Tuesday, July 27, 2010
An Endless Stream of Sighs
My smallness at last is oh so real. I now behold that I am borrowed breath. And You, O Lord, well where can I begin and to what end will I start for to behold You is more then words can say. To even attempt such is a pointless pursuit that bears no distinguishable progress for to begin is to acknowledge all that one has already failed to say. I must stop now for so futile are my words. But yet my mouth cannot help feeling pressured by my eyes to translate into words the vision that has produced within my heart an endless stream of sighs.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Reflection on the Story of the Samaritan Woman in a penitential light
The Samaritan woman in today’s Gospel reading left her water pot behind, will we? Leaving behind her water pot the Samaritan woman was also leaving behind her failed attempts to satisfy a deeper yearning which had been veiled until her eye-opening encounter with Jesus. The very place where the Samaritan woman met Jesus is the same place she had been coming for years in order to quench her thirst, a thirst having a symbolism beyond the merely physical. Without knowing it the woman who left her water pot behind set forth to evangelize by bringing with her the message of her encounter with the Messiah. The people of the town to whom she went saw not only the truth of her words but they also saw the transformation that had taken place in her. The people of the town went out to meet Jesus where the woman had encountered Him. She had met him at the well; the well being symbolic of those things that cannot satisfy but by which we are drawn time and time again. It is in the midst of this well that the people of the town encounter Jesus. They encounter Jesus in their own sins and failures, symbolized in their need to keep coming back to the well.
At first the people of the town accept the woman’s words and the transformation that has occurred in her life as a cause for belief but then through their own personal encounter at the well with Jesus they are able to say that they no longer believe solely because of the woman’s words but because they too have been transformed by Christ who gives to all living water, a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.
All the people then urged Jesus to stay with them and he did for two days. When Jesus left though it doesn’t say this in the story I believe that there was more than just the woman’s water pot left behind by the well.
This evening Jesus poses this question to each and every one of us including me: Do you need an appointment at the well? Let us this evening take advantage of the mercy of God and sit with Jesus by the well for if we do he will direct us on the right path and give us the strength to leave our own water pots behind.
At first the people of the town accept the woman’s words and the transformation that has occurred in her life as a cause for belief but then through their own personal encounter at the well with Jesus they are able to say that they no longer believe solely because of the woman’s words but because they too have been transformed by Christ who gives to all living water, a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.
All the people then urged Jesus to stay with them and he did for two days. When Jesus left though it doesn’t say this in the story I believe that there was more than just the woman’s water pot left behind by the well.
This evening Jesus poses this question to each and every one of us including me: Do you need an appointment at the well? Let us this evening take advantage of the mercy of God and sit with Jesus by the well for if we do he will direct us on the right path and give us the strength to leave our own water pots behind.
Reconciliation Service March 23rd 2007 St. Patrick's Burin
What is sin? Is it not a rejection of God’s will in favour of our own? In the Gospel that we have just heard the people in the crowd were given a choice between Jesus Christ and Jesus Barabbas. It is interesting to note that Barabbas who was a criminal also had the same first name as Jesus Christ and furthermore his surname means ‘son of the father’. Barabbas stands for each and every one of us, he stands for our own will which is accepted over and above God’s will, which is to believe in his only begotten Son. The people in the crowd were Jews who had been under the oppression of the Roman Empire for years and were seeking release from their bondage. God also wanted to release them from their bondage and through the prophets he promised to deliver them. It was God's will however to release them from bondage to the evil that the human heart is capable of by eliminating sin. However, they were not willing to wait upon the Lord to rescue them because they preferred their own concept of deliverance. Deliverance which came by the sword. Barabbas was a criminal, he was a murderer one that knew how to fight with the sword and therefore the crowd chose him because he was in keeping with their will.
How I have longed to gather together all of my children. Do you know how much rejection hurts? I am the author of love and for me the hurt is so much more real. When I stood before Pilate and heard the crowd call for Barabbas instead of me, what was I to say? Who shall stand in the crowd and call my name, will you? When you come before a priest acknowledging your sins you are calling out my name because you are calling on my name. I will be looking for you. You must teach others to call my name.
I want you to abandon yourself into my loving arms. I want you for myself, me alone. I am in this for the long haul. I promise to be true. You will not match me in charity. My love is too potent it will get you every time. I’m not kidding.
How I have longed to gather together all of my children. Do you know how much rejection hurts? I am the author of love and for me the hurt is so much more real. When I stood before Pilate and heard the crowd call for Barabbas instead of me, what was I to say? Who shall stand in the crowd and call my name, will you? When you come before a priest acknowledging your sins you are calling out my name because you are calling on my name. I will be looking for you. You must teach others to call my name.
I want you to abandon yourself into my loving arms. I want you for myself, me alone. I am in this for the long haul. I promise to be true. You will not match me in charity. My love is too potent it will get you every time. I’m not kidding.
Reflection for Wednesday June 6, 2007 9th Week of Ordinary Time
In today’s Gospel Jesus points out that everyone who has a relationship with God even though they may cease to exist upon earth are still alive in the eyes of God. He illustrates this by referring to the story of the Burning Bush in which God reveals himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. At the time when God spoke to Moses from the Bush Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had already been dead for over two hundred years and so it is interesting to note that God says of himself that: ‘I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’ as opposed to saying: ‘I was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
It just goes to show that relationships are for the living and those who have been faithful to God in this life will forever be alive to God in the next life.
Jesus also points out in today’s gospel that when people rise from the dead at the resurrection they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Since there will be no marriage in eternity this also means that there will be an end to procreation and therefore we who exist are a collectors item because we are a limited edition. Each one of us are numbered among the limited number of human beings that God has chosen to collect and gather to himself as his prized possessions, as trophies on his wall even. Each time I think about this reality I am filled with a unique sense of being special. All of us have been created with great care and concern by the wondrous hand of God who calls us to himself daily in the Eucharist so that he may teach us the Truth of the Scriptures and the Power of God at work in our lives, a power which transcends even death itself
It just goes to show that relationships are for the living and those who have been faithful to God in this life will forever be alive to God in the next life.
Jesus also points out in today’s gospel that when people rise from the dead at the resurrection they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Since there will be no marriage in eternity this also means that there will be an end to procreation and therefore we who exist are a collectors item because we are a limited edition. Each one of us are numbered among the limited number of human beings that God has chosen to collect and gather to himself as his prized possessions, as trophies on his wall even. Each time I think about this reality I am filled with a unique sense of being special. All of us have been created with great care and concern by the wondrous hand of God who calls us to himself daily in the Eucharist so that he may teach us the Truth of the Scriptures and the Power of God at work in our lives, a power which transcends even death itself
Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter, Cycle C
What's new about this commandment? The OT laws also include the command to love your neighbor as yourself. “As I have loved you.” Sacrificial love, which rejoices in Truth.
Central vocation of every Catholic is to love; love as is defined and lived out by our Blessed Lord.
How do we generate vocations to love as Christ commands? We need to sanctify our society with love. We need to work toward the holiness and transformation of our society. We work toward this goal empowered by the love of Christ which is generously poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit each time we embrace Jesus in Holy Communion.
Example: Driving someone home after the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass even though its out of one's way. After all, didn't Jesus teach us that if we do good only to those to whom we expect to receive something in return then we are no better then the tax collectors and sinners.
Love is the answer, but not just any kind of love for as we know there are unnatural forms of love, disordered forms of love and forms of love that are indifferent to the call of truth.
Love can transform our society, but we must be its voice, hands and feet.
Does our use of technology really reflect sacrificial love? Have we become so enticed by technology that our familiarity with it and our dependance upon it have blinded us to the needs of one another and its effects upon our society. Has the convenience of technology in some ways stunted our primary growth and call to be disciples of sacrificial love.
Example of Technology that we take for granted can be a cause for reflection on sacrificial love.
The all famous ATM machine-aren't they the cause of some of the unemployment that affects our society, even though they are a great convenience.
But here's the question: Would we be willing to stand an extra 10-15 minutes in a line up waiting for a bank teller if it meant it would create more jobs?
Are we willing to live out the command to love as Jesus loves us even when it requires sacrifice and inconvenience? Is it not the true nature of love to draw one self out of their own shell so as to live life as a gift.
How are we as the Body of Christ in this world being instruments through which Christ can say, “See, I am making all things new.”
The Spirit at work in us is greater then the spirit at work in the world. We have the power to bring about change but we must come together as believers committed to the love that requries personal and communal sacrifice.
What kind of world, society and city are we creating or allowing to be created? It is one that truly highlights this new command of Jesus?
We have a voice and the command of Jesus Christ to us is that we use it to transform this world, society and city by our sacrificial love, a love that will birth to a wisdom that cannot be confounded?
For such change, for such transformation to be brought about we need people, especially the lay faithful whose particular vocation is to transform society through the grace they receive from this altar, to take charge in society by bringing our Catholic values to every sector of society. How are we teaching the young to recognize this need and how are we supporting them in answering it. Who here will take the initiate to bring about some change?
This is not some pie in the sky theological homily. We have the power, the power of the Risen Lord, we must not shrink away from using it. No one lights a lamp and hides it under a table.
Jesus says to us today, “if we have love for one another, his sacrificial love, then everyone will know that we are His disciples.”
Does this city of St. John's know that we are Christ's disciples?
Central vocation of every Catholic is to love; love as is defined and lived out by our Blessed Lord.
How do we generate vocations to love as Christ commands? We need to sanctify our society with love. We need to work toward the holiness and transformation of our society. We work toward this goal empowered by the love of Christ which is generously poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit each time we embrace Jesus in Holy Communion.
Example: Driving someone home after the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass even though its out of one's way. After all, didn't Jesus teach us that if we do good only to those to whom we expect to receive something in return then we are no better then the tax collectors and sinners.
Love is the answer, but not just any kind of love for as we know there are unnatural forms of love, disordered forms of love and forms of love that are indifferent to the call of truth.
Love can transform our society, but we must be its voice, hands and feet.
Does our use of technology really reflect sacrificial love? Have we become so enticed by technology that our familiarity with it and our dependance upon it have blinded us to the needs of one another and its effects upon our society. Has the convenience of technology in some ways stunted our primary growth and call to be disciples of sacrificial love.
Example of Technology that we take for granted can be a cause for reflection on sacrificial love.
The all famous ATM machine-aren't they the cause of some of the unemployment that affects our society, even though they are a great convenience.
But here's the question: Would we be willing to stand an extra 10-15 minutes in a line up waiting for a bank teller if it meant it would create more jobs?
Are we willing to live out the command to love as Jesus loves us even when it requires sacrifice and inconvenience? Is it not the true nature of love to draw one self out of their own shell so as to live life as a gift.
How are we as the Body of Christ in this world being instruments through which Christ can say, “See, I am making all things new.”
The Spirit at work in us is greater then the spirit at work in the world. We have the power to bring about change but we must come together as believers committed to the love that requries personal and communal sacrifice.
What kind of world, society and city are we creating or allowing to be created? It is one that truly highlights this new command of Jesus?
We have a voice and the command of Jesus Christ to us is that we use it to transform this world, society and city by our sacrificial love, a love that will birth to a wisdom that cannot be confounded?
For such change, for such transformation to be brought about we need people, especially the lay faithful whose particular vocation is to transform society through the grace they receive from this altar, to take charge in society by bringing our Catholic values to every sector of society. How are we teaching the young to recognize this need and how are we supporting them in answering it. Who here will take the initiate to bring about some change?
This is not some pie in the sky theological homily. We have the power, the power of the Risen Lord, we must not shrink away from using it. No one lights a lamp and hides it under a table.
Jesus says to us today, “if we have love for one another, his sacrificial love, then everyone will know that we are His disciples.”
Does this city of St. John's know that we are Christ's disciples?
Homily on Beauty, inspired by the Words: "And God saw that it was good."
When we enjoy beauty are we conscious of participating in an action rooted in the divine? Not only do we engage in a divine action when observing beauty but whether conscious of it or not we are also invited to experience communion with the Transcendent God who at that very moment is also delighting in that beauty.
My hope for us today is that we can begin to move into a more conscious awareness of God’s presence with us in a particular way while we observe beauty in its many expressions, whether it be watching a sunset, or listening to the sound of birds chirping melodiously or gazing upon a work of art by Michelangelo or listening to one of Beethoven's symphonies. The list goes on. In all of these let us be conscious and confident that our delight is coupled intimately with the delight of our loving Triune God such that during or after each encounter with beauty the phrase, ‘And God saw that it was good’ could be broadened to say, ‘And we saw, God and us together, that it was good.’ Observing beauty is like doing the tango, we miss out when we try it by ourselves. Observing beauty always offers us an opportunity for intimacy with God.
Finally, I would like to suggest that reflecting upon beauty is at the heart of the life of the Trinity. We all know what its like to get caught up in the beauty of a sunset, and how what seemed like a minute turns out to be thirty minutes later. Beauty has the power to make time stand still and within God each member of the Trinity is caught up in the beauty of each other thereby giving birth to eternity. By virtue of our baptism we are being called to participate in this eternal gallery of beauty.
As we approach the Eucharist today, let us pledge ourselves to become more conscious of God’s intimate presence waiting to delight with us in the beauty that brings delight to our hearts. As well let us give thanks to Christ who handed himself over for us so as to present us to the Father without spot, wrinkle or blemish.
My hope for us today is that we can begin to move into a more conscious awareness of God’s presence with us in a particular way while we observe beauty in its many expressions, whether it be watching a sunset, or listening to the sound of birds chirping melodiously or gazing upon a work of art by Michelangelo or listening to one of Beethoven's symphonies. The list goes on. In all of these let us be conscious and confident that our delight is coupled intimately with the delight of our loving Triune God such that during or after each encounter with beauty the phrase, ‘And God saw that it was good’ could be broadened to say, ‘And we saw, God and us together, that it was good.’ Observing beauty is like doing the tango, we miss out when we try it by ourselves. Observing beauty always offers us an opportunity for intimacy with God.
Finally, I would like to suggest that reflecting upon beauty is at the heart of the life of the Trinity. We all know what its like to get caught up in the beauty of a sunset, and how what seemed like a minute turns out to be thirty minutes later. Beauty has the power to make time stand still and within God each member of the Trinity is caught up in the beauty of each other thereby giving birth to eternity. By virtue of our baptism we are being called to participate in this eternal gallery of beauty.
As we approach the Eucharist today, let us pledge ourselves to become more conscious of God’s intimate presence waiting to delight with us in the beauty that brings delight to our hearts. As well let us give thanks to Christ who handed himself over for us so as to present us to the Father without spot, wrinkle or blemish.
Homily on St. Paul's letter to the Colossians 1:15-20
It is my wish to reflect with you this evening on the canticle taken from Paul’s letter to the Colossians. In this passage Paul is addressing a heresy that was beginning to emerge within this community of faith. As a result of his pastoral work we have the honor each Wednesday of praying this great hymn of praise to Christ who is both the source and summit of creation and redemption. The heresy that Paul is addressing is Gnostic in character because it claims that Christ is insufficient by himself to redeem humanity for the purpose for which it was created. I would like to emphasize one aspect of this great hymn of thanksgiving, namely, the verse that states, “all were created through him and for him.”
Underlying these words there exists the profound hunger of the heart of God, the call to live for him. The love we feel for people in our lives is sometimes overwhelming. God allows us to be drawn toward specific people to show us by way of analogy the energy that draws him to each human life. Whereas we tend to be drawn to one beautiful thing or person at a time, he is consumed by all that is beautiful in its entirety at each moment.
God wants nothing to get in the way of our reception of his love. We exist because he wants us to exist. Others exist in our lives because God wants them to exist. But first and foremost He wants us to exist for him. He has created us for his sole pleasure, and today he begs us not to rob him of this pleasure for after all he endured the Cross-for this pleasure.
We rob Christ of this pleasure when we like the Colossians begin doubting the all-encompassing power of Christ. Paul challenges us to live without reservations, trusting in the power of Christ. Is Christ supreme in our lives and is his sacrifice on the cross-adequate enough in meeting our deepest needs and desires or do we have reservations in entrusting our whole lives to Christ? What else is needed? The temptations faced by us are analogous to the temptation that the Colossians faced. We believe in Christ just like them and we also grapple with the temptation to lessen his supremacy in our lives by putting on par with Christ other things that seem to be necessary components in making for happiness and final fulfillment. Paul reminds us that Christ in his very person and mission alone reveals humanity to itself. We need not look elsewhere to find the purpose for which we were created. Let us entrust our whole selves to Christ this evening prayerfully remembering that his arm is not too short to save even in what seems hopeless.
Underlying these words there exists the profound hunger of the heart of God, the call to live for him. The love we feel for people in our lives is sometimes overwhelming. God allows us to be drawn toward specific people to show us by way of analogy the energy that draws him to each human life. Whereas we tend to be drawn to one beautiful thing or person at a time, he is consumed by all that is beautiful in its entirety at each moment.
God wants nothing to get in the way of our reception of his love. We exist because he wants us to exist. Others exist in our lives because God wants them to exist. But first and foremost He wants us to exist for him. He has created us for his sole pleasure, and today he begs us not to rob him of this pleasure for after all he endured the Cross-for this pleasure.
