Homily for March 31, 2013 (Easter Sunday)

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

The tomb is empty.  For several weeks we have journeyed to Jerusalem with the Lord Jesus.  We traveled with him and we saw his power of healing.  We listened carefully to him and we heard of his great mercy.  We heard the promise of the Lord Jesus that he would conquer death.  We heard the promise that the tomb would not hold him bound.  We joined with the large crowds and acclaimed him as the triumphant king when he entered Jerusalem.  We joined the small group of disciples at the table with their master.  We joined with Mary and with John and with Mary Magdalene at the foot of the cross.  And we accompanied the body of the Lord Jesus to the tomb in the garden.  And now, the tomb is empty.  With Peter, and with John, and with Mary Magdalene, we are witnesses of these things. Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  

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

Homily for the Easter Vigil (March 30, 2013)

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

The Easter Vigil is a liturgy of great anticipation.  Begun in darkness, and then only lit by the divided flame of the paschal candle, the Church keeps solemn vigil in anticipation of the glory to be revealed.  Just as during the season of Lent, we have made the journey with the Lord Jesus to Jerusalem, so on this most holy night, we make the journey of the people of God from the dawn of creation to the Exodus, to the law and the prophets, and finally to the empty tomb.  We have kept watch and we have listened with anticipation. 

And yet, on this night, we do not encounter the Risen Lord in the Gospel.  We do not hear the words of the Risen Lord Jesus announced in the Gospel.  We do not see him appearing to his disciples.  We hear the announcement of the empty tomb.  We do not, this evening, experience a personal encounter with the Risen Lord in the Scriptures, because on this most holy night, in particular, we will encounter him in the Sacraments.

Every sacrament is a personal encounter with the Risen Lord.  From the earliest days of the Church, on this night the Sacrament of Baptism has been celebrated.  In the Sacrament of Divine Adoption, with the washing of water and the proclamation of the Word, the life of the Most High God, takes up his place of dwelling in the souls of the baptized.  Through the anointing with Sacred Chrism, the grace of baptism is sealed and strengthened in the Sacrament of Confirmation.  These two sacraments are truly conferred only once in this life, yet we are daily offered this personal encounter with the Risen Lord in Holy Communion.  We meet him, face to face, and person to person, in water, in sacred oil, and the breaking of the bread.

Let us joyfully and faithfully receive him, as he comes to meet us.  Amen.

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

Homily for Good Friday (March 29, 2013)

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

Even from the cross, the Lord Jesus bestowed gifts upon his people. After he had been beaten, crowned with thorns, lead through the streets, and nailed to the cross, the Lord Jesus still bestowed gifts upon his people.

Behold your son.  At the foot of the cross, the Lord Jesus entrusted his Beloved Disciple to his Blessed Mother.  We were all given to her as her beloved children.  The Lord Jesus has shared with us his relationship with God the Father.  Now he shares with us his relationship with his mother as well.

Behold your Mother.  At the foot of the cross, the Lord Jesus entrusted his Blessed Mother to his Beloved Disciple.  She was given to all of us as our loving Mother.  Our cares are now her cares.  Our prayers are now her prayers.  Now we turn to her, so that she will teach us how to love Him.

I thirst.  From the cross, the Lord Jesus shares with us his own need.  He invites his disciples to care for him and quench his thirst.  He has given to us the opportunity to care for him as he has cared for us.  When we care for the poor and the suffering, we quench the thirst of the Suffering Savior.

It is finished.  From the cross the Lord Jesus pours forth his spirit.  He poured out his spirit on Mary and John.  He poured out his spirit on the Church.  He gave to us the gift of a share in his sufferings and in his life.

And blood and water flowed from his side.  From the pierced side of the Savior flowed the streams of eternal life.  In the waters of Baptism and the Blood of the Eucharist, the Lord Jesus has given to us everything.

Even from the cross, the Lord Jesus bestowed gifts upon his people.  Come, let us adore.  Amen.

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

Homily for Holy Thursday (March 28, 2013)

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

Tonight we gather on this Holy Thursday, on the eve of the passion and death of the Lord Jesus Christ.  During his ministry he had changed many things.  Tonight, the Lord Jesus is going to change everything.

