his triumph.  We have a share in his cross.  We have a share in his victory.

The Lord Jesus promised that when he was lifted up from the earth, like the bronze serpent in the desert was lifted up, that he would draw all people to himself.  The Lord Jesus was lifted up on the cross on Calvary, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, drawing all people to himself.  Every day in the celebration of the Mass, the Lord Jesus is lifted up, and we hear, “Behold the Lamb of God; Behold him who takes away the sins of the world; Blessed are those called to the Supper of the Lamb.”

The Lord Jesus has invited us to draw near. He has invited us to bring our crosses to his.  Sharing in his cross, let us go to Him that we might share in his victory forever.

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

Homily for September 11th

This homily was preached on September 11, 2011, the 24^th Sunday in Ordinary Time A at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Salisbury, NC    

I have to admit that I was disappointed when I looked at the readings for this Sunday’s Mass.  I was hoping for something different.  Perhaps one of the great stories from the Old Testament of God winning the victory for his chosen people, the smiting of foes, the conquering of the enemy, would have spoken more to me on this weekend.  Even after ten years, and most of those spent in priestly formation and ministry, I’m still angry.  Deep down in a secluded part of my heart and soul, there is still that desire for vengeance.  It’s not justice that I want, that is the punishment of the guilty.  It is not the legitimate protection of our nation and her people.  It’s vengeance, the desire for the enemy to suffer as we have suffered, and maybe even a little hatred, that has kept a home.  Maybe, my brothers and sisters, you and I share that today.  Maybe, just maybe, as we mark the passage of ten years since our nation was the victim of a most brutal and cowardly terrorist attack, a few of us still keep a space for vengeance and hatred in our hearts.

But the Lord calls us to something different.

We read in the wisdom of Sirach that wrath and anger are hateful things, and that the sinner holds them tight.  We hear that those who are vengeful will suffer the Lord’s vengeance.  And we are even posed with the question, “Could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the Lord?”  To let go of the anger and hatred, having felt it so profoundly, held it so very tightly, and even nourished it so carefully is so much to ask.  Yet that is what the Lord has called us to do.  We have not been asked to forget what happened.  We have not been asked to declare that which is manifestly evil to be good.  And we have not been asked to forsake our desire for justice.  What we have been asked, and what the Lord calls us to, is to allow our hearts and souls to be freed from the captivity that hatred and anger and vengeance create in us.  We are called to take the feelings and the pains that are deep within us, and offer them in prayer for those who lost their lives, those who lost their families and for the country that lost whatever remained of its innocence on that sunny September morning ten years ago.

And then the Lord Jesus asks even more of us.

In the reading from the Gospel today, Peter poses a question to Jesus: “Lord, if my brother sins against me how often must I forgive him?”  In hearing this question that Peter asks, we must remember that among the Twelve that there are two sets of brothers, James and John, Peter and Andrew.  This is not a question of forgiving someone we do not know, or those we know by only their names and actions.  This is not even a question about forgiving a neighbor.  This is about forgiving a brother or sister, someone with whom we share our very lives.  Our desire to forgive and the mercy that we show cannot remain anonymous.  We must extend that mercy to those closest to us, those who because of their closeness to us have the ability to hurt us the most.  We forgive and seek to forgive not so much because we want to, but because the Lord has asked it, and especially because we have known and experienced his forgiveness.  Holding on tightly to hurts old and new, nourishing and sustaining grudges deep within our hearts, not realizing of course that these are not trophies but wounds that only poison us, these things the Lord invites us to give up and give to him.

As we celebrate this Eucharist today we gather as a people who have known suffering and pain.  More importantly we gather as a people who have known and experienced the Father’s mercy.  Let us ask for the grace today to place any vengeance or hatred in our hearts on the Altar of Sacrifice.  Let us turn to the Heart of Jesus filled with compassion for us, and ask for the grace to be compassionate and forgiving to others.  And let us declare with our very lives that indeed the Lord is kind and merciful.  Amen. 

Preached at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Salisbury, NC 

Homily for September 7, 2014 (23rd Sunday A)

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

Today the Lord Jesus gives us two commands and one promise.  Today we are commanded to speak and to listen.  We are given the promise of the presence of the Lord Jesus when we speak and when we listen.

In our reading from the Gospel of Matthew we hear the words of the Lord Jesus about fraternal correction.  This is not the type of instruction and correction that parents give to their children.  It is not even the type of correction that teachers give to students.  Today our Lord Jesus instructs us how we are to correct a brother or sister, a husband or a wife, a fellow disciple of the Lord.  Today we are given the command to speak the difficult word of correction.

In our reading from the prophet Ezekiel we hear that the Lord has appointed his prophet to be a sentinel for the house of Israel.  The task of the prophet is to speak the word of correction to those who are living in error.  It is the responsibility of the prophet to speak this difficult word, not only for the salvation of the one who is in error, but for his own salvation as well.  The one who is called to be a prophet for the Lord and a sentinel for his people must speak the word of correction.  It is not an option.  When we were baptized into Christ Jesus, we were anointed priest, king, and prophet.  Each of us has been called by the Lord through our baptism to this prophetic office and we have a responsibility at times to speak the word of correction to our brothers and sisters.

But if we are to speak, if we are to fulfill our baptismal call and follow the command of the Lord, we must speak in love.  Saint Paul reminds us that love does no evil to the neighbor.  When we are called to speak this most difficult word of correction to a brother or sister in Christ, we must seek to do so with the mind of Christ and most importantly with the heart of Christ.

The Lord Jesus gives us a pattern to follow when we must exercise this responsibility of fraternal correction.  We are called first to speak privately to the one who has sinned against us.  We owe that private and gentle correction to a brother or sister.  We are to speak to them, in love, and not to others in judgment.  When we first go privately to a brother or sister, it is fraternal correction.  When we first go to others and speak of the misdeeds of a brother or sister, it is gossip, at best, or slander.  However, if our brother or sister does not respond to this private correction, then, and only then, do we ask others to join us in our efforts to bring back a wandering member of the flock.  And if they do not respond, we must invite the Church to pray for them.  The word of correction will only be effective when it is spoken in love and supported with prayer.

As difficult as it is to speak the word of correction, it is perhaps more difficult to hear that word.  Yet that is what the Lord Jesus commands each of us to do today.  When the word of correction is spoken to us, in friendship and in love, then we must heed this word.  When correction is given in love, it is an expression of love and concern for our salvation, and should not be seen as an effort to humiliate us.  When we hear the word of challenge, and we recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd speaking to us through another member of the flock, may we have the grace to follow the command of Christ and listen to his voice calling us closer to himself.

The Lord Jesus promised that when two or more were gathered in his name that his presence would be among them.  When we are called to speak the word of correction, or to listen to that same word, the Lord Jesus is indeed present among us.  As we celebrate this Eucharist today, Jesus is present among us.  Let us ask for the grace to have the courage to speak the difficult word of correction to others.  Let us ask for the grace to listen with an open heart when the word of correction is spoken to us.  And let us rejoice as we are gathered, as more than two or three, in the presence of the Lord Jesus. Amen.

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