We rob Christ of this pleasure when we like the Colossians begin doubting the all-encompassing power of Christ. Paul challenges us to live without reservations, trusting in the power of Christ. Is Christ supreme in our lives and is his sacrifice on the cross-adequate enough in meeting our deepest needs and desires or do we have reservations in entrusting our whole lives to Christ? What else is needed? The temptations faced by us are analogous to the temptation that the Colossians faced. We believe in Christ just like them and we also grapple with the temptation to lessen his supremacy in our lives by putting on par with Christ other things that seem to be necessary components in making for happiness and final fulfillment. Paul reminds us that Christ in his very person and mission alone reveals humanity to itself. We need not look elsewhere to find the purpose for which we were created. Let us entrust our whole selves to Christ this evening prayerfully remembering that his arm is not too short to save even in what seems hopeless.
Lenten Homily based on John 9:1-41
As I was preparing my homily for today’s Mass I found myself drawn to reflect upon the Gospel reading in light of this question: “What is the unspoken story of each character’s life?” As a whole the story of the man born blind is a message of faith; a faith, which is seen to grow and deepen as life happens. It is an assurance to many of us who may at times find ourselves struggling with teachings of our holy catholic faith.
I could not help but wonder as I pondered the words of this gospel as to the unspoken story of this man’s life. In the latter part of this gospel passage John introduces us to the parents of this man. Yet this man is seen to be a beggar. What happened to the relationship that should exist between a parent and a child in this situation? There seems to be no longer any real connection between this man and his parents. I wonder what happened between those hours when these proud parents would have rocked their baby boy to sleep each evening and brag about him to their neighbors and now when left to care for himself he is seen to be a beggar dusty and dirty sitting at the corner of 1st and 3rd street in Jerusalem? A countless number of answers could be given to this question.
Our own journey of faith is affected by our life experience. Just as Jesus saw the blind man in a way that others could not, so too he sees us and every detail of life that has contributed to, who we are today. Jesus approaches each of us with knowledge of our whole life history because love seeks to understand better the one who is loved so that the invitation of faith may recognize and appreciate the slowness with which we sometimes accept and live out the faith to which Jesus invites us.
The experience of the blind man points to a journey in faith. At the outset of this gospel passage he refers to Jesus as the ‘Man called Jesus” who put mud on his eyes. A little later when questioned by the Pharisees he refers to Jesus as a ‘Prophet’. Finally, when confronted with Jesus one on one at the end of the passage he makes the ultimate expression of faith he calls Jesus ‘Lord’ and begins to offer him worship. He did not begin by proclaiming Jesus as Lord but by acting upon what was stirring within his heart as a result of his encounter with Jesus.
As the blind man was on his way to wash in the pool as Jesus commanded I wonder if he stopped and thought to himself, ‘what am I doing, no one has ever heard of a man born blind being healed of his blindness. Who am I kidding.’ Maybe he stopped many times before reaching the pool of Siloam but because he felt the inner stirrings of the man called Jesus he could not help but satisfy the curiosity he experienced.
It is these same inner stirrings that have given rise to the season of Lent, a journey that we undertake yearly when we seek to deepen our baptismal faith. Each one of us is at a different level in our faith journey but together we make this journey and it is together that we form the light of Christ in this world a light, which helps to guide others to know and love Jesus as he truly is.
Throughout the universal Church countless people will undergo a scrutiny this weekend during Mass. The Church’s intention behind this scrutiny is to help assist those on their way toward receiving baptism or full initiation into the Church at the Easter Vigil. By means of this scrutiny the Church hopes to strengthen those preparing to make the final decision to accept Jesus as Lord with their hearts as well as their minds at Easter Time.
Just as the man born blind could not find his way to the pool of Siloam without someone guiding him there so too with those who are seeking to enter the life of the Church. We the baptized must be for them a light shining in the darkness so that they may rejoice in due time when the supernatural life-sized smile of Christ shines upon them in its brilliance.
This journey of faith, which we call lent is not only for those who will enter the Church at Easter time but rather it is for all the baptized a time to deepen our faith in Jesus Christ. For as the baptized we have been drenched in divinity, and everywhere we go we drip the very mystery that we have become. In truth, God has given us the shirt off his back, his very own divinity.
As we receive the Eucharist in a few moments we will receive into the solar system of our souls the Son of God. Throughout the remainder of Lent let us strive eagerly to be the window through which his light shines upon the world.
I could not help but wonder as I pondered the words of this gospel as to the unspoken story of this man’s life. In the latter part of this gospel passage John introduces us to the parents of this man. Yet this man is seen to be a beggar. What happened to the relationship that should exist between a parent and a child in this situation? There seems to be no longer any real connection between this man and his parents. I wonder what happened between those hours when these proud parents would have rocked their baby boy to sleep each evening and brag about him to their neighbors and now when left to care for himself he is seen to be a beggar dusty and dirty sitting at the corner of 1st and 3rd street in Jerusalem? A countless number of answers could be given to this question.
Our own journey of faith is affected by our life experience. Just as Jesus saw the blind man in a way that others could not, so too he sees us and every detail of life that has contributed to, who we are today. Jesus approaches each of us with knowledge of our whole life history because love seeks to understand better the one who is loved so that the invitation of faith may recognize and appreciate the slowness with which we sometimes accept and live out the faith to which Jesus invites us.
The experience of the blind man points to a journey in faith. At the outset of this gospel passage he refers to Jesus as the ‘Man called Jesus” who put mud on his eyes. A little later when questioned by the Pharisees he refers to Jesus as a ‘Prophet’. Finally, when confronted with Jesus one on one at the end of the passage he makes the ultimate expression of faith he calls Jesus ‘Lord’ and begins to offer him worship. He did not begin by proclaiming Jesus as Lord but by acting upon what was stirring within his heart as a result of his encounter with Jesus.
As the blind man was on his way to wash in the pool as Jesus commanded I wonder if he stopped and thought to himself, ‘what am I doing, no one has ever heard of a man born blind being healed of his blindness. Who am I kidding.’ Maybe he stopped many times before reaching the pool of Siloam but because he felt the inner stirrings of the man called Jesus he could not help but satisfy the curiosity he experienced.
It is these same inner stirrings that have given rise to the season of Lent, a journey that we undertake yearly when we seek to deepen our baptismal faith. Each one of us is at a different level in our faith journey but together we make this journey and it is together that we form the light of Christ in this world a light, which helps to guide others to know and love Jesus as he truly is.
Throughout the universal Church countless people will undergo a scrutiny this weekend during Mass. The Church’s intention behind this scrutiny is to help assist those on their way toward receiving baptism or full initiation into the Church at the Easter Vigil. By means of this scrutiny the Church hopes to strengthen those preparing to make the final decision to accept Jesus as Lord with their hearts as well as their minds at Easter Time.
Just as the man born blind could not find his way to the pool of Siloam without someone guiding him there so too with those who are seeking to enter the life of the Church. We the baptized must be for them a light shining in the darkness so that they may rejoice in due time when the supernatural life-sized smile of Christ shines upon them in its brilliance.
This journey of faith, which we call lent is not only for those who will enter the Church at Easter time but rather it is for all the baptized a time to deepen our faith in Jesus Christ. For as the baptized we have been drenched in divinity, and everywhere we go we drip the very mystery that we have become. In truth, God has given us the shirt off his back, his very own divinity.
As we receive the Eucharist in a few moments we will receive into the solar system of our souls the Son of God. Throughout the remainder of Lent let us strive eagerly to be the window through which his light shines upon the world.
A Homily On Our Lady's Magnificat
Deep within every human heart there is a song that is waiting to be sung in unison with all other hearts. For Mary this song is her Magnificat. We are truly privileged to know this song and greatly blessed by God when we pray it both as individuals and as a faith community. We must thank the pages of Scripture for this song and more specifically we must thank St. Luke. St. Luke has situated this beautiful canticle in the context of Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth. Mary’s song is proclaimed in response to this encounter with her cousin. A quick survey of her song will show how extremely important humility is to it. Mary not only sings this song gracefully; she also compliments it by her life. It is Mary’s example of humility in visiting her cousin Elizabeth that I want to focus on.
Mary is the perfect disciple and as we journey on the road of discipleship we need look no further than Mary as our example. It is in cooperating with Christ’s self-emptying love that each of us will be able to reach that state of holiness to which we are called; a state, which is without spot, wrinkle or blemish. It is in Mary’s humble cooperation with God’s love that this holiness is most fully realized.
Just as Jesus humbled himself taking on the form of a slave so too did Mary humble herself under the mighty hand of God. Though Mary was graced with the greater honor of bearing Christ rather than Elizabeth who carried his forerunner, she did not consider herself more highly esteemed than Elizabeth. Mary on the other hand acknowledged everything as being a gift from God and that none of us are the sole bearers of those gifts and when we no longer associate with the lowly in their joy we risk the danger of falling into pride.
So Mary united her joy with that of Elizabeth such that there was just one joy. Mary was acknowledging that both gifts, Jesus and John, were a part of God’s plan. It was not Mary or Elizabeth who deserved the honor and glory but God who in his kindness choose both women to be cooperators in his plan of salvation.
Just as Mary pondered in her heart the great things that God had done in her life, we too are called to ponder the great things the Lord is doing or has done in our lives. By virtue of the humility that she embodied Mary was able to go out beyond herself and testify to and celebrate the great things, which the Almighty was doing in Elizabeth’s life.
The power of God at work in this joyous event is clearly gratuitous. Just as He favored Mary with such high honor so he favors us with special gifts but we must have humble hearts like Mary. Humility releases us from our own grip and allows and empowers us to go beyond ourselves in the service of others. Humility gives birth to joy, a joy, which must be shared with others. Humility never puffs up or exalts oneself; it always refers the honor to God. Let us with Mary acknowledge all the good things that we are owner of as being gifts from God for when we do, it is then that we sing in unison the song that echoes within the holy heart of Mary.
Mary is the perfect disciple and as we journey on the road of discipleship we need look no further than Mary as our example. It is in cooperating with Christ’s self-emptying love that each of us will be able to reach that state of holiness to which we are called; a state, which is without spot, wrinkle or blemish. It is in Mary’s humble cooperation with God’s love that this holiness is most fully realized.
Just as Jesus humbled himself taking on the form of a slave so too did Mary humble herself under the mighty hand of God. Though Mary was graced with the greater honor of bearing Christ rather than Elizabeth who carried his forerunner, she did not consider herself more highly esteemed than Elizabeth. Mary on the other hand acknowledged everything as being a gift from God and that none of us are the sole bearers of those gifts and when we no longer associate with the lowly in their joy we risk the danger of falling into pride.
So Mary united her joy with that of Elizabeth such that there was just one joy. Mary was acknowledging that both gifts, Jesus and John, were a part of God’s plan. It was not Mary or Elizabeth who deserved the honor and glory but God who in his kindness choose both women to be cooperators in his plan of salvation.
Just as Mary pondered in her heart the great things that God had done in her life, we too are called to ponder the great things the Lord is doing or has done in our lives. By virtue of the humility that she embodied Mary was able to go out beyond herself and testify to and celebrate the great things, which the Almighty was doing in Elizabeth’s life.
The power of God at work in this joyous event is clearly gratuitous. Just as He favored Mary with such high honor so he favors us with special gifts but we must have humble hearts like Mary. Humility releases us from our own grip and allows and empowers us to go beyond ourselves in the service of others. Humility gives birth to joy, a joy, which must be shared with others. Humility never puffs up or exalts oneself; it always refers the honor to God. Let us with Mary acknowledge all the good things that we are owner of as being gifts from God for when we do, it is then that we sing in unison the song that echoes within the holy heart of Mary.
My reflection on how I see the role of Obedience in my call to Priesthood
I feel that I am doing my best to be obedient to God's call. My experience of obedience to God's call is one in which I am losing my former concept or experience of freedom. For me, obedience means losing my own free time. For me obedience means dying to self. Obedience is calling me to surrender my preference for being an introvert. Obedience is giving rise to endurance and consequently strength in character. Obedience is drawing me into prayer especially when it demands me to step outside of my comfort zone. Obedience is also allowing me to see the ugliness of my me centered life and the resentment that I have toward God for calling me to surrender my whole life to him with nothing left for myself. Obedience gives clarity of vision to our own will. Just as fasting heightens ones sense of their appetite so too does obedience heighten our sense of the attachments that we have to self-will. Obedience also speaks to me of the words of Jesus to Peter: Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.
Obedience requires that we live according to God's time, which is the acceptable time of salvation. Obedience draws us deeper into friendship with God, reliance upon him and the awareness that he alone is our rock of refuge and support in life. It develops a capacity for solitude, for aloneness which gives aid in living a prayerful, celibate life.
Obedience is giving birth in me to an eagerness for the kingdom of God in which the celibate life finds completion. Obedience cultivates a spirit of detachment thereby deepening our availability and accessibility to be used by God for the good of his holy people. I find that obedience is leading me to the cross where I must die to self so that others may have life. It also draws me deeper into the life of Christ who out of obedience to His Father suffered for me. I feel that obedience is giving me a first hand experience of what Christ has done for us. Living a life of constant and on-going obedience reminds me and presents me with a real and fresh encounter with Christ・s obedience to the Father; an encounter which gives the strength necessary to continue marching on in the midst of the many trials and tribulations that are bound to come my way. Obedience is in a certain sense a distinguishing characteristic in my discernment process. I am aware of a strong sense of duty toward answering this call because of my firm belief in the divine origin of this call to priesthood. For me obedience is like the wind in the road which beckons the hiker's curiosity as to what lays beyond that wind in the road despite the fact that the hiker's legs are tiring from the journey, a journey which is not the normal path to which he is accustomed.
Obedience requires that we live according to God's time, which is the acceptable time of salvation. Obedience draws us deeper into friendship with God, reliance upon him and the awareness that he alone is our rock of refuge and support in life. It develops a capacity for solitude, for aloneness which gives aid in living a prayerful, celibate life.
Obedience is giving birth in me to an eagerness for the kingdom of God in which the celibate life finds completion. Obedience cultivates a spirit of detachment thereby deepening our availability and accessibility to be used by God for the good of his holy people. I find that obedience is leading me to the cross where I must die to self so that others may have life. It also draws me deeper into the life of Christ who out of obedience to His Father suffered for me. I feel that obedience is giving me a first hand experience of what Christ has done for us. Living a life of constant and on-going obedience reminds me and presents me with a real and fresh encounter with Christ・s obedience to the Father; an encounter which gives the strength necessary to continue marching on in the midst of the many trials and tribulations that are bound to come my way. Obedience is in a certain sense a distinguishing characteristic in my discernment process. I am aware of a strong sense of duty toward answering this call because of my firm belief in the divine origin of this call to priesthood. For me obedience is like the wind in the road which beckons the hiker's curiosity as to what lays beyond that wind in the road despite the fact that the hiker's legs are tiring from the journey, a journey which is not the normal path to which he is accustomed.
A Word Study on the Greek Term applied to the Church=Ecclesia
Ekklesia
The second Vatican council which convened between the years 1962-1965 endeavored to address a number of issues which were facing the Church in regard to her own self-understanding and mission. Of all the documents that came out of this holy synod it was Lumen Gentium which actually addressed directly the Church's understanding of being 'Church'. In speaking about herself and in order to articulate her self-reflection, the Church alluded to the holy scriptures, the writings of the Church Fathers and the faithful witness of her own Tradition which never ceases to be a loyal and formative guide. In the same document mentioned above, the fathers of the holy synod outlined eight areas pertaining to the Church's self-understanding. The list of eight includes the following: "The Mystery of the Church, the People of God, the Hierarchy, the Laity, the Call to Holiness, the Religious, the Pilgrim Church, and Our Lady." (Flannery 350-432) The area of concern for this paper will obviously be upon the Church, but specifically upon the Church as the 'People of God'. The people of God in both Old and New Testaments were defined by a certain word. In the Tanak, the word used for the people of God is lhq,, which is 'qahal' and in the New Testament the term that speaks of the people of God is 'ekklesia which is 'ecclesia'. The focus of this paper therefore will be to analyze the Greek word 'ecclesia' as it is used in the New Testament. This task will necessitate a certain amount of reflection upon the term 'qahal' that has already been mentioned. In addition to examining the semantic range of the term 'ecclesia' and it's Hebrew counterpart 'qahal', it would be fitting to tackle the question of why the early Christian communities chose such a word to define their fellowship in Christ. Upon completion of this study it would be helpful to examine the importance of this word study for our own spiritual lives.
