You Will Be My Witnesses

Homily from The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord - Year C

Before ascending to his Father, Jesus told his disciples, "You will be my witnesses... to the ends of the earth."  This is our call: to be witnesses to Jesus Christ by what we say and do.

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Family Meeting

Homily from the 6th Sunday of Easter - Year C

Ever have a "family meeting" to hash out house rules and restore peace and order?  The Church is a true family.  Occasionally, she calls "family meetings" known as Ecumenical Councils to restore peace and order to our lives as Christians.

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Necessary Hardships

Homily from the 5th Sunday of Easter - Year C

It goes without saying that we all want to get to Heaven.  When it comes down to it, that’s why we’re all here right now.  This is part of our plan for getting to Heaven: we pray, we listen to the Word of God, we receive the Eucharist, and we do so as a family, a Church.

But there’s still one more thing we must do to get to Heaven.  St. Paul tells us what it is in today’s first reading.  And it’s difficult to hear.  It’s stark.  St. Paul says,  “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

We have been undergoing many hardships lately.  Boston... West, Texas  The other day a factory collapsed in Bangladesh; over 300 people are dead.

And we don’t have to look far and wide to see hardship.  We find it in our own families and communities.  Marriages fall apart.  Friends and relatives are stricken with illness.  The innocent lose their lives.

And we ask, “Why?  Why is there all this suffering in the world?  Why this hardship?”  We ask God that question.  And we wait for answers.  And sometimes it seems that answers don’t come.  We don’t hear an explanation.  The thing is though, the answer to our suffering and hardship doesn’t come with words.

A lady once told me about the time she was sharing the story of her hardship, her suffering with her husband.  And after listening for a little bit, the husband offered her a few answers, some advice and a possible solution.  And she stopped him and said, “I didn’t ask you to fix my problem.  I asked you just to listen.”

That’s the response of a lover.  A lover listens.  A lover empathizes.  A lover is there with you in your hardship.  This is how God answers our hardship and suffering.

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Peter Kreeft talks about this beautifully in his book “Making Sense Out of Suffering.”  He points out that in the midst of suffering, we often times desire someone there with us, rather than an explanation for our suffering.  And God is with us.

“God didn’t varnish over our sin and our suffering.  He came into it... We needed a surgeon, and he came and reached into our wounds with bloody hands.  He didn’t give us a placebo or a pill or good advice.  He gave us himself... In coming into our world he came also into our suffering.  He sits beside us in the stalled car in the snowbank.  Sometimes he starts the car for us, but even when he doesn’t, he is there.  That is the only thing that matters.  Who cares about cars and success and miracles and long life when you have God sitting beside you?”

And when we look at the Cross, that’s what we see.  We see God sitting beside us.

Peter Kreeft asks,  “Are we broken?  He is broken with us.  Are we rejected?... He was ‘despised and rejected of men.’  Do we weep?... He was ‘a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.’  Do people misunderstand us, turn away from us?  They hid their faces from him as from an outcast, a leper.  Is our love betrayed?... He too loved and was betrayed by the ones he loved.

When we feel the weight of the world crashing down upon us - we must know - that he is here with us.

“Every tear we shed becomes his tear.  He may not yet wipe them away, but he makes them his.”

And when we suffer, we can as Peter Kreeft says pretty well, “use our very brokenness as nourishment for those we love.  Since we are his body, we too are the bread that is broken for others... our very tears help wipe away tears.”

St. Paul says is even better in his letter to the Colossians: “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ.”  All of our sufferings are transformable into the work Jesus does from his Cross.  When we suffer for each other, we “love one another” as Christ has loved us

“In summary,” Kreeft says, “Jesus did three things to solve the problem of suffering.  “First, he came.  He suffered with us. He wept.  Second, in becoming man he transformed the meaning of our suffering; it is now part of his work of redemption.  Third, he died and rose.  Dying he paid the price for sin and opened heaven to us; rising, he transformed death from a hole into a door, from an end into a beginning."

That’s what we’re celebrating this Easter season, the opening of that door, that new beginning, that leads to Heaven.  Where “he will wipe away ever tear... and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain.”  He will “make all things new”

“It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of Heaven.”  So pray, my brother’s and sisters, that Christ’s sacrifice... that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the almighty Father.

Be Lightly Clad and Jump In

Homily from the 3rd Sunday of Easter - Year C (Life Teen Retreat Closing Mass)

Here's the homily from the Mass at the conclusion of the Spring Life Teen Retreat "United in the Cross."

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Resurrection - True Story

Homily from Easter Sunday - Year C 

My friend Mark Hart, the vice-president of Life Teen, got onto a plane one day and the guy sitting next to him asked him what he did for a living.  When Mark told him he worked in Catholic youth ministry, the man politely explained that he wasn’t a believer and it was his belief that the resurrection of Jesus was faked; that the Apostles stole the body of Jesus and what we are doing today is worshipping an ideal and not the risen Son of God.