John the Evangelist recounts for us the last gathering of the Lord Jesus with his apostles.  In an upper room, the Lord Jesus gathered those twelve men who were closest to him.  They had spent three years together travelling and preaching, healing and teaching.  The Lord Jesus always loved those who were his own in the world and he loved them to the end.  Tonight the Lord Jesus would change everything.  While they were at supper, the Lord Jesus rose and he took off his outer garment. He tied a towel around his waist and he poured water into a basin.  Then the Lord Jesus washed the feet of the twelve.  This was the menial task of a lowly servant.  It was not the role of the host of the banquet.  Yet for the twelve, who were both disciples who followed and apostles who were sent forth, the Lord Jesus provided the model for serving in his name.  Tonight the Lord Jesus would change what both discipleship and apostleship would mean.  Whatever power or authority was needed for the accomplishment of the mission and the shepherding of the flock would always be subject to the rule of humble service.

From the apostle Paul, we hear of one of the central events of the Last Supper.  Saint Paul tells us that what he received from the Lord he now hands on to the Christian community at Corinth.  In the midst of the Sacred Liturgy, we are mystically united to the Church of all times and places, and therefore Saint Paul says to us as well, that the Lord Jesus on the night he was handed over, took bread and after he had given thanks, broke it and said “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way also the cup after supper saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.  Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  The Lord Jesus had changed the ritual of the Passover meal.  He had changed bread and wine into his body and blood.  And now, by his command to Do this in memory of me, the Lord Jesus changed his disciples.

On this night, the Church celebrates the institution of the Holy Eucharist and the institution of the Holy Priesthood.  Their institution is celebrated together because in reality they can never be apart.  There is no Eucharist without the priesthood and there can be no priesthood that is not for the Eucharist.  Until the Last Supper, the apostles had acted in the name of the Lord Jesus.  In his holy name they had cast out demons, healed the sick, raised the dead, and proclaimed the kingdom of God.  Now, by the command of the Lord, they would act in his person.  For in the days to come, when the apostles would take bread, give thanks, break it and say, “This is my Body” the Lord Jesus himself would act.  The Lord Jesus had changed them.  He had changed everything.

And by the laying on of hands from the days of the apostles to our own, the apostolic ministry has been present and active in every generation through the ministry of priests.  Chosen from among men, unworthy and broken, yet called and consecrated just the same, we priests make present the Lord’s body and blood, soul and divinity in the celebration of the Eucharist.  Through our ministry and our voice, the Lord Jesus daily changes bread and wine into himself.  Through the anointing with oil and the laying on of priestly hands, the Lord Jesus transforms sickness into the way of sanctification.  Through the prayer of the priest, sharing in the power of Christ, the priest raises to life those who are dead in their sins and restores them to the life of grace.  Christ Jesus changed everything on the eve of his passion and death.  He changed the meaning and use of authority. He changed bread and wine from common things to Holy Things.  He changed his apostles, and eventually, at an hour of his own choosing, and because of his great mercy, he changed me.

In these holy days, these three days when we celebrate the passion, death, and eventually the resurrection of Jesus Christ, may He change you that you may love Him to the end to the praise and glory of God the Father.  Amen.

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

Homily for March 24, 2013 (Palm Sunday C)

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

We have arrived in Jerusalem.  We have joined with the cheering crowds who welcomed the Lord Jesus into the holy city of Jerusalem.  We received him with joy as the King of Peace.  The crowds acclaimed him.

This week we will be invited to the upper room, and we will be invited to join the Lord Jesus at table, because we are among those whom he loves.  This week we will be invited to the garden of Gethsemane, and perhaps we will watch and pray for an hour with the Lord.  This week we will travel with the Lord Jesus from the table to the garden, and from the garden to the trial.  We will travel from the trial before the Sanhedrin and Pilate and Herod to the scourging at the pillar.  The same crowd that acclaimed him as king now desires to have him crucified as a criminal.  The larger crowd rejects the Lord Jesus.  They want to have him killed because he taught them how to love as the Father has loved him.  The smaller crowd remains with the Lord Jesus on the way of the Cross. 

Today we are part of the crowd that acclaims Christ as King.  For the remainder of this week, and for the remainder of our lives, we must make our choice.  Will we watch and pray or will we walk away?

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

Lenten Liturgy Lesson 4

Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.