Starting with Strong's Exhaustive concordance we find that the Greek term for Church is 'ekklesia' and it entails the following meaning: "Church, congregation, assembly; a group of people gathered together. It can refer to the OT assembly of believers (Ac 7:38), or a riotous mob (Ac 19:32), but usually to a Christian assembly, a church: as a totality (Eph 3:10), or in a specific locale (Col. 4:15). In the NT a church is never a building or meeting place." (Strong's 1494) The term ecclesia occurs in the New Testament a total of "118" times. (Strong's 1494) The term ekklesia comes from a Greek preposition "ek" and a Greek verb "kalew". (TDNT 488) The preposition ek means "out of" and the verb kalew means "to call, invite or summon". (TDNT 488) By virtue of the roots of ekklesia we are able to see that ecclesia denotes the idea of being called out of something, to be summoned out of or from something. The verb kalew, being of such fundamental importance to our term ecclesia also deserves an examination of its own. In the New Testament this verb occurs a total of "145" times and entails the following connotations: "to call, invite, summon. The authority of the speaker dictates the nature of the calling (friends invite; kings summon). This is also translated 'to name', the giving of an attribution to someone or something." (Strong's 1506)
Ekklesia, as an assembly seems to have been very political in its origins. It "denotes the popular assembly of the competent citizens of a polis, city-state (in Athens, they met 30-40x a year, more in times of emergency). Decisions were made on suggested changes in law, on appointments to official positions, and on every important question of internal and external policy (contracts, treaties, war and peace, finance). To these was added, in special cases (e.g., treason), the task of sitting in judgment, which normally fell to regular courts. The ekklesia opened with prayers and sacrifices to the gods. Every citizen had the right to speak and propose matters for discussion; a decision was valid only if it won a certain number of votes." (Verbrugge 388) Despite being fairly political in structure, the translators whose task it was to translate the Tanak into the Greek Septuagint chose to employ its use in rendering the Hebrew term lhq. Two questions arise around this topic. One: what does the Hebrew word 'qahal' mean?; two: why choose the Greek term 'ecclesia' to translate its meaning? Let us now look at the meaning of the word 'qahal'. lhq "means a summons to an assembly and the act of assembling. What assembles is the h'de, the m' (people), Israel, Judah, the elders, or the princes. This breadth of usage indicates that the decisive meaning of the word is to be determined from the noun, not from the verb. Who make up the qahal? In the earliest strata of the OT, the word stands primarily for the summons to war of all the men capable of bearing arms. To a certain extent, the soldiers represent the people, but occasionally the word stands for the whole congregation of the people." (Verbrugge 389) The term 'edah' is "the unambiguous and permanent term for the covenant community as a whole, while 'qahal' is the ceremonial expression for the assembly that results from the covenant. Where ekklesia is used in the LXX for 'qahal', it indicates the assembly of the people or a judicial assembly, i.e., a political body. It also indicates, especially in Chr,. the assembly of the people for worship. Still, even in these cases ekklesia is only used where it is a question of the people of God's assembly, characterized by Yahweh's call. Admittedly the word is used esp. where the historic greatness of Israel is implied and avoided where it could be a merely political claim. Perhaps that is why, in legal passages regulating the life of the community, qahal is translated by synagoge." (Verbrugge 390) From these few quotes we can see that the term 'edah' is somewhat of an umbrella term for the people of God in general and that qahal is more narrowly the 'assembly' that has responded affirmatively to Yahweh's initiative. Verbrugge also points out that the term 'qahal' is not only translated by ekklesia but rather it also appears as 'synagoge'. The earliest Christians could have chosen either 'ekklesia' or 'synagoge' to convey the reality of their assembly or gatheing, so why did they choose the former over the latter? It appears that "toward the end of the first century, Christians were no longer welcome in the synagogue", which maybe accounted by the strong presence of polemic in the writings of the New Testament. (Verbrugge 391)
So, to distinguish themselves from the legalism of the Jewish religion and the synagogues in which they were no longer welcome the first century Christians consciously chose the Greek term 'ekklesia'. What did the early Christians understand by this term 'ekklesia'? "One can say with certainty that all the early Christian writers used ekklesia only for those fellowships that came into being after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Its roots lie in the fact that some of the disciples became witnesses of resurrection appearances and were commissioned to bear the news that the time of salvation had dawned. In other words, the concept of the Church developed through the consciousness of being in the eschatological situation created by the resurrection appearances. The early Christian ekklesia understood itself as the herald of the lordship of Christ, which was already being realized in their midst." (Verbrugge 392) What is really interesting about this self-understanding of being a witness of the resurrection can be seen in a word that is related to the verb Kalew which underlies the term 'ekklesia'. The related word is Parakalew, Paraklesis. This is the word used by Jesus to refer to the coming 'comforter' or 'paraclete' who would lead the apostles into the fullness of truth which they were not able to receive prior to his death and resurrection. The 'Paraclete' was the gift of the Father which Jesus was going to send in his name so that his disciples could be witnesses to the ends of the earth of the 'Good News'. It is from the opened side of Christ on the Cross that the Church find's her origins. The nature and mission of the ekklesia is bound up in the Most Holy Trinity. The Church is the sacramental extension of Christ's incarnation in the world. The presence of the Spirit in each and every member of the ekklesia helps to complete the saving work of Christ. The term found in John's gospel for the 'paraclete' has the same root as that of the 'ekklesia'. "Parakletos means legal advisor, advocate, counselor or helper;" and understood in this way both Christ and the Holy Spirit are for the Church its advocate and helper. (Balz 28) This very same paraclete, the Holy Spirit, had descended upon the disciples who had been gathered in the upper room at Pentecost. This descent of the Holy Spirit ensured in a definitive manner the birth of the 'ekklesia' in that the disciples were now fully equipped with boldness for the mission that lay ahead. As mentioned above, the earliest Christians understood themselves as being witnesses to the resurrection and the dawn of a new day in the plan of God's salvation. This understanding is inextricably bound up with the Pentecost experience. Another interesting point about the relation between Parakaleo and Ekkaleo is that St. Paul speaks about our inefficiency to pray as we ought but at the same time we have the Spirit of Christ who prays for us in the inner depths of our spirits. We are the Church, those who have been called out of spiritual slavery into the light of God's presence, called to be a holy people, a royal priesthood who offer spiritual sacrifices. The Spirit, is the Paraclete which is the adjectival form of parakaleo, assists us in being Church.
Pastoral Application
From what I have learned from my study is directly related to the lives we live as Christians. The usage of the word 'ekklesia' denotes the idea of being called out of something. The call in and of itself finds its importance in the one who does the calling. As Church, specifically Roman Catholics, we have been called by God the Father through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit to live lives in keeping with our baptismal dignity. In the sacrament of baptism we enter through the doors of the Church into the family of God and are sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit who enables and 'helps' us in our Christian vocation. Even within our 'gathering together' as Church, our rich Tradition has shown us that God not only calls people out of the world to be his very own people but also that he calls some of our very own members out from our midst to serve in various ministries for the good of the 'assembly'. The whole notion of Church as 'ekklesia' is linked to the concept of vocation. We are a people that have been called into holiness, we are the elect of God, we are the people who have answered the call of God through our affirmative response that is seen most clearly in our covenantal remembrance of Christ in the Eucharist. Within our 'ekklesia' some are called by God to offer their lives in service as ministerial priests, while others are called to the consecrated life and further still some are called to the married life in which they exercise and make concrete in the secular world the dignity of our divine calling as Church. I think that this study also shows even if only on a semantic level the deep connection between our calling as Church and the pneumatic stamp that is characteristic of that calling. In order for us to live out most fully our baptismal calling we are in need of the advocacy and counsel of the Holy Spirit who teaches us what it truly means to pray. The Holy Spirit defines who we are as Church. It is by the power and invocation of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, that the Church is able to live out its calling which is to make present to the world for all ages the saving mystery of Christ's life, death and resurrection. Our Church teaches in its official documents that the source and summit of our strength as Catholics is to be found in the mystery of the Eucharist. It is by the invocation of the Holy Spirit, the epiclesis, and the word of Christ that the Eucharist is effected for us in our liturgies. Furthermore, this analysis of the origins of the term Church or 'ekklesia' reminds us that we have been born out of the Paschal mystery of Christ. It was from the disciples awareness of being witnesses to Christ's resurrection that the Church's message grew in strength. This particular awareness is in like manner to be appropriated within each of us. We must be mindful that we are the people, God has chosen for his own. We are a people of election, covenant, and remnant. We are bearers of a message purer than gold. As Church or 'ecclesia' we are on the threshold of the kingdom of God of which we are the seed in the world. With this insight we must make known to the world around us the same call to holiness that has been given to us which in reality has called us out of the world and our former ways of behaving that were provoking God's wrath. To be 'ekklesia' involves a constant becoming, for we are not static but rather we are a pilgrim people summoned to make our election sure. The certitude of our calling is to rest on him who has called us. The root underlying the word for Church in the original Greek has for its meaning call, invite or summon and experts in the area of the Greek language tell us that the significance of such a call rests upon the one who is calling. Let us therefore reflect upon the exalted nature of our calling which has been made by God our heavenly Father. Let us implore the help of the Holy Spirit as we try to discern our own individual call of service within the Church.
The second Vatican council which convened between the years 1962-1965 endeavored to address a number of issues which were facing the Church in regard to her own self-understanding and mission. Of all the documents that came out of this holy synod it was Lumen Gentium which actually addressed directly the Church's understanding of being 'Church'. In speaking about herself and in order to articulate her self-reflection, the Church alluded to the holy scriptures, the writings of the Church Fathers and the faithful witness of her own Tradition which never ceases to be a loyal and formative guide. In the same document mentioned above, the fathers of the holy synod outlined eight areas pertaining to the Church's self-understanding. The list of eight includes the following: "The Mystery of the Church, the People of God, the Hierarchy, the Laity, the Call to Holiness, the Religious, the Pilgrim Church, and Our Lady." (Flannery 350-432) The area of concern for this paper will obviously be upon the Church, but specifically upon the Church as the 'People of God'. The people of God in both Old and New Testaments were defined by a certain word. In the Tanak, the word used for the people of God is lhq,, which is 'qahal' and in the New Testament the term that speaks of the people of God is 'ekklesia which is 'ecclesia'. The focus of this paper therefore will be to analyze the Greek word 'ecclesia' as it is used in the New Testament. This task will necessitate a certain amount of reflection upon the term 'qahal' that has already been mentioned. In addition to examining the semantic range of the term 'ecclesia' and it's Hebrew counterpart 'qahal', it would be fitting to tackle the question of why the early Christian communities chose such a word to define their fellowship in Christ. Upon completion of this study it would be helpful to examine the importance of this word study for our own spiritual lives.
Starting with Strong's Exhaustive concordance we find that the Greek term for Church is 'ekklesia' and it entails the following meaning: "Church, congregation, assembly; a group of people gathered together. It can refer to the OT assembly of believers (Ac 7:38), or a riotous mob (Ac 19:32), but usually to a Christian assembly, a church: as a totality (Eph 3:10), or in a specific locale (Col. 4:15). In the NT a church is never a building or meeting place." (Strong's 1494) The term ecclesia occurs in the New Testament a total of "118" times. (Strong's 1494) The term ekklesia comes from a Greek preposition "ek" and a Greek verb "kalew". (TDNT 488) The preposition ek means "out of" and the verb kalew means "to call, invite or summon". (TDNT 488) By virtue of the roots of ekklesia we are able to see that ecclesia denotes the idea of being called out of something, to be summoned out of or from something. The verb kalew, being of such fundamental importance to our term ecclesia also deserves an examination of its own. In the New Testament this verb occurs a total of "145" times and entails the following connotations: "to call, invite, summon. The authority of the speaker dictates the nature of the calling (friends invite; kings summon). This is also translated 'to name', the giving of an attribution to someone or something." (Strong's 1506)
Ekklesia, as an assembly seems to have been very political in its origins. It "denotes the popular assembly of the competent citizens of a polis, city-state (in Athens, they met 30-40x a year, more in times of emergency). Decisions were made on suggested changes in law, on appointments to official positions, and on every important question of internal and external policy (contracts, treaties, war and peace, finance). To these was added, in special cases (e.g., treason), the task of sitting in judgment, which normally fell to regular courts. The ekklesia opened with prayers and sacrifices to the gods. Every citizen had the right to speak and propose matters for discussion; a decision was valid only if it won a certain number of votes." (Verbrugge 388) Despite being fairly political in structure, the translators whose task it was to translate the Tanak into the Greek Septuagint chose to employ its use in rendering the Hebrew term lhq. Two questions arise around this topic. One: what does the Hebrew word 'qahal' mean?; two: why choose the Greek term 'ecclesia' to translate its meaning? Let us now look at the meaning of the word 'qahal'. lhq "means a summons to an assembly and the act of assembling. What assembles is the h'de, the m' (people), Israel, Judah, the elders, or the princes. This breadth of usage indicates that the decisive meaning of the word is to be determined from the noun, not from the verb. Who make up the qahal? In the earliest strata of the OT, the word stands primarily for the summons to war of all the men capable of bearing arms. To a certain extent, the soldiers represent the people, but occasionally the word stands for the whole congregation of the people." (Verbrugge 389) The term 'edah' is "the unambiguous and permanent term for the covenant community as a whole, while 'qahal' is the ceremonial expression for the assembly that results from the covenant. Where ekklesia is used in the LXX for 'qahal', it indicates the assembly of the people or a judicial assembly, i.e., a political body. It also indicates, especially in Chr,. the assembly of the people for worship. Still, even in these cases ekklesia is only used where it is a question of the people of God's assembly, characterized by Yahweh's call. Admittedly the word is used esp. where the historic greatness of Israel is implied and avoided where it could be a merely political claim. Perhaps that is why, in legal passages regulating the life of the community, qahal is translated by synagoge." (Verbrugge 390) From these few quotes we can see that the term 'edah' is somewhat of an umbrella term for the people of God in general and that qahal is more narrowly the 'assembly' that has responded affirmatively to Yahweh's initiative. Verbrugge also points out that the term 'qahal' is not only translated by ekklesia but rather it also appears as 'synagoge'. The earliest Christians could have chosen either 'ekklesia' or 'synagoge' to convey the reality of their assembly or gatheing, so why did they choose the former over the latter? It appears that "toward the end of the first century, Christians were no longer welcome in the synagogue", which maybe accounted by the strong presence of polemic in the writings of the New Testament. (Verbrugge 391)
So, to distinguish themselves from the legalism of the Jewish religion and the synagogues in which they were no longer welcome the first century Christians consciously chose the Greek term 'ekklesia'. What did the early Christians understand by this term 'ekklesia'? "One can say with certainty that all the early Christian writers used ekklesia only for those fellowships that came into being after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Its roots lie in the fact that some of the disciples became witnesses of resurrection appearances and were commissioned to bear the news that the time of salvation had dawned. In other words, the concept of the Church developed through the consciousness of being in the eschatological situation created by the resurrection appearances. The early Christian ekklesia understood itself as the herald of the lordship of Christ, which was already being realized in their midst." (Verbrugge 392) What is really interesting about this self-understanding of being a witness of the resurrection can be seen in a word that is related to the verb Kalew which underlies the term 'ekklesia'. The related word is Parakalew, Paraklesis. This is the word used by Jesus to refer to the coming 'comforter' or 'paraclete' who would lead the apostles into the fullness of truth which they were not able to receive prior to his death and resurrection. The 'Paraclete' was the gift of the Father which Jesus was going to send in his name so that his disciples could be witnesses to the ends of the earth of the 'Good News'. It is from the opened side of Christ on the Cross that the Church find's her origins. The nature and mission of the ekklesia is bound up in the Most Holy Trinity. The Church is the sacramental extension of Christ's incarnation in the world. The presence of the Spirit in each and every member of the ekklesia helps to complete the saving work of Christ. The term found in John's gospel for the 'paraclete' has the same root as that of the 'ekklesia'. "Parakletos means legal advisor, advocate, counselor or helper;" and understood in this way both Christ and the Holy Spirit are for the Church its advocate and helper. (Balz 28) This very same paraclete, the Holy Spirit, had descended upon the disciples who had been gathered in the upper room at Pentecost. This descent of the Holy Spirit ensured in a definitive manner the birth of the 'ekklesia' in that the disciples were now fully equipped with boldness for the mission that lay ahead. As mentioned above, the earliest Christians understood themselves as being witnesses to the resurrection and the dawn of a new day in the plan of God's salvation. This understanding is inextricably bound up with the Pentecost experience. Another interesting point about the relation between Parakaleo and Ekkaleo is that St. Paul speaks about our inefficiency to pray as we ought but at the same time we have the Spirit of Christ who prays for us in the inner depths of our spirits. We are the Church, those who have been called out of spiritual slavery into the light of God's presence, called to be a holy people, a royal priesthood who offer spiritual sacrifices. The Spirit, is the Paraclete which is the adjectival form of parakaleo, assists us in being Church.