Mark listened intently, acknowledged the man’s concerns, then took a moment to share withhim what he believed.  Namely that God did in fact become man, took flesh and built a Church to allow us to become partakers in His Divine nature through it.

Then Mark told the man that if he was right, that if Christ hadn’t risen from the dead then this man’s explanation was an even more implausible miracle.  That a handful of fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot and other uneducated day laborers invented the biggest lie in the history of the world (one that has re-shaped the world) and they were all martyred for it, all just to protect a lie.

Basically they left the comfort of their businesses, homes and families… went to the corners of the earth, were chased out of towns, spat upon, imprisoned, tortured and hunted… they were crucified upside down, burned alive at the stake, cut up by gladiators, fed to wild animals, dragged behind chariots and hurled hundreds of feet down to their deaths…all to keep their sham quiet, all to protect a lie. 

So, either God did what He said He would…took flesh and came to save us from ourselves, or, a motley crew of sailors decided to invent a Messiah and then perish without a second thought to themselves or their family, singing hymns of joy and gratitude while being brutally martyred.  

So, we have to ask ourselves - which is more implausible - God fulfilling prophecies thousands of years old out of His fidelity and great love... or tradesmen hatching a hair-brained scheme and sealing it with their blood?

I am often asked what made me want to become a priest.  And there are a number of reasons.  But, truth to be told, the real reason why I am a priest is because of the Resurrection.  Because 2,000 years ago, a man said he was the Son of God.  Then (in what must have seemed impossible for his disciples to believe) God was killed.  And then (in what was nearly impossible for his disciples to believe) he rose from the dead.

The real reason why some of us have traveled long distances to be with our families this day is not merely because we want to be close to loved ones.  It’s because we are responding to the fact that the Son of God has risen from the dead.

The real reason why you give your lives unselfishly to your spouses and children in the everyday sacrifices is not merely because it is your duty as mothers and fathers.  It’s because you are responding to the fact that the Son of God has risen from the dead.

The real reason why there are 1.2 billion Catholics in the world is not merely because we have beautiful music, art, liturgy and preaching.  It’s because we are responding to the fact that the Son of God has risen from the dead.

The real reason why we the Church has fed, clothed, and housed more people in need than any other group or institution in history is not merely because we want to do good for one another.  It’s because we are responding to the fact that the Son of God has risen from the dead.

The real reason why there are institutions such as hospitals and universities in the world is not merely because it is a moral responsibility to care for the sick and to educate the young.  It’s because we are responding to the fact that the Son of God has risen from the dead.  (Did you know that?  There were no hospitals before Jesus.  The sick sat on the side of the road.  It wasn’t until after his resurrection that we decided we needed to do something about sickness in the world.

The real reason why you and I are here in this Church, right now, and every Sunday of the year, is not merely because we want to fulfill an obligation.  It’s because we are responding to the fact that the Son of God has risen from the dead.

The real reason for all our hope, all our joy, all our faith, all our love... the reason why we are alive; why our hearts beat, our lungs breath, our minds think and our souls are perpetual motion machines destined for eternal bliss in Heaven is because, as my friend Mark says, “God would rather die than risk spending eternity without you.”  That is a meditation we can reflect on all day today; indeed, all of our lives: "God would rather die than risk spending eternity without you."

The reason for all of this is because He has, in fact, risen from the dead.

Kissed by Christ

Homily from Holy Thursday - Year C

I love our Pope.  I have been fascinated with his every move since his election.  Beginning with his first action as Pope which he made before we even saw his face: the taking of the name, Francis.

As you know, he is the first Pope to take the name Francis.  So, it’s an act that carries great significance.  I recently saw a YouTube video where a Franciscan priest points out, “In taking the name Francis, the Pope wishes to evoke something in us.  He wants us to think about ‘What does Francis mean?’”

One of the things St. Francis did, which you can read about in the book “The Life of St. Francis” written by that other great Franciscan, St. Bonaventure, involves his encounters with lepers.

One day (before he had entered into the “religious life” and formed his community of the brothers minor) he was riding a horse across the plain of Assisi and he saw this leper.  And his first reaction was one of fear and horror.  But then he remembered a resolution he had made to make himself completely obedient to the will of God.  So he got down from his horse and went to meet the leper.  And when the poor man stretched his out his hand to receive alms.  Francis kissed his leprous hand and filled it with money.

On another occasion he lived among a community of lepers.  He served them, washed their feet, bound up their wounds.  And having done this he kissed the wounds of lepers.

St. Francis of Assisi is one of the most beloved Saints of all time, not because of who he was, but because of what he did.  He once said, “Preach always.  When necessary, use words.”  His actions, such as kissing the lepers, spoke volumes more than his sermons.  Because in his actions he reflected, not himself, but the love of Christ.

And this is what we see our Pope, our Francis, do today.  We see him imitate Saint Francis' example.  We see him imitate the love of Christ.

