Sunday June 30, 2013

On Sunday, June 30, 2013 I celebrated Holy Mass in the Clementine Chapel of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.  This is the tomb of the Apostle Peter.  While I did not prepare a written text, the principle theme of my homily was, "The call to follow the Lord is an invitation to total committment."

Homily for June 23, 2013 (12th Sunday C)

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

The Lord Jesus is found in prayer, and then two questions are presented to the disciples.  The answer to the first question is a statement of fact.  The answer to the second question is a statement of faith.

The Lord Jesus says to his disciples who had joined themselves to his time of solitary prayer, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”  The answers are varied.  Some of the crowds think that Jesus is John the Baptist, raised from the dead.  John the Baptist, whose birth the Church will celebrate on Monday, had recently been executed by Herod because he preached about the sanctity of marriage.  Some of the crowds believed that Jesus was the prophet Elijah, the one who had long ago been taken up into heaven in a fiery chariot.  And some of the crowds thought that Jesus was another prophet from the Old Testament.  Public opinion was correct about some of the details.  Indeed the Lord Jesus preached about the sanctity of marriage, and about justice, and about caring for the weak and the poor.  But the crowds missed the essential part of the story.  The crowds can tell us about what Jesus did.  They do not tell us about who Jesus is.

Having answered the question about facts, the Lord Jesus asks the disciples the question of faith.  “Who do you say that I am?”  This is the most important question ever presented to the disciples.  This is the most important question that is presented to the Church in every generation.  And this is the most important question that will ever be presented to each of us. Everything about the lives of the disciples will be affected by the answer to this question.  Everything about the Church is affected by the answer to this question.  And everything about our lives should be affected by our answer to this question: Who is Jesus?

In our reading from the book of the Prophet Zechariah, we hear the promise of the Lord that the spirit of grace and petition will be poured out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.  This spirit will enable the people to gaze on the one who has been pierced, and among the people there will be great weeping and mourning.  But there will also be a fountain to purify the people from their sin and from their uncleanness.  The promised spirit enables the people to pray.  Through prayer the people are able to recognize the one who is the acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the world.  And through the cleansing waters of the fountain, the people share in that sacrifice.

Through this spirit of grace and prayer, promised many generations before his time, Peter professes his faith and the faith of the Church, that Jesus is the Christ of God.  The Lord Jesus reveals to them that the Christ of God is not an earthly king.  He is not a military ruler.  The Christ is one who will suffer and die.  The Christ of God is one who will be raised from the dead.  The Christ of God will not conquer a government.  He will conquer sin and death.  From his pierced side will flow the fountain of blood and water that will purify the people from their sins.  From the pierced side of Christ flows the life-giving power of the sacramental life of the Church. 

The promised Spirit has been given to us so that we can recognize the Lord Jesus, so that we can join in his prayer, and so that we can share in his sacrifice.  As we now join in the prayer of Christ the High Priest as he offers himself on the Altar, may we join with Peter in the profession of faith.  May we mourn for our sins and rejoice in the mercy of God.  And may we join with Christ the Savior who will lead us to everlasting life.  Amen.

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

Homily for June 16, 2013 (11th Sunday C)

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

Today we hear about forgiveness, but forgiveness is not the end of the story.

In our reading from the second book of Samuel, we hear of the encounter between Nathan the prophet and David the King.  It was the task of the prophet of God to confront the sins of the King.  There is no question about the guilt of David.  Though he had been greatly blessed by the Lord, saved from danger, anointed as king, was rich with wives and with houses, David took the wife of Uriah and then he had Uriah killed.  King David was guilty of adultery and murder.  The prophet announced the judgment of the Lord to the King.  Facing the judgment of God, David admitted his guilt.  He offered no excuses.  He recognized his sin and he confessed his guilt before the Lord.  His contrition was accepted in the sight of the Lord, even though his contrition was the result of his fear of the justice of God.

In our reading from the Gospel today, it is not fear of punishment that leads the sinful woman to wash the feet of the Lord Jesus.  The tears of contrition that flowed from her eyes and bathed the feet of the Savior were the result of faith and love. Like David, her guilt was not doubted. Unlike David, her sins were well known to the community.  The Pharisees recognized her as a sinner.  They were always ready to acknowledge the sinfulness of others.  The Pharisees were not, however, ready to be merciful.  Perhaps the Pharisees would grant mercy and forgiveness to those who deserved it.  The Lord Jesus, however, bestows the grace of mercy and forgiveness upon those who recognize that they need it.  