Pastoral Application
From what I have learned from my study is directly related to the lives we live as Christians. The usage of the word 'ekklesia' denotes the idea of being called out of something. The call in and of itself finds its importance in the one who does the calling. As Church, specifically Roman Catholics, we have been called by God the Father through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit to live lives in keeping with our baptismal dignity. In the sacrament of baptism we enter through the doors of the Church into the family of God and are sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit who enables and 'helps' us in our Christian vocation. Even within our 'gathering together' as Church, our rich Tradition has shown us that God not only calls people out of the world to be his very own people but also that he calls some of our very own members out from our midst to serve in various ministries for the good of the 'assembly'. The whole notion of Church as 'ekklesia' is linked to the concept of vocation. We are a people that have been called into holiness, we are the elect of God, we are the people who have answered the call of God through our affirmative response that is seen most clearly in our covenantal remembrance of Christ in the Eucharist. Within our 'ekklesia' some are called by God to offer their lives in service as ministerial priests, while others are called to the consecrated life and further still some are called to the married life in which they exercise and make concrete in the secular world the dignity of our divine calling as Church. I think that this study also shows even if only on a semantic level the deep connection between our calling as Church and the pneumatic stamp that is characteristic of that calling. In order for us to live out most fully our baptismal calling we are in need of the advocacy and counsel of the Holy Spirit who teaches us what it truly means to pray. The Holy Spirit defines who we are as Church. It is by the power and invocation of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, that the Church is able to live out its calling which is to make present to the world for all ages the saving mystery of Christ's life, death and resurrection. Our Church teaches in its official documents that the source and summit of our strength as Catholics is to be found in the mystery of the Eucharist. It is by the invocation of the Holy Spirit, the epiclesis, and the word of Christ that the Eucharist is effected for us in our liturgies. Furthermore, this analysis of the origins of the term Church or 'ekklesia' reminds us that we have been born out of the Paschal mystery of Christ. It was from the disciples awareness of being witnesses to Christ's resurrection that the Church's message grew in strength. This particular awareness is in like manner to be appropriated within each of us. We must be mindful that we are the people, God has chosen for his own. We are a people of election, covenant, and remnant. We are bearers of a message purer than gold. As Church or 'ecclesia' we are on the threshold of the kingdom of God of which we are the seed in the world. With this insight we must make known to the world around us the same call to holiness that has been given to us which in reality has called us out of the world and our former ways of behaving that were provoking God's wrath. To be 'ekklesia' involves a constant becoming, for we are not static but rather we are a pilgrim people summoned to make our election sure. The certitude of our calling is to rest on him who has called us. The root underlying the word for Church in the original Greek has for its meaning call, invite or summon and experts in the area of the Greek language tell us that the significance of such a call rests upon the one who is calling. Let us therefore reflect upon the exalted nature of our calling which has been made by God our heavenly Father. Let us implore the help of the Holy Spirit as we try to discern our own individual call of service within the Church.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Homily for the solemnity of Pentecost
In the Old Testament there is a story called the Tower of Babel. This story tells us of a time when all the nations of the earth spoke the same language. With time these nations planned to build a city and a tower whose top would reach into the heavens so as to make a name for themselves. The all-knowing God however was aware of their wicked plans and so he confounded the nations thereby dividing their one language into many. Without the unity of language these nations went their separate ways leaving behind them their city and its tower.
> In a certain sense this story speaks about the height that sin can reach in human history, a height which seeks to establish itself against the sovereignty of God. This story is one of the clearest accounts found in scripture of the extremes that the human family weighed down by sin can reach. Sin ultimately will lead to man exalting himself over and above God his Creator if man’s heart is not first changed.
> Pentecost is a reversal of what happens at the Tower of Babel. The nations of the world are called together in unity by the Holy Spirit to once again speak one language, the language of praise for the many wondrous deeds that God has worked for the good of the human family. Pentecost is also an invitation to build the city of God where the only name we will seek is the one that God so chooses to give us. Really, what better a name can human beings receive than to be called sons and daughters of the living God?
> Pentecost is not a one-time event. It is the eternal waterfall that continually beats down upon the Church’s calloused hands softening them for the task of handling the Sacred Mysteries of God’s life which is contained in the vessel known as the human heart.
> Pentecost is also a time for getting the kinks out of the hose of salvation so that all the peoples of the earth may come to know that the Church is the well spring of salvation established by Jesus Christ in order to satisfy the deepest yearnings of every human heart.
> Pentecost is a time of contagious joy, a time of exuberant gladness. It is a sign of God’s victory taking on concrete form in human history. The victory of the Resurrection has been sealed by the coming of the Holy Spirit in Pentecost. It is one thing to hear a message and accept it, but to live it is another thing. That is why the Church was not ready for its mission of worldwide evangelization until it received the gift of the Holy Spirit who enables us to live out our exalted call to holiness.
> We all know what its like to fill out a resume and the purpose of doing such. In writing a resume a person tries to sell them self. If such a person is to be taken seriously and considered for a specific job or task they usually need a few references who are capable of testifying to the authenticity of that person’s claim about them self and their resume. The more important the reference the greater the chances they have of selling them self. The Holy Spirit is the Church’s reference and the Gospel is her Resume. The Spirit testifies that who the Church claims herself to be in the Gospel is authentically accurate.
> In Pentecost we celebrate our divine inheritance. As adopted sons and daughters of God we are heirs to the innumerable riches gained for us by Christ’s complete surrender to His Father.
> St. Paul says: “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of Adoption, through which we cry, ‘Abba, Father.” The Church is God’s response to sin in the human family. We are blest, gifted and yet at the same time we are sinners. We are members of a family where something has gone wrong. We are affected by our surroundings and in our own ways we also contribute to the dysfunctional nature of the human family.
> The evil one seeks to pull the wool over our eyes so as to convince us that we are useless, inadequate and unlovable. When we allow this kind of garbage to settle in our souls, we slowly lose sight of our beauty as individuals and as a people. By the wounds of Christ we have been made whole, why then do we allow ourselves to wallow in the misery of the evil one. Jesus Christ has defeated the world. How many of us are still in chains? We are the people of God and yet many of us still find ourselves held back by many fears and insecurities. These chains hold us back from the freedom that the Holy Spirit seeks to give the Church.
> The devil has convinced us however that we are not good enough, that we will never measure up. The devil has pulled the wool over our eyes and when this happens he makes sure to feed us with his lies which with time we will find ourselves convinced of. We must realize that it is God who defines who we are in truth. The devil is afraid of us, he is afraid of our giftedness, he is afraid that we will use our blessedness for the construction of the city of God. The devil is always preaching that we must earn God’s love and that when we stumble and fall in sin that God couldn’t possibly love us.
> Furthermore, as we struggle with sin, sometimes we find ourselves enslaved to a particular sin which becomes a habit in our lives. The devil is quick to give a sequel to his first sermon by saying to us: ‘Look at yourselves, your slaves to sin, who would possibly love the likes of you. Certainly God won’t.’ The evil one says this to lead us into despair, hoping that we will give up hope and turn away from God for according to the evil one God is only a hard task master who is impossible to please. This perception of God however is false and it is a work of the evil one.
> God’s love is forever strong. It is powerful, passionate and patient. His love for us is unconditional, meaning that regardless of what we do His love for us does not change. We cannot gain his love. His love for us is non-negotiable. He loves us, no questions asked. This doesn’t mean however that God doesn’t judge sin because he does, he hates sin with a divine hatred but at the same time he loves us sinners with an inexhaustible and applause worthy love.
> Pentecost is a reminder that human history is going somewhere, that it is being guided by the all-loving hand of God. By virtue of the Spirit’s presence in us, the Church, the window blinds of human history are progressively being opened allowing light to flood the areas of darkness that haunt humanity. It is with our hands that these blinds are continually being opened to the world around us. Each generation of the Church has been commissioned to help shed the light of Christ upon the world until that day when Jesus Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, will return upon the clouds of heaven to clothe all his faithful ones with garments of light that no darkness can approach or overcome.
> We are the Church and today is our feast day, a feast which calls us to be a community of unity which seeks to lift high the mighty name of God by esteeming our own worth and the worth of all God’s adopted children as we cry out in faith: “Abba, Father”.
> In a certain sense this story speaks about the height that sin can reach in human history, a height which seeks to establish itself against the sovereignty of God. This story is one of the clearest accounts found in scripture of the extremes that the human family weighed down by sin can reach. Sin ultimately will lead to man exalting himself over and above God his Creator if man’s heart is not first changed.
> Pentecost is a reversal of what happens at the Tower of Babel. The nations of the world are called together in unity by the Holy Spirit to once again speak one language, the language of praise for the many wondrous deeds that God has worked for the good of the human family. Pentecost is also an invitation to build the city of God where the only name we will seek is the one that God so chooses to give us. Really, what better a name can human beings receive than to be called sons and daughters of the living God?
> Pentecost is not a one-time event. It is the eternal waterfall that continually beats down upon the Church’s calloused hands softening them for the task of handling the Sacred Mysteries of God’s life which is contained in the vessel known as the human heart.
> Pentecost is also a time for getting the kinks out of the hose of salvation so that all the peoples of the earth may come to know that the Church is the well spring of salvation established by Jesus Christ in order to satisfy the deepest yearnings of every human heart.
> Pentecost is a time of contagious joy, a time of exuberant gladness. It is a sign of God’s victory taking on concrete form in human history. The victory of the Resurrection has been sealed by the coming of the Holy Spirit in Pentecost. It is one thing to hear a message and accept it, but to live it is another thing. That is why the Church was not ready for its mission of worldwide evangelization until it received the gift of the Holy Spirit who enables us to live out our exalted call to holiness.
> We all know what its like to fill out a resume and the purpose of doing such. In writing a resume a person tries to sell them self. If such a person is to be taken seriously and considered for a specific job or task they usually need a few references who are capable of testifying to the authenticity of that person’s claim about them self and their resume. The more important the reference the greater the chances they have of selling them self. The Holy Spirit is the Church’s reference and the Gospel is her Resume. The Spirit testifies that who the Church claims herself to be in the Gospel is authentically accurate.
> In Pentecost we celebrate our divine inheritance. As adopted sons and daughters of God we are heirs to the innumerable riches gained for us by Christ’s complete surrender to His Father.
> St. Paul says: “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of Adoption, through which we cry, ‘Abba, Father.” The Church is God’s response to sin in the human family. We are blest, gifted and yet at the same time we are sinners. We are members of a family where something has gone wrong. We are affected by our surroundings and in our own ways we also contribute to the dysfunctional nature of the human family.
> The evil one seeks to pull the wool over our eyes so as to convince us that we are useless, inadequate and unlovable. When we allow this kind of garbage to settle in our souls, we slowly lose sight of our beauty as individuals and as a people. By the wounds of Christ we have been made whole, why then do we allow ourselves to wallow in the misery of the evil one. Jesus Christ has defeated the world. How many of us are still in chains? We are the people of God and yet many of us still find ourselves held back by many fears and insecurities. These chains hold us back from the freedom that the Holy Spirit seeks to give the Church.
> The devil has convinced us however that we are not good enough, that we will never measure up. The devil has pulled the wool over our eyes and when this happens he makes sure to feed us with his lies which with time we will find ourselves convinced of. We must realize that it is God who defines who we are in truth. The devil is afraid of us, he is afraid of our giftedness, he is afraid that we will use our blessedness for the construction of the city of God. The devil is always preaching that we must earn God’s love and that when we stumble and fall in sin that God couldn’t possibly love us.
> Furthermore, as we struggle with sin, sometimes we find ourselves enslaved to a particular sin which becomes a habit in our lives. The devil is quick to give a sequel to his first sermon by saying to us: ‘Look at yourselves, your slaves to sin, who would possibly love the likes of you. Certainly God won’t.’ The evil one says this to lead us into despair, hoping that we will give up hope and turn away from God for according to the evil one God is only a hard task master who is impossible to please. This perception of God however is false and it is a work of the evil one.
> God’s love is forever strong. It is powerful, passionate and patient. His love for us is unconditional, meaning that regardless of what we do His love for us does not change. We cannot gain his love. His love for us is non-negotiable. He loves us, no questions asked. This doesn’t mean however that God doesn’t judge sin because he does, he hates sin with a divine hatred but at the same time he loves us sinners with an inexhaustible and applause worthy love.
> Pentecost is a reminder that human history is going somewhere, that it is being guided by the all-loving hand of God. By virtue of the Spirit’s presence in us, the Church, the window blinds of human history are progressively being opened allowing light to flood the areas of darkness that haunt humanity. It is with our hands that these blinds are continually being opened to the world around us. Each generation of the Church has been commissioned to help shed the light of Christ upon the world until that day when Jesus Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, will return upon the clouds of heaven to clothe all his faithful ones with garments of light that no darkness can approach or overcome.
> We are the Church and today is our feast day, a feast which calls us to be a community of unity which seeks to lift high the mighty name of God by esteeming our own worth and the worth of all God’s adopted children as we cry out in faith: “Abba, Father”.
Homily for the feast of St. Andrew, Nov. 30
On this day in the Church’s calendar we celebrate the feast of St. Andrew, one of Christ’s chosen Twelve.
> As I reflected upon St. Andrew in some detail using Sacred Scripture as my aid I found myself intrigued by this servant of Unity.
> Prior to being an Apostle and Martyr of Jesus Christ, St. Andrew was a disciple of Christ’s forerunner, St. John the Baptist. The very fact that St. Andrew was a disciple of St. John the Baptist is evidence that he hungered for the Truth and the fulfillment of God’s promises. St. John the Baptist led and prepared St. Andrew for following Christ. St. Andrew rejoiced in John’s light for a little while until the True Light which was to come into the world arrived. St. John the Baptist saw Him on the Shore and proclaimed Him the Lamb forever more. St. Andrew took to heart the words of his master and followed Jesus. Meanwhile, as the spotlight moved away from St. John the Baptist and centered on Jesus, John was still able in spite of the haunting face of pride to humbly submit to God’s will and profess that: “He must increase in importance while I decrease in importance.” John prepared the way of the Lord in word and deed and then gracefully bowed out being contented with the particular task that God had called him to do. John, the one who preached a baptism for the forgiveness of sins in the wilderness area of Judea, surely drew large crowds to himself by virtue of his desert ministry. John even drew the attention of the religious leaders of Jerusalem. The ministry of the Baptist was quite significant; he even had his own loyal group of followers.
> All of a sudden from out of nowhere Jesus of Nazareth steals the spotlight and John is left to deal with a declining popularity. Even two of his followers, Andrew and John, son of Zebedee, leave him to follow the Lamb of God. Can you imagine some of the Baptist’s thoughts as he relinquished his time in the spotlight to a newcomer? Just think about the temptations which he must have faced. One temptation could have been to get angry at God because he was not chosen to be an Apostle, one of the chosen few. After all he had prepared the way for the Lord who else was better qualified than him to be an Apostle. A second temptation that could have crossed his mind was the temptation to be resentful at Andrew and John for leaving him to follow Jesus.
> As we take time to reflect upon Andrew in accord with the Biblical witness we should clearly see the influence that John the Baptist had on Andrew. Three of the four times that Andrew is mentioned in the New Testament other than when his name appears in a list of names, he is seen as one who brings people to Jesus, people who will enable Jesus to fulfill his mission which is none other than: gathering all his sheep into one flock with one shepherd over that flock. Let us examine those people whom Andrew brought to Jesus. First, Andrew brought his brother Simon Peter whom Jesus appointed as chief Shepherd of His Church. As the chief Shepherd, Peter would serve as a visible sign of unity for the Church. Subsequently, all of Peter’s successors would continue the task of safeguarding the flock in unity; Second, Andrew brought a young boy to Jesus who had five loaves and two fish. Jesus seized this opportunity presented him by Andrew to miraculously feed five thousand men a miracle which has been recounted in the Gospel because it points to the miracle of the Eucharist which is also a great sign of unity. By partaking of the one loaf the many become one. The Eucharist alongside the Papacy are visible signs of Christ’s presence in his Church and in the world and they also safeguard the unity of the one flock. Third: When approached by Philip regarding Greeks (Gentiles) who want to see Jesus, Andrew brings their desire before Jesus. St. Paul tells us that Jesus has torn down the wall of hostility that existed between Jew and Gentile by creating within himself ‘one new man’ who is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave or free, man or woman because Jesus has put an end to that division by nailing it to the Tree and sealing it with His Blood. God desires that all people be saved and that those who previously were not a people, His people, may call on Him as their God. In going before Jesus on behalf of the Greeks (Gentiles) Andrew was putting himself at the service of the Unity which so characterized and continues to characterize the all pervasive mission of Jesus Christ which is to reconcile all things in Himself, things in heaven and things on earth to the One, True Father of love.
> As can be seen from these 3 actions of St. Andrew which all are preparatory steps for the fulfillment of the Lord’s mission, Andrew is continuing the work of John the Baptist. The character of John the Baptist has overflowed into that of Andrew.
> Let us take a closer look at Andrew and John in one particular case. Andrew as we know was engaged in the search for Truth before Jesus put forth the official Call. His brother Peter it appears was not so actively engaged. Andrew, after spending the day with Jesus along with the Apostle John sought out to find his brother Peter in order to introduce him to Jesus. With time Jesus chooses his chosen Twelve with Andrew and Peter among them. Then Jesus decides to honor one of Twelve with the keys to the Kingdom, along with the honor of building the Church upon that person’s leadership. One would think that with the enthusiasm for the Truth that Andrew displayed from the outset, by following John the Baptist, that Jesus would choose him but just like John the Baptist who found himself displaced by a newcomer, Andrew was displaced by Peter. Now think about how Andrew felt upon hearing Jesus acclaim: “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” He may have been tempted to say to Jesus: “Him, Lord why not me? If it hadn’t have been for me you wouldn’t even know him and he would still be fishing,” or “Lord, I’ve been actively pursuing Your Truth by following John the Baptist, the one responsible for preparing Your way. Peter was no where in sight when all of this was happening.”
> Despite those temptations that may have been in Andrew’s life he did not act upon them but rather he humbly submitted to the good pleasure of Jesus’ will and as if to speak the words of John the Baptist in silence he inwardly prayed: “He must increase in importance while I must decrease in importance.” Andrew’s time with John the Baptist was not in vain for he learned much from him as is seen in the Gospels and so to celebrate the feast of St. Andrew is in some sense to celebrate John the Baptist. St. John the Baptist can be proud of the formative role that he played in the life of this young Servant of Unity, Andrew, brother of Simon also called Peter.