A few days ago, at his first Wednesday audience in St. Peter’s Square, Francis ordered the Popemobile to stop several times.  Because parents were holding their babies up to him to be blessed.  And in addition to blessing the babies, he had his attendants take the babies from their  parents hands, and lift them up into the hands of the Pope and he kissed them.  He did this over and over again.  And a little girl was watching this with her little brother and she said to him, “When we have babies we’ll come back and he will kiss them.”

When the Popemobile drove alongside people with special needs, he again ordered it to stop.  And he embraced them, and kissed them.

Earlier today, Francis celebrated this Holy Thursday Mass at a juvenile detention center.  Days ago, when it was announced to the young people there that the Pope was coming to see them one of them exclaimed, “At last I’ll get to meet someone who says he is my father!”  And after Francis washed the feet of twelve imprisoned minors, including two girls, he kissed their feet.

We are fascinated with Pope Francis, we are fascinated with Saint Francis, because ultimately, we are fascinated with Jesus Christ.  And we long with our hearts deepest desire to be touched by Christ, to be embraced by Christ, to be kissed by Christ.

We are all infants, completely dependent upon our parent, our Heavenly Father.  And we want to be taken up into His embrace and kissed by Him.

We are all people with special needs, who desperately need the attention, the love and the care of God.  And we want to be seen by Him, to be recognized by Him and kissed by Him.

We are all prisoners, held bound by our sins and the sufferings this fallen world imposes upon us.  And we want to set free and cleansed of our sins by Jesus Christ and to be kissed by Him.

What we celebrate tonight, is the fact, that God does this.  Jesus Christ has entered into the prison of our world.  He becomes an infant, he embraces lepers and others with special needs, and he washes the feet of his disciples.

And on this night, Jesus institutes two Sacraments, he gives us two gifts, by which he kisses us: The Eucharist, in which he hands over to us, his own Body and Blood, to be touched to our lips, so that we might receive a divine kiss from God Himself; and the priesthood, in which he shares his one priesthood with his disciples so that they in turn would share it with the men who would succeed them up to the present day so that we might receive this divine kiss from God Himself.

When we come to communion tonight, let us take up as a meditation how tremendously God loves us.  That in this Eucharist, we enter into the most profound intimacy Heaven and Earth have ever known: the union of the Creator with His creation.

And as we turn to offer each other the sign of peace and as we go out into the world let us follow Christ’s command in the words he spoke to the Apostles after he washed their feet: “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”  Let us love one another with the love Pope Francis and Saint Francis exemplify for us: the love of Jesus Christ.

Empty Yourself

Homily from Passion Sunday - Year C

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My high school football coach had a sign with quote on it hanging on his office wall and I’ve never forgotten it.  It said, "Today I gave everything I had.  And what I've kept for myself, I've lost forever."

It’s another way of saying: Put forth your best effort. Don’t hold anything back.  Because as soon as today becomes yesterday, it’s in the history books.

Another way of putting it is “Give it all you’ve got.”

This is what St. Paul is talking about in his letter to the Philippians.  You could say that today’s second reading is an ancient “Win One For the Gipper” speech from 2,000 years ago.  He’s talking about how Jesus, in his passion, death and resurrection gave it everything he had.

Imagine yourself sitting at the feet of Paul and he says these words to you about the one called Jesus:

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

something to be grasped.

Rather, he emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

coming in human likeness;

and found human in appearance,

he humbled himself,

becoming obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross.

Jesus gave us everything he had.  He kept nothing for himself.  Paul uses that wonderful phrase “he emptied himself”  To continue the sports analogy, Jesus left it all on the court.  (Or all on the cross.)

And like a great coach, Paul wishes to inspire you and I to imitate the example of Christ.  Just as Christ emptied himself for us; so too we should empty ourselves for him.  Specifically, we should empty ourselves of our sin.

Jesus emptied himself of his own life so that you and I might escape our death.  Conversely, you and I need to empty ourselves of our own death, the death that is our sins within us, so that we might embrace his life.

Tomorrow night, is our parish penance service.  And here we are on it’s eve, like a team in the locker room minutes before taking the field.  My Spiritual Director instructed me to pray about how this Holy Week was going to be different from past Holy Weeks.  Well, the first thing I’m going to do to is become different myself, by going to confession tomorrow night.  And I want to invite each and every one of you to do the same.

We shouldn’t keep carrying around our sins.  Let Christ carry what he came to earth carry.  Let him take your sins upon his shoulders.  Let him take them up to his cross.  Let him put your sins to death with his last breath.  And let him raise you to new life through his resurrection.

Our Church should be packed tomorrow night.  Let’s make it happen.  Let’s fill these pews.  And if the thought of waiting in line for confession seems like an imposition; all the more reason to come.  Offer your waiting in line up for the poor, the starving, the unloved.  Unite your sufferings to Christ’s.

I’ll be thinking of that quote before I go to confession tomorrow: “Today I gave everything I had, and what I’ve kept for myself I’ve lost forever.” 

Tomorrow night, let’s empty ourselves.