Homily for Easter Sunday (March 27, 2016)

Homily for the Easter Vigil (March26, 2016)

Homily for Good Friday 2016 (March 25, 2016)

Normally on the 25^th of March, we celebrate the Annunciation of the Lord. We hear of the Angel Gabriel sent from God to the Virgin of Nazareth with the words, “Hail full of grace, the Lord is with you.” And we hear the magnificent words of the Virgin Mary, “Let it be done unto me according to your word.” With those sacred and powerful words, the earthly ministry of the Eternal Son of God begins.

Today we hear no words of the Virgin Mary, but are struck by the silence of the Virgin Mother. On this day, when we would expect to hear with her that “the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you,” we hear with her, “Behold your Son,” and “Behold your Mother.” And then, “It is finished.”

At the cross her station keeping, stood the mournful mother weeping, close to Jesus to the last.

A little more than forty days ago, we approached the Altar to receive the imposition of the Ashes of repentance. We traveled with the Lord Jesus to the desert, to the mountain, and to the city of God, Jerusalem. Now we approach the Altar to make our act of reverence to the wood of the Cross on which hung the Savior of the World. And there we stand with Mary, his Mother and ours. From the Cross, Christ gave her to us. At the Cross, she gives us to Him.

At the Cross her station keeping, stands our mournful Mother weeping, bringing us to Jesus to the last.

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

Homily for Holy Thursday 2016 (March 24, 2016)

I was never good at sharing. When I was a child I wanted my own room, my own desk, my own book, and my own box of crayons. I was never good at sharing, at least when I was a child.

The Son of God, however, is very good at sharing. The Lord Jesus is very good at sharing. He shares with us everything that is his, and he shares with us in everything that is ours. The Lord Jesus is very good at sharing.

The Lord Jesus has shared so much with us. When the Son of God came from heaven to the womb of the Virgin Mary, he shared the glory of heaven with the people of earth. He brought heaven’s praises to our humble prayers. He shared with all of creation the glory that was his before the foundation of the world. And Jesus shared with us the privilege to call upon God as Father. He shared his Father with us.

The Lord Jesus shares with us in everything that is ours. He knows what it is like to be a child in a far country because he was a child in Egypt. The Lord Jesus shares with us in our celebrations because he was a guest at the wedding at Cana. He shares with us in our grief for he wept at the tomb of Lazarus. The Lord Jesus shares with us in the joy of friendship as with his disciples and in the sadness of betrayal as with Judas. He shares with us in our sufferings for he was scourged and nailed to a cross. He shares with us in everything.

The Lord Jesus has shared his mission with us. He has shared his sacred work with us. In our baptism Christ the Lord bestowed a royal priesthood upon each of us. We are each sharers in his mission as priest, prophet and king. We each are united to Christ in offering the sacrifice of our lives, in proclaiming the words of salvation, and shepherding the kingdom of God. The Lord Jesus has shared this royal mission with all of us.

But then, with the kindness of a brother, the Lord Jesus chose some of us, at least two of us here, to share in his sacred ministry by the laying on of hands. The Lord Jesus chose us not because we were worthy but to show the abundance of his mercy. The Lord Jesus shares with his priests his sacred work in a particular way. The Lord Jesus shares with his priests his power, but his power is shared only for the glory of God and for the loving service of his people. The Lord Jesus shares with his priests the privilege of living with, and crying with, and preaching with, and rejoicing with the holy and glorious people of God. The Lord Jesus has shared so much with us.

And tonight, the Lord Jesus shares with us his Body and Blood. On the night before he died, he gathered his apostles. He consecrated bread and wine to be his Body and Blood. He consecrated his apostles so that they would consecrate bread and wine to be his Body and Blood. Through his Body and Blood, the Lord Jesus consecrates you and me so that we can share in his life as we make our way to the Kingdom where he lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

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

Homily for February 21, 2016 (2nd Sunday of Lent C)

Early on Thursday morning I was sitting in the Chapel in the rectory. It was quiet. It was peaceful. It was one of those rare moments in prayer when I felt like my capacity to be present to the Lord, to be physically, spiritually, and emotionally present before the Lord who made me, met the unending and passionate desire of the Lord to be present to me. It was one of those rare moments in the silence and the stillness and the quiet when we know that we are in the presence of the Holy One. And I wanted to stay there. I wanted to stay there in the presence of the Lord. I wanted to stay there in the peaceful silence of that peaceful moment of prayer. I wanted to stay there. But there was work to be done. There was holy work to be done. There was the work of the Lord Jesus Christ to be done. And so I left the silence and the stillness and quiet of the rectory chapel.

We treasure those moments, those rare moments, in the silence and the stillness and the quiet of prayer. These moments are not our normal experience of prayer each day. Much of our time in prayer can seem more like days in the parched land of the desert than moments on the mountaintop. But in the desert or on the mountaintop God is praised. In the desert or on the mountaintop we meet the Lord who has come to meet us. We like to stay on the mountaintop, though, because on the mountaintop, we catch a glimpse of glory.