Today we have heard about forgiveness, but forgiveness is not the end of the story.  David was sorry for his sins because he feared the punishment of God, and his sorrow was accepted.  The sinful woman was sorry for her sins because she loved the Lord Jesus and her sins separated her from Him and from the community, and her sorrow was accepted.  They had both been given the grace of forgiveness.  They had both encountered the mercy of God.  And now having received the grace of mercy and forgiveness, they could live in the freedom of the children of God.  Forgiveness makes the relationship possible.  The forgiveness of our sins is necessary for us to live in a relationship with God.

Sin is a rejection of the invitation of God.  It is our rejection of the Lord’s invitation to relationship.  It is the use of something that is bad or the misuse of something that is good.  With every sin that we commit we build a wall of rejection to the grace of God.  With every sin that we commit, we chose some thing on earth over someone of heaven.  The forgiveness of our sins, offered to us in Christ Jesus through the sacraments of his Church, enables us to live in relationship with God.  The forgiveness of our sins is not the end of the story.  We seek the forgiveness and the mercy of God, sometimes out of fear, but hopefully more often out of love, so that we can sit at table with the Savior.  We seek the forgiveness and mercy of God, so that with Saint Paul, we can still live our human lives because they are lives of faith in the Son of God who loved us and offered himself up for us.

As we celebrate this Eucharist today, let us ask for the courage to seek the mercy and forgiveness of God.  May the Blessed Virgin Mary intercede for us that we may have the humility to accept the grace of her Son.  And let us ask for the grace to reject the temptation of sin and accept the invitation to live in the freedom of the children of God.  Amen.

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

Homily for June 9, 2013 (10th Sunday C)

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

I have been a priest for four years and three days.  And I think if I were to give a summary of every homily that I have ever preached, it would be this: God loves us, and we are transformed by our encounter with the Living God.  This love that we did not earn, this love that we could not earn, is given to us because of the goodness of God.  God loves us and we cannot change that.  Our encounter with the Living God in his Word and in his Sacraments transforms us so that we can share his love and live to the praise of his glory.  Everything is related to God’s love and our transformation in God.

We have, in our readings today, three expressions of the love of God and three transformations.  In our reading from the Book of Kings we see the love of God expressed in the concern of the prophet Elijah.  The child of the widow of Zarephath was seriously ill and was no longer breathing.  In fervent prayer and dramatic gesture the prophet begged the Lord to heal the child.  When his prayer was answered, the prophet returned the child to his mother.  The child was now breathing.  The great transformation, however, was in the mother.  Through the tender compassion and healing power of God, the widow of Zarephath had been transformed from despair to faith.

The second expression of love and the second transformation are the most famous in the Scriptures.  We hear the account of Saul on the road to Damascus at least three times in the Book of Acts and there are several references to it in his letters.  Expressing an eternal love, and a call from the foundation of the world, the Lord Jesus revealed himself to Saul.  Not only would his name be changed, but everything about the life of Paul would be transformed by his encounter with the Risen Lord.  The persecutor of Christ would now become the greatest evangelist of Christ.  Set apart by the decree of the Most High God before his birth, and called in the fullness of time to proclaim the Good News, Paul encountered the love of God and was transformed.  And because Paul was transformed by the love of God, the message of Paul transformed the world.

In our reading from the Gospel today we see the love of God incarnate in the Lord Jesus.  Entering the city of Nain, the Lord Jesus encountered a funeral procession.  It was the funeral of the only son of a widow, and the heart of Christ was moved with compassion.  There was a large crowd for this funeral procession, unlike the small crowd that would serve as the funeral procession for the only son of a widow, going from Calvary to a garden tomb.  The Lord Jesus instructed the widow to stop weeping.  He halted the procession.  And Jesus called the son to life.  At the loving and compassionate word of Christ, death was overcome.  The son, now raised from the dead, was given back to his mother.  Through the presence of Christ and the power of his word, a man who was dead was transformed into a man who is alive.

From despair to faith, from persecutor to evangelist and from death to life, the love of God and the power of his word transforms.  In this celebration of the Holy Eucharist, we join our prayer to the prophet Elijah and beg the Lord to restore and to strengthen the breath of the Holy Spirit within us.  We pray with Saint Paul that any resistance to the message of the Gospel and the Kingdom of Christ in our souls would be conquered by the revelation of his grace.  And we ask the Lord Jesus, in his great love and compassion, to free us from the tomb of our sins and raise us to life that we may be transformed from glory to glory.  Amen.

