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

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