Just before the distribution of Holy Communion in the celebration of the Mass, the priest, elevating the Sacred Host and Chalice, announces in the words of John the Baptist: 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 response that you make, actually the response that we make, because this is one of the few times that you and I respond together, is simple.  Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.  These are the very words of the centurion in the gospel.  The centurion had come to Jesus asking that a servant be healed.  He was a just man, but not a member of the chosen people.  Yet he comes to the Lord Jesus and recognizes his power to heal.  The centurion comes with humility before the Lord.  He approaches the Lord Jesus with faith in his love and mercy and reverence for the divine and holy presence that the Lord Jesus is.  The Lord Jesus responds to the request of the centurion by offering to go to the servant.  The centurion responds: Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my servant shall be healed.  In response to this statement, the Lord Jesus said he had not seen such great faith in all of Israel.  As we prepare to receive the gift of the Lord in Holy Communion, let us imitate the faith, humility and reverence of the centurion as we make his words our own and say: Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.

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

Homily for March 17, 2013 (5th Lent C)

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

We are nearing the end of our journey to Jerusalem.  We have received the invitation to repent and believe in the Gospel.  We have made our confession of faith in the goodness of God and our confession of confidence in the power of God.  We have joined the Lord Jesus and the three disciples on the mountain of the Transfiguration and we have heard the promise of God proclaimed to us.  Called to join in the work of God we have experienced the gift of divine patience.  Last Sunday we heard of the great gift of the share in divine relationship that is our true inheritance.  We heard of the loving and forgiving father who desires to welcome our return to his house.  In this Lenten season, we have witnessed the divine power, we have heard the divine promise, we have experienced the divine patience and we have rejoiced in our divine relationship.  Today, in the words and actions of the Lord Jesus, we behold the divine mercy.  In three weeks we will celebrate the feast of Divine Mercy.  That will be the proclamation of the mercy of God following the glorious resurrection of the Lord which will enable us to join him in heaven.  Today we hear of the mercy of God as seen in the ministry of Jesus in anticipation of his suffering, and that will enable us to join him in Jerusalem and at Calvary.  This is the encounter with the mercy of God that strengthens us for the journey.

In our first reading today from the book of the prophet Isaiah, we hear the announcement that the Lord God is doing a new thing.  The past events of disobedience are forgiven.  The chosen people of God are given a river of water to refresh them so that they can announce the praise of the Lord.  They are strengthened for the journey.

In our reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians, we hear of the precious value of the mercy of God.  Everything else in this world is counted as a loss when compared with the knowledge of the Lord Jesus and the power of his resurrection.  Accepted in faith and purified in suffering, the experience of the mercy of God enabled Saint Paul and enables us to pursue the great goal of union with Christ Jesus.

Today in our reading from the Gospel, we behold the mercy of the Lord Jesus.  While he was teaching in the Temple area, the Pharisees and the scribes of the law brought a woman caught in adultery before him.  There is no doubt about her guilt.  Her past is clear.  The only question that remains as she stands before the Lord Jesus is her future.  The scribes and the Pharisees wanted to use this woman, as she has been used by others, and put the Lord Jesus to the test.  The Lord Jesus, however, writes something on the ground with his finger, and invites any of the accusers who are without sin to cast the first stone.  He then wrote again on the ground.  As the accusers walked away, the Lord Jesus helped the woman stand again, and commanded her not to sin anymore.  He had shown mercy in the face of guilt.  He had raised her from sin just as he would raise Lazarus from the tomb.  She was condemned to death by the law, and he gave her life and freedom in his mercy.  She was a new creation because she had faced death and encountered life in the face of Jesus Christ.  She was strengthened for the journey and everything else in her life would be counted as loss compared with her encounter with the mercy of God.

We are one week from Jerusalem and two weeks from the empty tomb.  During this Lenten season we have sought to hold nothing more precious than our relationship with Christ.  We have sought to be faithful, but our past is clear and we cannot doubt our guilt.  The law will likely condemn us, but the mercy of God will set us free.

As we gather before the Altar to participate in the mystery of our redemption, we are face to face with the Son of God.  We confess our guilt and admit our need for his mercy.  And we beg him to help us stand again, and live in the light of his mercy.  Amen.    

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