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

Homily for June 2, 2013 (Corpus Christi C)

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

Today we celebrate everything, because today is the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ.  If the Body and Blood of Christ does not become present on our Altar, then we have no true reason to be here.  The Eucharist is everything, because the Eucharist is Jesus Christ.

The feast of the Body and Blood of Christ is celebrated nine weeks after the institution of the Holy Eucharist on the evening of Holy Thursday.  On that most holy night, when the Church gathered to celebrate the institution of the Holy Eucharist and the Holy Priesthood together, because they can never be apart, the Holy Eucharist was celebrated in anticipation of the suffering of the Savior.  On this feast, the Holy Eucharist is celebrated in anticipation of the glory that shall be revealed in the disciples.  In the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the Lord Jesus Christ invites us to follow him.  Each and every Sunday, the Lord Jesus calls us to leave the world and follow him, just as he called Peter and Andrew to leave their nets and follow the way of the Lord.  In the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, we join the disciples on the road to Emmaus and listen to the law and the prophets.  Each Sunday, we join the disciples on the side of the mountain and listen to the words of the Lord proclaimed to us.  The words of salvation spoken in the Sermon on the Mount are spoken to you and to me.  The words of comfort and the invitation to conversion spoken to tax collectors and sinners are offered to us.  The words of resurrection and healing announced at the tomb of Lazarus are promised to us.  In the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, we are invited to act on his word and imitate the life of the Lord Jesus.

In the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the Lord Jesus calls us to communion.  The Lord Jesus is not simply calling us to receive Holy Communion.  Our Amen means more than that.  The Lord Jesus is inviting us to live in Holy and Blessed Communion with him.  He is inviting us to live in communion with him through our communion with the Church, his bride.  We are being invited to live in communion of heart and mind with her sacred teachings.  He is inviting us to live in communion with his vicar on earth, our Holy Father Francis in Rome.  The Lord Jesus is calling us to live in communion with the successors of the apostles of the Lamb, who are the bishops of the Church.  He is calling us to live in communion with the shepherds of his flock, and to live in communion with each other.  The Lord Jesus invites us to the Holy Communion of humble obedience and loving service.  In the celebration of the Eucharist, the Lord Jesus invites us to imitate the mystery of love that is celebrated on the Altar.

In the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the Lord Jesus invites us to loving service.  The Lord Jesus calls us here so that we may be instructed and so that we may be fed in order that we may be sent forth.  As we live as followers of the Lord Jesus and live in communion with him and his Church, the Eucharist that is celebrated on the Altar of the Church must be imitated on the Altar of our lives.  The Lord Jesus invites us to imitate what we celebrate.

The Eucharist is everything, because the Eucharist is Jesus Christ.  As we now approach the Altar of God and participate in the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ, may we respond to the invitation to follow him more closely.  Let us respond to the call to communion of mind and heart with the humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  And may the transformation of the gifts of bread and wine into Body and Blood of Christ transform each of us so that our lives will reflect that Jesus Christ is indeed everything.  Amen.

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

Homily for May 26, 2013 (Trinity Sunday C)

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

It is a love story.  The entire message of the Sacred Scriptures and the entire message of our Holy Catholic faith is a love story.  It is the story of the love that God the Father has for God the Son, a love that is so powerful and so real that it is the person of the Holy Spirit.  This is the mystery of the Holy Trinity.  The Holy Trinity is the relationship of perfect love. 

Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Trinity.  Eight weeks ago we celebrated the glorious resurrection of the Lord Jesus.  Last week we celebrated the feast of Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Next week we will celebrate the great feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, and meditate upon the gift of the Eucharist.  Today our focus is drawn to the central mystery of our faith: our God is a gift of love.  We believe in one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We believed in a God who is a relationship of perfect love.   This great mystery of the Holy Trinity surrounds our whole life.  We were created by the God of perfect love.  We were baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  We receive absolution in the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the name of the Trinity.  The bride and the groom exchange rings with each other in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  As we go forth from this life we are commended to the Father who created us, the Son who redeems us, and the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us.  All of our prayers begin with the sign of the cross and the confession of the Triune God.  In the celebration of the Holy Mass, we pray to God the Father through Jesus Christ his Son and in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Our God is a relationship of love, and the greatest gift that God has given to us is a share in that relationship.