> So as we come before the table of the Lord, the table where we become one in the Lord let us strive to bring that same unity to our homes, neighbourhoods and every place we are called to go.
> As I reflected upon St. Andrew in some detail using Sacred Scripture as my aid I found myself intrigued by this servant of Unity.
> Prior to being an Apostle and Martyr of Jesus Christ, St. Andrew was a disciple of Christ’s forerunner, St. John the Baptist. The very fact that St. Andrew was a disciple of St. John the Baptist is evidence that he hungered for the Truth and the fulfillment of God’s promises. St. John the Baptist led and prepared St. Andrew for following Christ. St. Andrew rejoiced in John’s light for a little while until the True Light which was to come into the world arrived. St. John the Baptist saw Him on the Shore and proclaimed Him the Lamb forever more. St. Andrew took to heart the words of his master and followed Jesus. Meanwhile, as the spotlight moved away from St. John the Baptist and centered on Jesus, John was still able in spite of the haunting face of pride to humbly submit to God’s will and profess that: “He must increase in importance while I decrease in importance.” John prepared the way of the Lord in word and deed and then gracefully bowed out being contented with the particular task that God had called him to do. John, the one who preached a baptism for the forgiveness of sins in the wilderness area of Judea, surely drew large crowds to himself by virtue of his desert ministry. John even drew the attention of the religious leaders of Jerusalem. The ministry of the Baptist was quite significant; he even had his own loyal group of followers.
> All of a sudden from out of nowhere Jesus of Nazareth steals the spotlight and John is left to deal with a declining popularity. Even two of his followers, Andrew and John, son of Zebedee, leave him to follow the Lamb of God. Can you imagine some of the Baptist’s thoughts as he relinquished his time in the spotlight to a newcomer? Just think about the temptations which he must have faced. One temptation could have been to get angry at God because he was not chosen to be an Apostle, one of the chosen few. After all he had prepared the way for the Lord who else was better qualified than him to be an Apostle. A second temptation that could have crossed his mind was the temptation to be resentful at Andrew and John for leaving him to follow Jesus.
> As we take time to reflect upon Andrew in accord with the Biblical witness we should clearly see the influence that John the Baptist had on Andrew. Three of the four times that Andrew is mentioned in the New Testament other than when his name appears in a list of names, he is seen as one who brings people to Jesus, people who will enable Jesus to fulfill his mission which is none other than: gathering all his sheep into one flock with one shepherd over that flock. Let us examine those people whom Andrew brought to Jesus. First, Andrew brought his brother Simon Peter whom Jesus appointed as chief Shepherd of His Church. As the chief Shepherd, Peter would serve as a visible sign of unity for the Church. Subsequently, all of Peter’s successors would continue the task of safeguarding the flock in unity; Second, Andrew brought a young boy to Jesus who had five loaves and two fish. Jesus seized this opportunity presented him by Andrew to miraculously feed five thousand men a miracle which has been recounted in the Gospel because it points to the miracle of the Eucharist which is also a great sign of unity. By partaking of the one loaf the many become one. The Eucharist alongside the Papacy are visible signs of Christ’s presence in his Church and in the world and they also safeguard the unity of the one flock. Third: When approached by Philip regarding Greeks (Gentiles) who want to see Jesus, Andrew brings their desire before Jesus. St. Paul tells us that Jesus has torn down the wall of hostility that existed between Jew and Gentile by creating within himself ‘one new man’ who is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave or free, man or woman because Jesus has put an end to that division by nailing it to the Tree and sealing it with His Blood. God desires that all people be saved and that those who previously were not a people, His people, may call on Him as their God. In going before Jesus on behalf of the Greeks (Gentiles) Andrew was putting himself at the service of the Unity which so characterized and continues to characterize the all pervasive mission of Jesus Christ which is to reconcile all things in Himself, things in heaven and things on earth to the One, True Father of love.
> As can be seen from these 3 actions of St. Andrew which all are preparatory steps for the fulfillment of the Lord’s mission, Andrew is continuing the work of John the Baptist. The character of John the Baptist has overflowed into that of Andrew.
> Let us take a closer look at Andrew and John in one particular case. Andrew as we know was engaged in the search for Truth before Jesus put forth the official Call. His brother Peter it appears was not so actively engaged. Andrew, after spending the day with Jesus along with the Apostle John sought out to find his brother Peter in order to introduce him to Jesus. With time Jesus chooses his chosen Twelve with Andrew and Peter among them. Then Jesus decides to honor one of Twelve with the keys to the Kingdom, along with the honor of building the Church upon that person’s leadership. One would think that with the enthusiasm for the Truth that Andrew displayed from the outset, by following John the Baptist, that Jesus would choose him but just like John the Baptist who found himself displaced by a newcomer, Andrew was displaced by Peter. Now think about how Andrew felt upon hearing Jesus acclaim: “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” He may have been tempted to say to Jesus: “Him, Lord why not me? If it hadn’t have been for me you wouldn’t even know him and he would still be fishing,” or “Lord, I’ve been actively pursuing Your Truth by following John the Baptist, the one responsible for preparing Your way. Peter was no where in sight when all of this was happening.”
> Despite those temptations that may have been in Andrew’s life he did not act upon them but rather he humbly submitted to the good pleasure of Jesus’ will and as if to speak the words of John the Baptist in silence he inwardly prayed: “He must increase in importance while I must decrease in importance.” Andrew’s time with John the Baptist was not in vain for he learned much from him as is seen in the Gospels and so to celebrate the feast of St. Andrew is in some sense to celebrate John the Baptist. St. John the Baptist can be proud of the formative role that he played in the life of this young Servant of Unity, Andrew, brother of Simon also called Peter.
> So as we come before the table of the Lord, the table where we become one in the Lord let us strive to bring that same unity to our homes, neighbourhoods and every place we are called to go.
Homily for the Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist
Most Roman Catholic Churches throughout the world this weekend will gather to celebrate something which each and every one of has the privilege of celebrating each year, namely, a birthday. In a particular way our Archdiocese has a special reason for celebrating this birthday because it is the birthday of the Patron saint of our archdiocese-St. John the Baptist. But what does it mean for us to celebrate the birth of St. John the Baptist?
> In the Gospel the relatives of John ask the following question: “What then will this child become?” We celebrate the Birth of John the Baptist by helping one another answer this same question about ourselves.
> Today we celebrate the birth of a child, a child who has been entrusted with a very noble and humbling task, namely, the baptism of Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. In responding to his own vocation, St. John the Baptist has paved the way for countless generations of Christians to experience the ripple effect of Christ’s baptism which was received at his hands.
> The neighborhood in which John was born did not help him to realize his divine calling. In fact they wanted to prevent John from receiving his God-given name and identity. They wanted to give him his father’s name “Zechariah.” They objected to his being named John because “None of his relatives had that name” (Luke 1:61). For them what a child could be was determined by what his family and lineage had been. Their dream of a wonderful future for this child was limited by his family background. But God’s dream for us far exceeds anything that has been in our family background. The words from the song: Only a Shadow really hit the target, “The dream I have today, my Lord, is only a shadow of your dreams for me.” Our life’s work is to prayerfully find out what that glorious dream is and respond to it with generosity and obedience.
> Are we open to the movement of God’s Spirit in the lives of the children in our community? Do we point out the talents of the young people in our community so as to encourage them to use them for God’s glory rather than their own glory?
> Each great journey begins with one footstep. So from life’s earliest beginnings in the womb, we see such a beginning as a cause for rejoicing. Throughout the readings for today’s Holy Mass we find words that affirm the sanctity of human life from the very moment of conception within the mother’s womb. A mother is the first hospitality minister that any child will encounter in life. We are a people that celebrate the life of each new born baby as a possible herald of the good news of Jesus Christ. Each human life is a gift from God, a gift which when unwrapped has the power to reveal the vibrant face of God. As Roman Catholics we are a people who are pro-life because we are pro-Jesus, who is Life itself. Today we rejoice in the generosity of God who shares his life with us. Each of us has received life from God as a favor and each of us has the capacity for greatness, a greatness that is measured by charity and not title.
> As Christians we are in the world, but we are not of the world. God has placed a seed of holiness within each human heart, a seed which must be tended to by every child’s’ parents and by extension the whole Christian community.
> As a Christian community do we recognize that we are a people who have the call of God upon us? Each person here is called by God to a life of holiness. Within that call to holiness we each have a specific calling through which we should live out that holiness so as to further spread the message of the Gospel, the only message that grants eternal life.
> It is from our baptism that our vocation in life flows forth quenching the thirst that each of us has with regard to how we should live our lives and for what particular purpose. It is in our baptism that we find the answer to the question: “What then will this child become?” In baptism each of us has entered into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ which enables and empowers us to live out our particular call to holiness.
> A vocation is a calling, not a choosing. We do not choose a vocation, we respond to it. A vocation is a gift; it is the way in which we are able to respond to the need for personal holiness that God has planted deeply within the soil of our souls.
> Each of us has been divinely willed into existence and though God does not need any of us he has willed to need us in the plan of salvation. Our vocation is not for us alone, rather we must be good stewards of our calling. Each of us has a calling from God, each of our vocations serve as a piece of the overall puzzle of salvation. As we surrender to our vocation in life, the picture that is present within the puzzle of salvation becomes overwhelmingly clear to such an extent that others are awestruck by the beauty of God’s plan of salvation.
> The Baptism of Jesus has and continues to have a ripple effect upon countless generations of believers. 28 years ago today on the feast of John the Baptist’s birth I was baptized into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the priestly vocation to which I am seeking to respond has come from those peaceful waters which flowed over the head of Jesus by the hands of St. John the Baptist.
> There are times, however, when we would like to run from our vocation in life, because of the particular circumstances of our lives. We are called to live with the reality that each of us has come from God and that ultimately with death we will all return to God. Knowing this reality would we not want to maintain a spirit of focus and build up treasure in heaven where no moth can destroy nor thieves break in and steal?
> In answering my own particular vocation which at times is very difficult because of my own sense of inadequacy I too feel like running away. In the midst of these struggles, however, I find great assurance in the truth of scripture which states that “God qualifies those whom he calls, rather than calling those who are qualified,” and that “the will of God will never take us anywhere that the grace of God will not sustain us.
> Each time we pray the Our Father we say in humble submission: “Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” In praying these words we are welcoming the will of God in our lives by acknowledging that God is calling us to a specific task. We are a people who submit our lives to God in the sure and certain hope that he is the lover of souls, the one whose wishes for us are greater than the ones we have for ourselves.
> Each vocation is a calling to bear fruit that will provide nourishment for the whole Christian community. In this celebration of the Holy Eucharist let us implore the intercession of St. John the Baptist for all the members of our parish and archdiocese that we may know our vocation with clarity of vision and have generosity of heart in responding to it.
> In the Gospel the relatives of John ask the following question: “What then will this child become?” We celebrate the Birth of John the Baptist by helping one another answer this same question about ourselves.
> Today we celebrate the birth of a child, a child who has been entrusted with a very noble and humbling task, namely, the baptism of Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. In responding to his own vocation, St. John the Baptist has paved the way for countless generations of Christians to experience the ripple effect of Christ’s baptism which was received at his hands.
> The neighborhood in which John was born did not help him to realize his divine calling. In fact they wanted to prevent John from receiving his God-given name and identity. They wanted to give him his father’s name “Zechariah.” They objected to his being named John because “None of his relatives had that name” (Luke 1:61). For them what a child could be was determined by what his family and lineage had been. Their dream of a wonderful future for this child was limited by his family background. But God’s dream for us far exceeds anything that has been in our family background. The words from the song: Only a Shadow really hit the target, “The dream I have today, my Lord, is only a shadow of your dreams for me.” Our life’s work is to prayerfully find out what that glorious dream is and respond to it with generosity and obedience.
> Are we open to the movement of God’s Spirit in the lives of the children in our community? Do we point out the talents of the young people in our community so as to encourage them to use them for God’s glory rather than their own glory?
> Each great journey begins with one footstep. So from life’s earliest beginnings in the womb, we see such a beginning as a cause for rejoicing. Throughout the readings for today’s Holy Mass we find words that affirm the sanctity of human life from the very moment of conception within the mother’s womb. A mother is the first hospitality minister that any child will encounter in life. We are a people that celebrate the life of each new born baby as a possible herald of the good news of Jesus Christ. Each human life is a gift from God, a gift which when unwrapped has the power to reveal the vibrant face of God. As Roman Catholics we are a people who are pro-life because we are pro-Jesus, who is Life itself. Today we rejoice in the generosity of God who shares his life with us. Each of us has received life from God as a favor and each of us has the capacity for greatness, a greatness that is measured by charity and not title.
> As Christians we are in the world, but we are not of the world. God has placed a seed of holiness within each human heart, a seed which must be tended to by every child’s’ parents and by extension the whole Christian community.
> As a Christian community do we recognize that we are a people who have the call of God upon us? Each person here is called by God to a life of holiness. Within that call to holiness we each have a specific calling through which we should live out that holiness so as to further spread the message of the Gospel, the only message that grants eternal life.
> It is from our baptism that our vocation in life flows forth quenching the thirst that each of us has with regard to how we should live our lives and for what particular purpose. It is in our baptism that we find the answer to the question: “What then will this child become?” In baptism each of us has entered into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ which enables and empowers us to live out our particular call to holiness.
> A vocation is a calling, not a choosing. We do not choose a vocation, we respond to it. A vocation is a gift; it is the way in which we are able to respond to the need for personal holiness that God has planted deeply within the soil of our souls.
> Each of us has been divinely willed into existence and though God does not need any of us he has willed to need us in the plan of salvation. Our vocation is not for us alone, rather we must be good stewards of our calling. Each of us has a calling from God, each of our vocations serve as a piece of the overall puzzle of salvation. As we surrender to our vocation in life, the picture that is present within the puzzle of salvation becomes overwhelmingly clear to such an extent that others are awestruck by the beauty of God’s plan of salvation.
> The Baptism of Jesus has and continues to have a ripple effect upon countless generations of believers. 28 years ago today on the feast of John the Baptist’s birth I was baptized into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the priestly vocation to which I am seeking to respond has come from those peaceful waters which flowed over the head of Jesus by the hands of St. John the Baptist.
> There are times, however, when we would like to run from our vocation in life, because of the particular circumstances of our lives. We are called to live with the reality that each of us has come from God and that ultimately with death we will all return to God. Knowing this reality would we not want to maintain a spirit of focus and build up treasure in heaven where no moth can destroy nor thieves break in and steal?
> In answering my own particular vocation which at times is very difficult because of my own sense of inadequacy I too feel like running away. In the midst of these struggles, however, I find great assurance in the truth of scripture which states that “God qualifies those whom he calls, rather than calling those who are qualified,” and that “the will of God will never take us anywhere that the grace of God will not sustain us.
> Each time we pray the Our Father we say in humble submission: “Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” In praying these words we are welcoming the will of God in our lives by acknowledging that God is calling us to a specific task. We are a people who submit our lives to God in the sure and certain hope that he is the lover of souls, the one whose wishes for us are greater than the ones we have for ourselves.
> Each vocation is a calling to bear fruit that will provide nourishment for the whole Christian community. In this celebration of the Holy Eucharist let us implore the intercession of St. John the Baptist for all the members of our parish and archdiocese that we may know our vocation with clarity of vision and have generosity of heart in responding to it.
Thoughts on the holy Priesthood, April 6th
The Priest is Christ in your midst, who daily offers His one-time sacrifice. If you are to be saved you must unite yourself to Him. Christ forever lives to intercede for us and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass celebrated daily on Altars throughout the world is this 'Intercession'. Just as Christ said, 'without Me you can do nothing', these words are equally true of the Priest in our midst, who is at the head of the Church. Without the Priest we can do nothing for he is Christ in our midst and he has the marks to show it albeit in his soul, which is symbolically expressed in and by his ecclesiastical attire, which worn faithfully serves as a reminder to himself and the world around him of his consecration. The Priest does a favor to the world by faithfully wearing the visible sign of his invisible consecration so as to preserve himself and others from treating his consecration as something 'common'. So it is more about others then himself when wearing the collar. It is also a gratitude shown to God in th sense that one who sees a man with a collar is less likely to profane what God has consecrated to Himself just as one is less likely to pass in front of the Divine Presence of Christ in the Tabernacle without genuflecting when the vigil light is lit then if it weren't.
The Lord has set the Priest apart in a specific way and he should be treated accordingly. The wearing of the collar is also a respect offered to God in prayerful remembrance of the Incarnation of Christ, who took on Himself a human nature so that He could express in a human way the Truth of His Divinity such that would respect our human manner of learning. For as St. Thomas Aquinas says, 'we are led by means of sense perceptible realities to higher spiritual realities.'
Who can see the spirit of a man or his soul, no one with eyes of the body at least? So is it not reasonable and even a matter of justice that if I have a divine gift in my soul, namely, conformity to Christ the Priest and Lord from whom comes the life of the Church that I should bear some sign such that others may know that I carry such life.