It was that way for the apostles too.  Most of their days were spent in the hard work of preaching the kingdom, caring for the sick, going on long journeys, and listening to the Master. Most of their days were not spent in the silence and the stillness and the quiet. They were spent on the sea, in the cities, and among the noise of the world. But one day, Peter, James and John went with Jesus to the mountaintop. And there they caught a glimpse of his glory. They saw on the mountaintop the glory of the only Son of the Father shining through the face and the body of Jesus Christ. They saw his glory, and they wanted to stay there. They wanted to stay there because they knew that they were in the presence of the Holy One.

They wanted to stay there because they caught a glimpse of his glory. They wanted to stay there because they heard the voice of the Father. They wanted to stay there because in the presence of the glory of the Most High God, they recognized what Paul would later write. Our citizenship is in heaven. We have been invited and claimed by Jesus Christ to join him in his glory. Our true homeland is the mountaintop. Our destiny is in the glory of heaven.

But there is work to be done in the land of exile. There is work to be done as we make our pilgrimage to the land of glory. In the waters of Baptism, Jesus Christ claimed us and named us as citizens of heaven. But for this time, we are called to live on earth as citizens of heaven. Here we will live the life of Jesus Christ. Here we will live as children of God reflecting the glory of the Holy One. Or here we will renounce the light of our heavenly citizenship and embrace the darkness of sin to live forever in the land of exile. That is the reward of sin. In sin, we choose exile over glory.

But God has chosen us for glory. God has invited us to the mountaintop even as we make our pilgrimage through the desert. He has given us a glimpse of his glory to light our way to our true homeland. He has given us light, but not only has he given us light. In the waters of our baptism and in the nourishment of the Eucharist, Jesus Christ makes each of us a glimpse of his glory. Jesus Christ makes you and me into a glimpse of his glory so that we will be a light on the way to the kingdom where he lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

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

Pilgrimage for the Canonization of Mother Teresa

Travel with Fr. Benjamin Roberts, Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC on our
 
Canonization of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta - Italy Regular trip
 
Where: Rome, Assisi, Tuscany, Florence, Venice
Trip Dates: Sep 01-09, 2016
Cost: $3,900.00 Airfare and ALL-Included.
To register, please contact (855) 842-8001 or (508) 340-9370. You can also register online at www.proximotravel.com.
 
Please tell them you heard about this pilgrimage from Father Benjamin!

Homily for February 17, 2013 (1st Lent C)

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

During this season of Lent, which we began on Ash Wednesday, we travel with the Lord Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem.  Today we encounter the Lord Jesus during his time of temptation in the desert.  Today our readings and our prayers focus on the confession of faith in God and the confession of faith in the power of God.

In our reading from the book of Deuteronomy, we hear the instruction of Moses to the people of Israel.  He is instructing them on how they are to offer the first fruits of the harvest to God.  It is a ritual that is both simple and profound.  The offering of the first fruits are placed in a basket and then placed in the hands of the priest of God who sets the offering before the Altar of God.  What follows is a beautiful profession of faith in the goodness of God and a sacred recounting of the sacred history of the people of Israel.  The one who brings the offering to the Lord confesses his faith in the goodness of God and confesses his confidence in the power of God.  Having been led from slavery to freedom, the appropriate response is worship and adoration.

In our reading today from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans, we hear the instruction of Paul to the early Christian community about the confession of faith that leads to salvation.  The confession of faith that Jesus is Lord, and the confession of faith in the power of God who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead, is the door to salvation.  The confession of faith follows from a conviction of the heart.  The heart of the message of St. Paul does not include the sacred recounting of the sacred history of the people of Israel.  Moses spoke to the people of Israel; St. Paul invites all of humanity, both Jews and Gentiles, to call upon the Lord Jesus, who is Lord of all.  The message of salvation and the invitation to respond in worship are given to the whole world.

In our reading from the Gospel today, we join Christ in the desert.  The Lord Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit and led by the Spirit, and after his days of fasting, he is tempted by the devil.  The three temptations that the Lord Jesus faces are opportunities to use his divine power.  However, they are not opportunities for the Lord Jesus to use his divine power for a divine purpose.  The devil questions the Lord Jesus about his identity as the Son of God.  The devil invites the Lord Jesus, who is hungry, to turn stones into bread.  The devil invites the Lord Jesus, who is weary, to reject the Kingdom of the Father and embrace in worship the kingdom of the devil and the treasures of earth.  The devil invites the Lord Jesus, who will suffer, to tempt God and prove that the angels will prevent his suffering.  The Lord Jesus, however, quoting the ancient Scriptures, rejects the invitation of the devil and embraces the will of the Father.  The Lord Jesus will not use his power to bring comfort to himself.  Bread and treasure and the opportunity to avoid suffering are as nothing compared with the food and treasure of accomplishing the will of the Father.  Divine power will only be used in fulfillment of the Divine purpose.  The confession of faith in divine goodness and the confession of confidence in divine power lead to worship, to salvation, and conquers the power of the devil.

As we now enter into the mystery of the suffering and death of the Lord, as we offer the first fruits of our Lenten penance, let us recount the goodness of God to his people.  Let us renew our confession of faith in the Lord Jesus and the power of his resurrection.  And let us ask for the grace to reject every invitation of the evil one, so that we can embrace the divine will and the divine power of the Holy One of God.  Amen.

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