From all eternity, God has desired to share his love.  God has desired to share his love with you and with me.  In the Trinity there is perfect love.  There is no need for anything else or anyone else to make the Trinity of love complete.  God does not need us.  God wants us.  We exist because God wants us, and God desires to share his love with us.

In the fullness of time, the Father sent the Son so that we might share in their love and have eternal life.  The great gift of God is that we share in the Son’s own relationship with the Father.  In baptism we were united with Christ to share in his life.  We have all been adopted as beloved children of the Loving Father.  This great feast of the Holy Trinity reminds us that we have been drawn into the loving relationship of Almighty God.  We have been invited by the love of God.  We have been filled with the love of God.

The love of God was shared with us in the sacrament of Baptism.  The love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit were bestowed upon us in the sacrament of Confirmation.  The love of God and the power of God, and the forgiveness of God and the compassion of God are given to us as food for the journey in the Holy Eucharist.  When we gather in this place and we go to the Altar of God, the mystery of love that is Jesus Christ is made present among us.  The perfect gift of love in Christ Jesus invites us to become a gift of love for our heavenly Father.  In the celebration of the Eucharist, and through power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus makes us a gift for the Father.

As we now draw close to the mystery of the Lord’s love let us profess our faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Let us embrace the love that the Lord offers to us.  And let us accept the invitation of the Lord and take our place in the relationship of perfect love.  Amen.

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

Homily for May 19, 2013 (Pentecost C)

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

The feast of Pentecost is a day of celebration.  It is the birthday of the Church.  Fifty days after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and nine days after his ascension, the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles.  With a mighty wind and with tongues of fire, the Spirit of the Father and the Son was given to the Church and to the world.  It is the birthday of the Church.

The disciples of the Lord Jesus, and the mother of the Lord Jesus, had been gathered together in prayer for several days.  For three years the disciples had gathered with the Lord Jesus during his earthly ministry.  For three years the disciples had been gathered to the Lord Jesus as the first fruits of the harvest of the Church of God.  And now, with the descent of the Holy Spirit, they would be sent out.  They would plant the seeds of the Kingdom and they would gather the harvest.  Endowed with tongues of fire over their heads and voices on fire with the message of salvation, the disciples proclaimed the mighty acts of God in Jesus Christ.  In the words of every language and people, to every land and every nation, the invitation to life in the kingdom was sent.  The Spirit was sent and the disciples were sent.  The Spirit transformed the disciples and the disciples with the Spirit transformed the world.  The disciples were changed by the power of the Spirit.  The fear and doubt of the Last Supper was gone.  The uncertainty of Holy Saturday was gone forever.  The disciples of the Lord Jesus, now empowered by the gift of the Holy Spirit, are convinced of who they are and what they have been called to do.  They know their identity and they know their mission.

In nearly every passage of the Scripture that is proclaimed in the Sacred Liturgy, we learn these two things about ourselves.  We learn of our identity, meaning who we are and more importantly whose we are.  And we learn of our mission.  We learn what it is that we, as followers of the Lord Jesus and witnesses to his resurrection, are called to do.

The identity of the Christian is the identity of the Lord Jesus.  He is the beloved Son of the Eternal Father.  In him, we are the beloved children of the Eternal Father.  The mission of the Christian is a share in the mission of Jesus Christ.  We have our role in the redemption of the world.  We have our time to proclaim the good news with our words and with our lives.  We have our daily opportunities to walk as the Lord Jesus walked and love as he loved.  We have our time to be rejected, to be persecuted, and to suffer for the sake of the Gospel.  And we have our time to gather with the other disciples, in the presence of the Mother of God, and receive the consolation of the Lord.

The Holy Spirit, sent from the Father and the Son, reminds us of our identity and strengthens us for our mission.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to call upon God as our Loving Father and enables us to know the Son more profoundly.  In the power of the Holy Spirit, our own witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is strengthened and our ability to share in the cross of Christ is deepened. 

On this feast of Pentecost, we ask the Father for a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit that we might be sent out to live and proclaim the message of salvation.  We ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to cast all fear and all doubt from our hearts that we may rejoice in our identity and embrace our mission.  And we ask for the Holy Spirit to transform us, so that with the Holy Spirit, we will transform the world.  Amen.   

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