The Priest is a visible sign of an invisible invitation. At all times we must possess a fearful familiarity with our Priests because worldly familiarity breeds contempt, which sooner or later proves to be the hand that slapped our Blessed Lord as he stood before Caiaphas during His trial. Christ is our brother, that is true but only because as Lord He chose to associate us with Himself. We injure ourselves when we lessen the Lordship of Christ in an attempt to emphasize Him as our brother. For if Christ is only our brother then He is no better then us and if that is the case anyone of us could have paid the ultimate price of our salvation.
The historical significance of Calvary is not our salvation if we understand its significance as something we intellectually lassoe through faith some twenty centuries later. Rather the historical significance of Calvary becomes significant for us by virtue of its eternal significance. The historical significance of Calvary acknowledges the eternal significance of Calvary, because it is not bound to the limits of time. It is this eternal significance, which is perpetuated in the Holy Mass that enables all people of every period in history to work out their salvation with fear and trembling albeit in an unbloody manner according to the Sacramental will of God.
This eternal significance is perpetuated because Christ has mirrored Himself, His very Self in the souls of those men whom He has called to Himself so as to continue His saving mission.
The branch cannot bear fruit without the vine so accordingly the People of God should look upon their Priest as the Vine to which they must cling if they wish to bear fruit. Any branch that seeks to warp the Vine will sooner or later, in this life or the next will be pruned or severed completely each respectively.
Has the Priest been set apart? Yes, but you will say, 'so are the lay faithful and the consecrated brothers and sisters'. To this I will say, yes you are right but each in their proper place. Christ is in the gathered assembly but the gathered assembly is not Christ. Yet the Priest does not cease to be the presence of Christ after the Sacred Liturgy is celebrated and the gathered assembly have disassembled. The presence of Christ in the Priest is Christ as Lord, the One who initiates and makes salvation possible. Christ in the gathered assembly is present drawing them closer to Himself in holiness. Christ in the Priest is present accomplishing this holiness by making the means of our holiness possible.
The Baptized receive two ontological hugs; the Priest, however, receives three. The third is so that Christ can make Himself present to His Bride as 'Head and Shepherd of the sheep'.
Christ is truly present in all of the Sacraments but the Eucharist alone is His substantial Presence, and this as the Priest exposes His own heart on the Altar for the Priest is not incidental to the Eucharist just as a man cannot live without a heart. “By One Sacrifice He 'has forever' perfected those who 'are being' sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14
The Priest must be a man of the Eucharist in a most special way for the Eucharist is the very lifeblood that flows through his Priestly viens, which carry to his heart the life that will enlarge his sacrifical love for the People of God. There must be or come to be an intimate link between the Priest and Sacrifice. For a Priest is a Priest primarily because He is called to off sacrifice. Understood apart from sacrifice his Priesthood becomes simply functional. For Christ, the Priest offered His own Body and Blood, His very Self. He did not offer something or someone outside of Himself. The same is true of the Priest, he must see tha in offering the Holy Eucharist he is in some real sense offering Himself in so far as he is configured to Christ through sacramental ordination. As another 'Christ' he offers himself to the Father by offering the Body and Blood of Christ for the Body and Blood of Christ become the Sacramental manifestation of his Sacramental character. Since the character received is that of Christ then the sacramental manifestation of this character must be the Body and Blood of Christ. It is also dogmatically attested that this sacred sacramental character of Christ is ontologically imprinted upon the soul of the Priest and not merely a label. As a result the Priest who offers the Holy Sacrifice is in some real sense offering himself for he is offering Christ whose Persona has been indelibly imprinted upon him. The Sacraments were instituted by Christ the Priest and so all the Sacraments come about in the life of the Church through the Sacramental Character of Christ in the soul of the Priest. In other words, the sacraments come from the sacramental character of the Priest, which is the Sacred Heart of Christ imprinted upon the soul of the Priest.
The Priest should also enjoy an intimacy with the Almighty Father unlike that of anyone else. Why, you may ask, aren't we all God's sons and daughters through Baptism? The answer flows from the closeness existing between the identity of the Priest and Christ the wholly unique Son of God. The Priestly soul reflects in a unique way the Christ, who is the unique Son.
The Priest stands before the Almighty Father as His son different then do the Baptized, who stand before Him as sons and daughters of God by grace. Even though it is by grace that the Priest can call God, Father, it is with the grace of Christ as unique Son that he calls Him, Father. This should fill the Priest with a special confidence in regard to the prayers and petitions he offers in the name of sinners as well as the profound need to live a spotless life on account of the undeserved dignity that has been given him. This conformity to Christ which is given him as a heavenly gift demands an obedience on the part of the Priest; an obedience deserving the giving of his life even in death.
It should be said of the Priest that he spent long hours in prayer offering up tears and supplications for others as well as himself. The Priest should be a man well versed in virtue, and not merely in speaking about their number and defintion.
The Priest while being no better then any other person must never dismiss the uniquely special grace indelibly marked upon his soul, which of itself deserves special attention and veneration. If he will not accept such attention and veneration for his own sake he must recall that to dismiss such attention and veneration is not so much to be an act of humility on his part as it is to be a denial of veneration for Christ, whose Persona he now has by virtue of the grace of Sacred Orders. The Priest must also proceed cautiously when in attempting to blend in with other non-ordained members of the faithful he may in fact deter or discourage others from giving Christ the veneration and attention that is His by right albeit in the soul of the Priest. It would be like the doors of the Tabernacle saying, 'leave me alone for my doors are no better then are the doors of the Church,' and while that may be true it does not dismiss the unique Presence of Christ whom they enclose.
The Priest who genuflects before the Holy Eucharist is like one who genuflects to his own heart or like one who picks his heart up off the ground and dusts it off. The Priest who stands reverently at the Altar is like the doctor who performs heart surgery upon his Bride to be.
The Priest who wears beautiful Vestments clothes Christ well. Just as one preparing for heart surgery would not place themselves in to the hands of just anyone so too should be the Sacred Vessels in which the Priest will see reflected back at him His own Body and Blood. You would choose the best hands to handle your heart surgery, choose the best of Sacred Vessels to handle your Sacramental LifeBlood.
The Priest who will not preach the Truth of the Gospel cannot have a real devotion to Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. How can a Priest bring himself to gaze upon the fruit of the Holy Sacrifice present in the Tabernacle if he is not willing to make the same sacrifice in the pulpit.
The Priest who abhors silence and interior silence is neglectful of his own pulse. Interior silence is the trumpet that proclaims the voice of Divine Love. The Priest who seldom visits our Eucharistic Lord can be said to be a nomad. The Priest who hurries through the Holy Mass is like the teenager who wishes its youth away with the false belief that something better lies beyond. If Christ established a hierarchical Church who are we that we would seek to frustrate that? Are we not knitting our own noose? Have we forgotten the words of Christ, 'he who does not gather with Me scatters.'
The Priest, who in praying the Eucharistic prayer is seen looking at the assembly needs to be reminded that it is impolite not to look at the Person to whom you are speaking, namely, the Almighty Father. The Priest, who sits down so that a Lay person may distribute our Blessed Lord in the Holy Eucharist is like the woman after having given birth who says to someone else, 'I bore it now someone else can raise it'.
The Priest is the guardian of the Incarnation. The Priest who truly loves the Sacraments loves the Church for the Church is nothing without them. She is born of them and sustained because of them and it is through them that her hope is secured. Christ, as St. Paul tells us, 'gave himself up for her (the Bride), so as to present her to Himself as a radiant Church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless'. Ephesians 5:25-27 The Sacraments therefore are in the most reverental sense the supernatural anti-aging cream that preserves the face of the Bride of Christ. The Priest therefore, who loves the sacraments loves the Bride of Christ and if he loves the Bride of Christ he loves Christ who gave Himself up for her and finally if he loves Christ who gave Himself up for her he will love the Holy Priesthood through which Christ cares for His Bride as the Beloved Bridegroom.
The Priest who trivializes sin is accusing Divine Love of being over-sensitive. The Priest who trivializes sin is in essence seeking to fill the wounds of Christ with putty as if to say, 'sin doesn't merit a Cross, a Cross which would forge crimson upon Personified Innocence'.
Christ says, 'it is My sacrifice that I offer to the Father, which you must unite yourselves to if you would be saved. And yet as you unite yourself to My sacrifice remember that it never ceases to be My sacrifice, which I of My own free will have made so that you by clinging to it may be saved. Remember this Truth also when you prayerfully gather with My 'other-self' – the ordained Priest through whom I perpetuate My Self-Emptying Love upon the Cross. In uniting yourself to the Ministerial Priest remember that as 'another Christ' in your presence it is he who accomplishes the Sacrifice that saves you for I extend Myself to you through him. Treat him not as common, for I Myself am not common but Holy, Holy, Holy!
What I have accomplished in his soul is not a label that can easily be removed when you disagree with him for telling you the harsh Truth you need to hear for your soul's salvation or even when he is seen to fall from grace as sometimes happens when he fails to 'keep watch and pray'. Christ says, 'I am not cheap as to set in your midst a mere copy of the real thing. Didn't I say, 'I am with you to the end of the age?' Did you think that I was joking with you, or did you think that I would be present to you merely in your ability to call to mind my words and presence as you would recall a phone number which you have memorized? In the Priest's soul I have imprinted Myself. Not even all the sin in the world can erase this imprint. What hurts Me so is when My 'other-Self' is separated from Me for all eternity in Hell. Even there the imprint of Myself can be seen thereby intensifying the agony of the damned soul of a Priest. The soul of a damned Priest has no where to hide from Me for I am imprinted in his very soul. The most cursed of all, you could say is the soul of a Priest who has damned himself to Hell. Next in line would be the souls of consecrated brothers and sisters, then all Christians who have been Baptized and then finally all who have rejected My offer of salvation.
The Priest who offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass poorly, irreverently, hurriedly or neglectful of the Church's precepts and guidelines hurt Me with the most bitter betrayal. On the day of judgement I will speak the following words to the Priest, who does not respent of such atrocieties against My Sacred Death, “If an enemy had reviled Me, that I could bear. If My foe had viewed Me with contempt, from that I could hide. But it was you, My other-Self, My comrade and friend, you, whose company I enjoyed, at whose side I walked in procession in the house of God.” Psalm 55
The Priest, who learns to be bored only when he is not in My Eucharitic Presence I will grant an eternal dwelling in My pierced side.
The Lord has set the Priest apart in a specific way and he should be treated accordingly. The wearing of the collar is also a respect offered to God in prayerful remembrance of the Incarnation of Christ, who took on Himself a human nature so that He could express in a human way the Truth of His Divinity such that would respect our human manner of learning. For as St. Thomas Aquinas says, 'we are led by means of sense perceptible realities to higher spiritual realities.'
Who can see the spirit of a man or his soul, no one with eyes of the body at least? So is it not reasonable and even a matter of justice that if I have a divine gift in my soul, namely, conformity to Christ the Priest and Lord from whom comes the life of the Church that I should bear some sign such that others may know that I carry such life.
The Priest is a visible sign of an invisible invitation. At all times we must possess a fearful familiarity with our Priests because worldly familiarity breeds contempt, which sooner or later proves to be the hand that slapped our Blessed Lord as he stood before Caiaphas during His trial. Christ is our brother, that is true but only because as Lord He chose to associate us with Himself. We injure ourselves when we lessen the Lordship of Christ in an attempt to emphasize Him as our brother. For if Christ is only our brother then He is no better then us and if that is the case anyone of us could have paid the ultimate price of our salvation.
The historical significance of Calvary is not our salvation if we understand its significance as something we intellectually lassoe through faith some twenty centuries later. Rather the historical significance of Calvary becomes significant for us by virtue of its eternal significance. The historical significance of Calvary acknowledges the eternal significance of Calvary, because it is not bound to the limits of time. It is this eternal significance, which is perpetuated in the Holy Mass that enables all people of every period in history to work out their salvation with fear and trembling albeit in an unbloody manner according to the Sacramental will of God.
This eternal significance is perpetuated because Christ has mirrored Himself, His very Self in the souls of those men whom He has called to Himself so as to continue His saving mission.
The branch cannot bear fruit without the vine so accordingly the People of God should look upon their Priest as the Vine to which they must cling if they wish to bear fruit. Any branch that seeks to warp the Vine will sooner or later, in this life or the next will be pruned or severed completely each respectively.
Has the Priest been set apart? Yes, but you will say, 'so are the lay faithful and the consecrated brothers and sisters'. To this I will say, yes you are right but each in their proper place. Christ is in the gathered assembly but the gathered assembly is not Christ. Yet the Priest does not cease to be the presence of Christ after the Sacred Liturgy is celebrated and the gathered assembly have disassembled. The presence of Christ in the Priest is Christ as Lord, the One who initiates and makes salvation possible. Christ in the gathered assembly is present drawing them closer to Himself in holiness. Christ in the Priest is present accomplishing this holiness by making the means of our holiness possible.
The Baptized receive two ontological hugs; the Priest, however, receives three. The third is so that Christ can make Himself present to His Bride as 'Head and Shepherd of the sheep'.
Christ is truly present in all of the Sacraments but the Eucharist alone is His substantial Presence, and this as the Priest exposes His own heart on the Altar for the Priest is not incidental to the Eucharist just as a man cannot live without a heart. “By One Sacrifice He 'has forever' perfected those who 'are being' sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14
The Priest must be a man of the Eucharist in a most special way for the Eucharist is the very lifeblood that flows through his Priestly viens, which carry to his heart the life that will enlarge his sacrifical love for the People of God. There must be or come to be an intimate link between the Priest and Sacrifice. For a Priest is a Priest primarily because He is called to off sacrifice. Understood apart from sacrifice his Priesthood becomes simply functional. For Christ, the Priest offered His own Body and Blood, His very Self. He did not offer something or someone outside of Himself. The same is true of the Priest, he must see tha in offering the Holy Eucharist he is in some real sense offering Himself in so far as he is configured to Christ through sacramental ordination. As another 'Christ' he offers himself to the Father by offering the Body and Blood of Christ for the Body and Blood of Christ become the Sacramental manifestation of his Sacramental character. Since the character received is that of Christ then the sacramental manifestation of this character must be the Body and Blood of Christ. It is also dogmatically attested that this sacred sacramental character of Christ is ontologically imprinted upon the soul of the Priest and not merely a label. As a result the Priest who offers the Holy Sacrifice is in some real sense offering himself for he is offering Christ whose Persona has been indelibly imprinted upon him. The Sacraments were instituted by Christ the Priest and so all the Sacraments come about in the life of the Church through the Sacramental Character of Christ in the soul of the Priest. In other words, the sacraments come from the sacramental character of the Priest, which is the Sacred Heart of Christ imprinted upon the soul of the Priest.
The Priest should also enjoy an intimacy with the Almighty Father unlike that of anyone else. Why, you may ask, aren't we all God's sons and daughters through Baptism? The answer flows from the closeness existing between the identity of the Priest and Christ the wholly unique Son of God. The Priestly soul reflects in a unique way the Christ, who is the unique Son.
The Priest stands before the Almighty Father as His son different then do the Baptized, who stand before Him as sons and daughters of God by grace. Even though it is by grace that the Priest can call God, Father, it is with the grace of Christ as unique Son that he calls Him, Father. This should fill the Priest with a special confidence in regard to the prayers and petitions he offers in the name of sinners as well as the profound need to live a spotless life on account of the undeserved dignity that has been given him. This conformity to Christ which is given him as a heavenly gift demands an obedience on the part of the Priest; an obedience deserving the giving of his life even in death.
It should be said of the Priest that he spent long hours in prayer offering up tears and supplications for others as well as himself. The Priest should be a man well versed in virtue, and not merely in speaking about their number and defintion.
The Priest while being no better then any other person must never dismiss the uniquely special grace indelibly marked upon his soul, which of itself deserves special attention and veneration. If he will not accept such attention and veneration for his own sake he must recall that to dismiss such attention and veneration is not so much to be an act of humility on his part as it is to be a denial of veneration for Christ, whose Persona he now has by virtue of the grace of Sacred Orders. The Priest must also proceed cautiously when in attempting to blend in with other non-ordained members of the faithful he may in fact deter or discourage others from giving Christ the veneration and attention that is His by right albeit in the soul of the Priest. It would be like the doors of the Tabernacle saying, 'leave me alone for my doors are no better then are the doors of the Church,' and while that may be true it does not dismiss the unique Presence of Christ whom they enclose.
The Priest who genuflects before the Holy Eucharist is like one who genuflects to his own heart or like one who picks his heart up off the ground and dusts it off. The Priest who stands reverently at the Altar is like the doctor who performs heart surgery upon his Bride to be.
The Priest who wears beautiful Vestments clothes Christ well. Just as one preparing for heart surgery would not place themselves in to the hands of just anyone so too should be the Sacred Vessels in which the Priest will see reflected back at him His own Body and Blood. You would choose the best hands to handle your heart surgery, choose the best of Sacred Vessels to handle your Sacramental LifeBlood.
The Priest who will not preach the Truth of the Gospel cannot have a real devotion to Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. How can a Priest bring himself to gaze upon the fruit of the Holy Sacrifice present in the Tabernacle if he is not willing to make the same sacrifice in the pulpit.
The Priest who abhors silence and interior silence is neglectful of his own pulse. Interior silence is the trumpet that proclaims the voice of Divine Love. The Priest who seldom visits our Eucharistic Lord can be said to be a nomad. The Priest who hurries through the Holy Mass is like the teenager who wishes its youth away with the false belief that something better lies beyond. If Christ established a hierarchical Church who are we that we would seek to frustrate that? Are we not knitting our own noose? Have we forgotten the words of Christ, 'he who does not gather with Me scatters.'
The Priest, who in praying the Eucharistic prayer is seen looking at the assembly needs to be reminded that it is impolite not to look at the Person to whom you are speaking, namely, the Almighty Father. The Priest, who sits down so that a Lay person may distribute our Blessed Lord in the Holy Eucharist is like the woman after having given birth who says to someone else, 'I bore it now someone else can raise it'.
The Priest is the guardian of the Incarnation. The Priest who truly loves the Sacraments loves the Church for the Church is nothing without them. She is born of them and sustained because of them and it is through them that her hope is secured. Christ, as St. Paul tells us, 'gave himself up for her (the Bride), so as to present her to Himself as a radiant Church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless'. Ephesians 5:25-27 The Sacraments therefore are in the most reverental sense the supernatural anti-aging cream that preserves the face of the Bride of Christ. The Priest therefore, who loves the sacraments loves the Bride of Christ and if he loves the Bride of Christ he loves Christ who gave Himself up for her and finally if he loves Christ who gave Himself up for her he will love the Holy Priesthood through which Christ cares for His Bride as the Beloved Bridegroom.
The Priest who trivializes sin is accusing Divine Love of being over-sensitive. The Priest who trivializes sin is in essence seeking to fill the wounds of Christ with putty as if to say, 'sin doesn't merit a Cross, a Cross which would forge crimson upon Personified Innocence'.
Christ says, 'it is My sacrifice that I offer to the Father, which you must unite yourselves to if you would be saved. And yet as you unite yourself to My sacrifice remember that it never ceases to be My sacrifice, which I of My own free will have made so that you by clinging to it may be saved. Remember this Truth also when you prayerfully gather with My 'other-self' – the ordained Priest through whom I perpetuate My Self-Emptying Love upon the Cross. In uniting yourself to the Ministerial Priest remember that as 'another Christ' in your presence it is he who accomplishes the Sacrifice that saves you for I extend Myself to you through him. Treat him not as common, for I Myself am not common but Holy, Holy, Holy!
What I have accomplished in his soul is not a label that can easily be removed when you disagree with him for telling you the harsh Truth you need to hear for your soul's salvation or even when he is seen to fall from grace as sometimes happens when he fails to 'keep watch and pray'. Christ says, 'I am not cheap as to set in your midst a mere copy of the real thing. Didn't I say, 'I am with you to the end of the age?' Did you think that I was joking with you, or did you think that I would be present to you merely in your ability to call to mind my words and presence as you would recall a phone number which you have memorized? In the Priest's soul I have imprinted Myself. Not even all the sin in the world can erase this imprint. What hurts Me so is when My 'other-Self' is separated from Me for all eternity in Hell. Even there the imprint of Myself can be seen thereby intensifying the agony of the damned soul of a Priest. The soul of a damned Priest has no where to hide from Me for I am imprinted in his very soul. The most cursed of all, you could say is the soul of a Priest who has damned himself to Hell. Next in line would be the souls of consecrated brothers and sisters, then all Christians who have been Baptized and then finally all who have rejected My offer of salvation.
The Priest who offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass poorly, irreverently, hurriedly or neglectful of the Church's precepts and guidelines hurt Me with the most bitter betrayal. On the day of judgement I will speak the following words to the Priest, who does not respent of such atrocieties against My Sacred Death, “If an enemy had reviled Me, that I could bear. If My foe had viewed Me with contempt, from that I could hide. But it was you, My other-Self, My comrade and friend, you, whose company I enjoyed, at whose side I walked in procession in the house of God.” Psalm 55
The Priest, who learns to be bored only when he is not in My Eucharitic Presence I will grant an eternal dwelling in My pierced side.
Jesus speaking to my soul
In silence My love will speak. I will bring you on a journey of self-discovery that will result in an ever deeper conviction that I am your everything, your all and that I always have been. I look forward to spending this time with you. Choose somewhere beautiful so that we may renew our vows. I have been preparing you already for this moment of grace.
Today we shall 'walk in the cool of the day' until your senses are saturated by a beauty which will only remind you of the infinite hunger for enduring beauty that I have planted in you. The sadness you sometimes feel or the longing and yearning which you sometimes experience leaving you restless are My gentle reminder that I am your everything and that I want you to be so filled with My every grace and blessing. This life is so small, too small to satisfy your hungers. Who would have thought that God wanted to make love to humanity so much.
The call of transcendance that you've felt from the time you were a boy was a gift of faith that I gave you. It often times left you feeling lonely and without words; the feeling being so strong almost like a gravitational force or pull. It was not only My gift to you but also My gift to the world through you. This call has shaped you still lest those who do not know Me are to remain formless and void. The gift you must bring them is the awareness of My majesty, My bigness and at the same time My childlike gentleness that loves to play.
Some day I will reveal to you the full history of humanity just as a parent moved with excitement and pride shows a friend the photo albums of their children as the grew from toddlers to adults.
Silence is My gift to humanity and yet too often they refuse to listen to it as if it were the absence of something. How unfortunate. Somethings are only learned by listening. Listening, however, entails obedience and a suspension of pride so as to enable availability and accessibility to the One who makes listening fruitful.
I cannot thrust Myself upon you, it would be too much. It was necessary for Me to build you up in stages so that your capacity for Me would be deep. Every awareness of restlessness and yearning you have for Me is My doing. I am deeping within you your capacity to receive Me. “I will not arouse love, before it is ready.” Song of Songs 8:4
Today we shall 'walk in the cool of the day' until your senses are saturated by a beauty which will only remind you of the infinite hunger for enduring beauty that I have planted in you. The sadness you sometimes feel or the longing and yearning which you sometimes experience leaving you restless are My gentle reminder that I am your everything and that I want you to be so filled with My every grace and blessing. This life is so small, too small to satisfy your hungers. Who would have thought that God wanted to make love to humanity so much.
The call of transcendance that you've felt from the time you were a boy was a gift of faith that I gave you. It often times left you feeling lonely and without words; the feeling being so strong almost like a gravitational force or pull. It was not only My gift to you but also My gift to the world through you. This call has shaped you still lest those who do not know Me are to remain formless and void. The gift you must bring them is the awareness of My majesty, My bigness and at the same time My childlike gentleness that loves to play.
Some day I will reveal to you the full history of humanity just as a parent moved with excitement and pride shows a friend the photo albums of their children as the grew from toddlers to adults.
Silence is My gift to humanity and yet too often they refuse to listen to it as if it were the absence of something. How unfortunate. Somethings are only learned by listening. Listening, however, entails obedience and a suspension of pride so as to enable availability and accessibility to the One who makes listening fruitful.
I cannot thrust Myself upon you, it would be too much. It was necessary for Me to build you up in stages so that your capacity for Me would be deep. Every awareness of restlessness and yearning you have for Me is My doing. I am deeping within you your capacity to receive Me. “I will not arouse love, before it is ready.” Song of Songs 8:4
Seminary Assignment on Discipleship in Mark's Gospel
From the Cross of Christ Celebrated Upon the Altar Flows the Blue Print of Authentic Discipleship
One of the major themes of Mark’s Gospel is discipleship. The scholarship of Donald Senior in his article The Passion of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark is quite captivating and enlightening in terms of the importance of this theme of discipleship in Mark’s Gospel. The focus of this paper will be therefore an examination of what Mark’s gospel has to say about discipleship for the first century church as well as its implications for the Church in the twenty-first century.
The call to follow Jesus is a pursuit, which has both rewards and demands interwoven in its tapestry of faith. Every period of Christian history has known its fair share of difficulties and persecutions. Jesus even says in one of the Gospels: “no servant is greater than his master; if they persecuted me then they will also persecute you.” Scholars maintain that the community to which Mark was writing had been experiencing its own persecutions. It is these persecutions that gave rise to Mark’s passion narrative and the importance of such narrative within his Gospel proclamation. “The Gospel’s focus on the passion, as well as its explicit references to persecution, are good reasons to believe that Mark’s community had already experienced the cost of discipleship, probably under the persecution of Nero at Rome. Such persecution produced courageous martyrs but also led to apostasy and desertion as many Christians sagged under the torment and pressures brought to bear on the community.” (Senior, p.104) From the passion narrative of Mark’s Gospel therefore scholars have drawn forth from the text, Mark’s good news proclamation and in a certain sense his advice and reminder to any Christian community that suffers persecution as well as the division of some of its members who relapse in faith during such time. Donald Senior points out: “If such failures had been experienced by Mark’s church then one can also guess that after the heat of persecution had abated, the issue of reconciliation with those who had abandoned the community but now were drifting back would be painful. Could reconciliation be denied to fallen disciples when such a passion story was proclaimed? Along with the example of courage and fidelity provided by the woman who anointed Jesus, the flight of the disciples and the denial of Peter would, paradoxically, become ‘gospel’, that is, good news for a Christian community that knew ‘failures’ as well as heroes.” (p. 105)
Just as in the first century Church of Rome to which Mark addressed his proclamation of good news the same message is of great importance to the Universal Church of Rome in our own day and age. Mark’s passion narrative is still relevant some twenty centuries later. Mark’s passion narrative paints us a picture of discipleship that has under gone the trials and temptations of persecution and Mark uses this portrait to encourage disciples who daily come to a greater recognition of their own weakness in following Christ and their dependence upon him to faithfully live out such an exalted calling. The first century Church of Rome would have found great encouragement in knowing that not even the original twelve whom Jesus had called to be his right hand men were impervious to such weakness and failure in meeting the demands of discipleship. Mark’s message would have also have been received by those Christians who did not relapse in the face of persecution to remember to welcome back with a reconciliatory embrace those who had fallen knowing that even Christ forgave the original band of disciples when they gave into weakness of faith. The main point of Mark’s passion narrative would then have been twofold in its treatment of discipleship. First, if the very men Christ chose to be his immediate followers and the ones to whom he entrusted his Church had failed in discipleship in the face of persecution then the Church to whom Mark was writing would also have to recognize their own short comings with a humble disposition which relies upon the grace of Jesus to make it through. Second, discipleship is characterized by weakness and failures but yet Christ is merciful and we therefore should follow Christ’s example in treating our brothers and sisters with mercy when they fall prey to temptations.
Donald Senior points out many of the traits of discipleship that Mark underscores in his passion narrative. Let us turn our attention to these traits. Toward the very beginning of his passion narrative, Mark introduces the woman who anointed Jesus with an alabaster jar of oil. Apparently for Mark, this woman serves as an example of “genuine discipleship” because “she recognizes that Jesus’ way will lead to the Cross.” (Senior, p.47) “The woman’s recognition of Jesus’ approaching death and her graceful and lavishly generous response define authentic discipleship for Mark.” (Senior, p.47) Authentic discipleship recognizes the role of the Cross in the mission of Jesus and subsequently in the lives and mission of those who would be his disciples. In other words, it could be said when speaking about discipleship that there is no crown without the cross. By situating the theme of discipleship so heavily within the passion narrative, Mark is emphasizing the role of the cross in the life of the disciple. It is an unavoidable aspect of Christian discipleship and ministry. This is the path that Jesus chose to fulfill his ministry of service and salvation for the world. The observant disciple should recognize this path and do all in their power to embrace it when called to it by the demands of discipleship. At the same time there is the hope of forgiveness for those who fall short in meeting those demands even though it should be the bar for which they should reach.
Another characteristic of discipleship, which Mark invites his community to observe and appropriate is seen “at the very beginning of the passion story, as opposition and treachery mount against Jesus, Mark lifts up an example of authentic discipleship. Not one of the twelve but a woman, whom the tradition has not even graced with a name, one shunted aside in a patriarchal culture, becomes the paradigm. She is a paradoxical reminder to the community that outsiders often respond with far greater insight and generosity than the insiders oblivious to the presence of grace” (Senior, p.48) This trait of discipleship reminds the followers of Christ that they should be observant of the signs of the times as well as open to what others may have to offer them in terms of penetrating the mystery of God. In a sense this trait in modern terms could be seen as the openness to the ecumenical spirit in which we humbly listen to what God may be saying through those who are not explicitly a member of our particular community.
In his passion narrative Mark really draws forth the Eucharistic element of discipleship in terms of what the Vatican Council II said about the Eucharist, namely, that it is both the source and summit of the whole Christian life. We are empowered for the work of ministry through our communion with Christ whose total sacrifice of self on the cross makes possible the living out of the demands of discipleship with courage and fidelity. Donald Senior describes the importance of Eucharistic terminology for Mark’s development of discipleship in his gospel. Senior points to the meal in which Jesus blesses, breaks and distributes both the bread and the wine by saying that “the solemn and theologically rich moment of the meal is surrounded by two scenes where discipleship failure is again Mark’s poignant theme. The institution account with its stress on the deep bond between Jesus and his followers and Jesus’ ultimate triumph over death is a strong counterpoint to the surrounding scenes which brood over discipleship weakness and failure.” (Senior, p.49) Though this account of the Eucharistic meal is sandwiched by scenes of discipleship failure this meal serves then to heighten the importance of relying upon Christ in terms of the power of his death and the communion that results with him from it in the living out of faithful discipleship. As disciples of Christ undertake the demands of living the Gospel and are surrounded by their own weakness and the weakness of those around them they are reminded of the need to feast on the food that the Lord provides for finishing the race and for fighting the good fight. Donald Senior points out that throughout Mark’s gospel, Mark has the tendency of highlighting certain things of importance by sandwiching them between things which are almost the exact opposite of what is being highlighted as important. For example, Senior points out how Mark brackets the Eucharistic meal with the declaration of betrayal and denial by the Disciples of Christ. For Mark, “the predictions of desertion and denial veer sharply from the stress on the bond between master and disciple so solemnly celebrated” in the Passover/Eucharistic meal. (Senior, p.62) This point shows Mark’s desire to encourage the community to recognize in their Eucharistic community meal the strength and nourishment that they will need in order to remain faithful disciples to the bond of deep friendship that they have with Christ through their communion.
In terms of Mark’s emphasis on the importance of the Eucharistic meal for the community of disciples it should also be noted that Mark sees in the Eucharistic meal not only a feast of friendship but also the commission from Jesus to continue his own mission of reaching out to all peoples in the hope of calling them forward to this same feast. Donald Senior points out the connection between the Eucharistic meal and the “meaning of the feeding stories as action summaries of Jesus’ entire mission to Israel and to the nations.” (Senior, p.58) Senior also points out that in Mark’s Gospel the theme of bread that is blessed and broken is not limited to being “a sign of Jesus’ inclusive mission but rather it is also his body, his very self, an offering of bread-declared-body to the disciples; a vivid symbol of Jesus’ death for others.” (Senior, p.58) It has been mentioned earlier that for Mark authentic discipleship involves being able to recognize Jesus’ mission as involving the way of the Cross. Not only does it involve recognizing the way of the Cross for Jesus, however, but also the way of the Cross for the community of disciples. Senior points this out by claiming that “the passion story is not simply about the passion of Jesus, but the passion the community experiences in its living out of the Gospel in the world.” (p.63) He also points out that the “breaking of the loaves for the crowds expressed the ultimate meaning of Jesus’ messianic work; the word at the meal affirms that Jesus’ death is the final act of that mission, self-donation ‘for the many’.” (p.59)
The message of discipleship, which Mark was trying to convey to his community of faith in Rome during the first century, has much to teach us, the Church of Rome, in the twenty first century. As Christians in this period of history we easily find ourselves preoccupied with many of the same temptations and problems that faced the early Church. The particular struggles may have had different disguises but in essence the struggles are still the same. In today’s Church we still struggle with weakness in living up to the demands of the Gospel and discipleship. We still struggle with persecution, even though it may not necessarily involve the threat of a person’s life. It may involve emotional, mental, societal, spiritual, verbal persecution. We also find ourselves struggling with the temptation to cut others off from communion when they lapse into sin, especially when it is publicized. There are many disciples who having felt the weight of their own sin have left the table of communion. Like Mark’s community we also fall into the temptation of having an ‘insider/outsider’ mentality, thereby shutting ourselves off from what others can teach us.
What does Mark’s treatment of discipleship have to offer us? Most importantly, I think that Mark’s emphasis on the Eucharistic meal is the prime starting place for discovering the blueprints of discipleship. Mark’s development of the imagery of bread in both of the miraculous feeding stories and their culmination and explanation in the Passover/Eucharistic meal are essential to a clear sense of discipleship. This imagery shows forth the universal outreach of Jesus’ mission, which will ultimately be finalized on the cross at Calvary. It is in this feast of friendship with Christ that the disciple will find the necessary strength to live the demands of discipleship as well as forgiveness for those times when they fail in the process. Mark, in his passion narrative has made it quite clear to us that discipleship is about picking up one’s cross and following Christ. This task of picking up one’s cross is in imitation of Christ’s gift of self for the life of the world. The call of discipleship that we embark upon should always keep this in mind. Christian discipleship involves the cross, and its mission is strengthened by Christ’s cross made present in the love feast of the Eucharist which in turns spurs on his disciples in the pursuit of making disciples of all nations. Discipleship culminates in the Cross of Christ. For the faithful discipleship, the Cross is the source of entry into communion with God and it is the summit in terms of being the place from which disciples draw the much needed strength and forgiveness they need to fulfill the task at hand.
In conclusion, discipleship is an awesome task and calling. Its demands are great and yet for the faithfully attentive disciple the rewards are also quite great. Disciples must realize that their task will at times be characterized by their own weaknesses and failures. They are to draw their strength from communion with Christ in the Eucharistic/Passover meal. It is also from the Eucharist that the forgiveness of their sins is possible because it is the representation of the death of Christ. It is also from the Eucharist and from contemplation upon the Eucharist that the community of faith and the disciple in particular discerns more clearly and articulately their specific participation in the mission of Christ. Just as Mark painted his picture of discipleship in terms of the passion of Christ may we who follow Christ in the twenty first century also discover our particular calling through our reflection upon the same redemptive suffering of Christ.
Homily for Divine Mercy Sunday
The season of Easter is a mind-boggling mystery. We are celebrating something that none of us have seen with our own eyes and yet we continue to celebrate it as a Church in every generation throughout history. It just doesn’t make sense. Yearly we see friends and family around us dying and these deaths seem to bring to an end our relationships with these loved ones whose physical presence we grieve so dearly. And yet, despite such a consistent experience of death as being final the Gospel message of Jesus Christ fills us, and the whole of creation, with hope in the resurrection of the dead by the power of Christ’s Spirit living within us who is the guarantee that God is faithful to his promise.
The apostle Thomas is portrayed in the fourth gospel as one who really struggled with the death of a loved one, Jesus. For Thomas, Jesus brought meaning into his life. Jesus taught Thomas what it was to be a man and what it meant to love. Now Thomas is confronted with the death of Jesus and his heart is torn in many directions. On top of this his brothers and sisters in the faith testify to and claim that Jesus has risen from the dead. How can this be, Thomas would have asked himself no doubt? After all death has shown itself in his experience to have the final say. I think that our experience of death is very much the same. When was the last time that we encountered someone risen from the dead? It is with all of this in mind that we should approach the figure of the apostle Thomas who often times gets a bad reputation for his doubting. Thomas shows us a very clear example of someone struggling to comprehend with ones understanding the Easter mystery, which is clearly beyond comprehension. It is only with the eyes of faith that we can recognize and accept the truth upon which we base our Christian hope, which is Christ risen from the dead and our call to participate in that new life through the outpouring of his spirit into our hearts.
While I was reflecting upon this resurrection story I was drawn back in time to my childhood days when I would spend many an hour by the ocean playing with my friends. I am can still remember one day in particular when I found myself puzzled by something that just didn’t make sense. I had taken a piece of driftwood from the beach and I stood it up straight in the water and to my amazement the section of the wood under water seemed crooked. I took the wood back out of the water and sure enough it was straight but when I put it in the water again it appeared crooked. As I gazed upon this piece of driftwood as it stood in the water my senses told me one thing and reality told me another thing. In relation to the Gospel, reality is Jesus Christ is arisen from the dead and before our senses this reality appears crooked and its not until we immerse our selves in the water that we begin to see the reality that lies beyond our senses.
Each resurrection narrative presented in the gospels challenges us to go beyond the surface of our experience knowing that all things are possible with God. Just as the water in which I had stuck the driftwood pointed to one thing that didn’t appear to agree with reality so too does the waters of Baptism. Each of us have been immersed into the life of the Risen Christ through the outpouring of his spirit into our hearts and this very same Spirit teaches us to hope in what appears to be contrary to human experience, namely, the resurrection of our bodies on the last day. Our hope is not based on any human optimism but on the promise of God the Father who invites us to believe without seeing by going beyond the surface of what can be known by our limited understanding. By immersing our selves in the ocean of grace flowing from the pierced side of the risen Christ we are given the eyes of faith to perceive the reality upon which all other realities rest. Herein lies the mercy of God- that through our faith in the risen Christ we are assured the promise of everlasting life. Where the divine mercy of God comes into the picture in today’s gospel is seen in the way that Jesus honors the struggle with faith that was at work within Thomas by actively pursuing him with gentle love.
Like Thomas we too may find ourselves struggling at times to make sense of the mystery of Christ’s risen life among us. We may also be tempted to reject parts of our faith that seem to be unexplainable or beyond reason but we must go beyond the surface and encounter the risen Christ dwelling deeply within us through the gift of faith. Today, the Risen Lord present in the Holy Eucharist invites each of us to reach forth our hands in faith placing them in his pierced side, the very fount of mercy. As we make this spiritual gesture may our prayer humbly be: ‘Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.’
The apostle Thomas is portrayed in the fourth gospel as one who really struggled with the death of a loved one, Jesus. For Thomas, Jesus brought meaning into his life. Jesus taught Thomas what it was to be a man and what it meant to love. Now Thomas is confronted with the death of Jesus and his heart is torn in many directions. On top of this his brothers and sisters in the faith testify to and claim that Jesus has risen from the dead. How can this be, Thomas would have asked himself no doubt? After all death has shown itself in his experience to have the final say. I think that our experience of death is very much the same. When was the last time that we encountered someone risen from the dead? It is with all of this in mind that we should approach the figure of the apostle Thomas who often times gets a bad reputation for his doubting. Thomas shows us a very clear example of someone struggling to comprehend with ones understanding the Easter mystery, which is clearly beyond comprehension. It is only with the eyes of faith that we can recognize and accept the truth upon which we base our Christian hope, which is Christ risen from the dead and our call to participate in that new life through the outpouring of his spirit into our hearts.
While I was reflecting upon this resurrection story I was drawn back in time to my childhood days when I would spend many an hour by the ocean playing with my friends. I am can still remember one day in particular when I found myself puzzled by something that just didn’t make sense. I had taken a piece of driftwood from the beach and I stood it up straight in the water and to my amazement the section of the wood under water seemed crooked. I took the wood back out of the water and sure enough it was straight but when I put it in the water again it appeared crooked. As I gazed upon this piece of driftwood as it stood in the water my senses told me one thing and reality told me another thing. In relation to the Gospel, reality is Jesus Christ is arisen from the dead and before our senses this reality appears crooked and its not until we immerse our selves in the water that we begin to see the reality that lies beyond our senses.
Each resurrection narrative presented in the gospels challenges us to go beyond the surface of our experience knowing that all things are possible with God. Just as the water in which I had stuck the driftwood pointed to one thing that didn’t appear to agree with reality so too does the waters of Baptism. Each of us have been immersed into the life of the Risen Christ through the outpouring of his spirit into our hearts and this very same Spirit teaches us to hope in what appears to be contrary to human experience, namely, the resurrection of our bodies on the last day. Our hope is not based on any human optimism but on the promise of God the Father who invites us to believe without seeing by going beyond the surface of what can be known by our limited understanding. By immersing our selves in the ocean of grace flowing from the pierced side of the risen Christ we are given the eyes of faith to perceive the reality upon which all other realities rest. Herein lies the mercy of God- that through our faith in the risen Christ we are assured the promise of everlasting life. Where the divine mercy of God comes into the picture in today’s gospel is seen in the way that Jesus honors the struggle with faith that was at work within Thomas by actively pursuing him with gentle love.
Like Thomas we too may find ourselves struggling at times to make sense of the mystery of Christ’s risen life among us. We may also be tempted to reject parts of our faith that seem to be unexplainable or beyond reason but we must go beyond the surface and encounter the risen Christ dwelling deeply within us through the gift of faith. Today, the Risen Lord present in the Holy Eucharist invites each of us to reach forth our hands in faith placing them in his pierced side, the very fount of mercy. As we make this spiritual gesture may our prayer humbly be: ‘Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.’
Baptismal homily based on Matthew 28:18-20
As a Christian community everything we do begins with the sign of the Cross and the accompanying words: “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” We began today’s celebration of the Eucharist with these words and at the end of our celebration you will be blessed and sent forth in the same words. These words are for us our identity as Christians. We are a community of faith centered on a common belief that God is a communion of divine persons united in perfect love. It is through the waters of Baptism and the power of the Holy Spirit at work within those waters that this communion of divine persons is able to extend its outreach in such a way that we are able to dive right in.
Before Jesus ascended into Heaven to the glory of his Father’s presence, he gave his disciples and those who would believe on account of their witness the commission to go forth into all the nations making believers. The central mark to be held by a believer in the mind of Jesus was faith in God as a Trinity of persons. This passage of scripture that we are dealing with in Matthew’s Gospel comes at the very end of his portrait of Jesus. In a real sense this is a climactic point in the Gospel. According to Matthew, the most important words that Jesus wants to leave his disciples with is the necessity of being baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This baptism in the mind of Jesus ensures the truth of the very last sentence of Matthew’s Gospel that reads: “And know that I am with you always, until the end of the world.” These words of Jesus are very comforting and reassuring to his disciples who have now been commissioned by their Lord to continue his work of redemption.
This work of redemption is for all the nations of the world. Whereas it was in former times confined to the Jewish people, now it has become a universal outreach. This outreach is a sign of the all-encompassing love of the Trinity that seeks to continually add new members to its communion of love. According to Jesus’ teaching this inclusion into the communion of persons within the Trinity can occur only after a person is immersed into the life of each of the members of the Trinity. This communion ensures the intimacy that Jesus promised to his disciples. This communion also calls forth the need for mission, for after all; who having tasted the goodness of the Lord is not compelled from within to seek others to share such a feast? The disciples in today’s Gospel had already tasted the goodness of the Lord at the Eucharistic banquet of the Last Supper and now Jesus is sending them forth to share what they themselves have come to know and believe.
This commission to go forth was given by the Risen Lord who had just come through the great ordeal of the cross and who now is victorious over death, hell and the grave. Through baptism, this child will be united in a most profound and real manner in the death and resurrection of Christ and will be thus free to live the life of the Trinity. It is by virtue of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross at Calvary that baptism is able to produce the effect that it does within us namely, the forgiveness of our sins and new life in the Trinity.
This great gift of baptism comes to us at the expense of God’s life and it is of the utmost importance that we honor this gift by aiding this child in whatever way necessary so as to ensure that he/she brings their baptismal beauty unstained into the kingdom where God will be all in all. As entry into the life of God, we must be careful never to fall into the mindset that baptism is simply a rite of passage that once obtained is to be left by the wayside. This would be a grave error on our part as a faith community. Baptism is more than a social thing; it is a divine remedy for original sin, a sin that has extinguished the fire of God’s love within the human heart rendering it incapable of responding generously to the call of transcendence. The waters of baptism therefore are to be sought with greater urgency than the water that merely quenches physical thirst.
Through baptism this child, like all of us will not only be immersed into the life of the Triune God but he/she will also become a member of Christ’s mystical body which is sustained daily and weekly through the gift of the Eucharist. Baptism not only teaches the human person how to relate to God in the core of who he/she is but also how to relate to the whole of Creation: them self, others and the universe around them. It is on account of this that the sacrament of baptism could be rightly called the sacrament of creation for it brings about a right relationship between the person and their surroundings with the ongoing grace of God. Baptism is an event, it is an encounter and as such it is a wellspring of grace from which every baptized person should be taught to continually seek refreshment and direction in life.
It is interesting to note that as Catholics we believe that our vocation or mission in life flows from the waters of baptism and that Jesus gives his disciples in today’s gospel their great mission or vocation, which is to baptize all the nations. Their call in a sense is to assist the rest of humanity in recognizing their vocation or mission in life. This truth heightens our responsibility in terms of making known the saving grace of God present in baptism as well as the possible meaning that we can offer others by introducing them to the means behind discovering the purpose for which they were created.
It is the will of Christ that all people should experience the intimacy of discipleship and the rewards that follow upon the completion of faithful service. By the very nature of baptism one must necessarily seek to be in communion with others because to be baptized is to live in communion with the God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To deny living in communion with others is in fact to deny the very essence of baptism and so it will be the responsibility of the whole Christian community in general and the parents in particular to safeguard this young child from the enticing and sometimes culturally approving reality of individualism that sees the world around him or her as being at the service of them alone. It will be through our commitment to living this dynamic of communion and mission that is expected of us by the Church that will guide this young child in an experiential awareness of the truth.
Matthew’s gospel does not end with Jesus ascending into heaven, as do the other gospels. For Matthew, Jesus remains present to his disciples as he promised he would, the only difference being that he will be present under the signs of sacraments such as baptism. The sacraments are a real encounter with the three divine persons of the Holy Trinity, an encounter brought about by the sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross.
As we ready ourselves, and this child for the momentous transformation of baptism let us be ever mindful of the price paid for such a gift from which even we have benefited, namely, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As good disciples let us also be ever watchful for ways in which we can assist others in discovering the call of God upon their life for the great commission given to the twelve is also for us who believe on account of their witness.
Before Jesus ascended into Heaven to the glory of his Father’s presence, he gave his disciples and those who would believe on account of their witness the commission to go forth into all the nations making believers. The central mark to be held by a believer in the mind of Jesus was faith in God as a Trinity of persons. This passage of scripture that we are dealing with in Matthew’s Gospel comes at the very end of his portrait of Jesus. In a real sense this is a climactic point in the Gospel. According to Matthew, the most important words that Jesus wants to leave his disciples with is the necessity of being baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This baptism in the mind of Jesus ensures the truth of the very last sentence of Matthew’s Gospel that reads: “And know that I am with you always, until the end of the world.” These words of Jesus are very comforting and reassuring to his disciples who have now been commissioned by their Lord to continue his work of redemption.
This work of redemption is for all the nations of the world. Whereas it was in former times confined to the Jewish people, now it has become a universal outreach. This outreach is a sign of the all-encompassing love of the Trinity that seeks to continually add new members to its communion of love. According to Jesus’ teaching this inclusion into the communion of persons within the Trinity can occur only after a person is immersed into the life of each of the members of the Trinity. This communion ensures the intimacy that Jesus promised to his disciples. This communion also calls forth the need for mission, for after all; who having tasted the goodness of the Lord is not compelled from within to seek others to share such a feast? The disciples in today’s Gospel had already tasted the goodness of the Lord at the Eucharistic banquet of the Last Supper and now Jesus is sending them forth to share what they themselves have come to know and believe.
This commission to go forth was given by the Risen Lord who had just come through the great ordeal of the cross and who now is victorious over death, hell and the grave. Through baptism, this child will be united in a most profound and real manner in the death and resurrection of Christ and will be thus free to live the life of the Trinity. It is by virtue of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross at Calvary that baptism is able to produce the effect that it does within us namely, the forgiveness of our sins and new life in the Trinity.
This great gift of baptism comes to us at the expense of God’s life and it is of the utmost importance that we honor this gift by aiding this child in whatever way necessary so as to ensure that he/she brings their baptismal beauty unstained into the kingdom where God will be all in all. As entry into the life of God, we must be careful never to fall into the mindset that baptism is simply a rite of passage that once obtained is to be left by the wayside. This would be a grave error on our part as a faith community. Baptism is more than a social thing; it is a divine remedy for original sin, a sin that has extinguished the fire of God’s love within the human heart rendering it incapable of responding generously to the call of transcendence. The waters of baptism therefore are to be sought with greater urgency than the water that merely quenches physical thirst.
Through baptism this child, like all of us will not only be immersed into the life of the Triune God but he/she will also become a member of Christ’s mystical body which is sustained daily and weekly through the gift of the Eucharist. Baptism not only teaches the human person how to relate to God in the core of who he/she is but also how to relate to the whole of Creation: them self, others and the universe around them. It is on account of this that the sacrament of baptism could be rightly called the sacrament of creation for it brings about a right relationship between the person and their surroundings with the ongoing grace of God. Baptism is an event, it is an encounter and as such it is a wellspring of grace from which every baptized person should be taught to continually seek refreshment and direction in life.
It is interesting to note that as Catholics we believe that our vocation or mission in life flows from the waters of baptism and that Jesus gives his disciples in today’s gospel their great mission or vocation, which is to baptize all the nations. Their call in a sense is to assist the rest of humanity in recognizing their vocation or mission in life. This truth heightens our responsibility in terms of making known the saving grace of God present in baptism as well as the possible meaning that we can offer others by introducing them to the means behind discovering the purpose for which they were created.
It is the will of Christ that all people should experience the intimacy of discipleship and the rewards that follow upon the completion of faithful service. By the very nature of baptism one must necessarily seek to be in communion with others because to be baptized is to live in communion with the God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To deny living in communion with others is in fact to deny the very essence of baptism and so it will be the responsibility of the whole Christian community in general and the parents in particular to safeguard this young child from the enticing and sometimes culturally approving reality of individualism that sees the world around him or her as being at the service of them alone. It will be through our commitment to living this dynamic of communion and mission that is expected of us by the Church that will guide this young child in an experiential awareness of the truth.
Matthew’s gospel does not end with Jesus ascending into heaven, as do the other gospels. For Matthew, Jesus remains present to his disciples as he promised he would, the only difference being that he will be present under the signs of sacraments such as baptism. The sacraments are a real encounter with the three divine persons of the Holy Trinity, an encounter brought about by the sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross.
As we ready ourselves, and this child for the momentous transformation of baptism let us be ever mindful of the price paid for such a gift from which even we have benefited, namely, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As good disciples let us also be ever watchful for ways in which we can assist others in discovering the call of God upon their life for the great commission given to the twelve is also for us who believe on account of their witness.
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