Good Shepherd Catholic Parish | Paul's Homily

The 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 17:21:55 GMT

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

22 ^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C

Peace be with you and greetings on this, our celebration of the 22 ^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. Well,,, if you were listening to the readings today, you should have picked up that humility is a common theme throughout. Humility – not a real popular word in our modern culture, is it? It is important however, that we understand there is a distinction between spiritual or theological humility we read about in the Bible, as opposed to the word we commonly use today in 21 ^st Century America. Friends, spiritual humility is so necessary for salvation, Jesus takes every opportunity to stress its importance. Thomas Aquinas simply said, “humility is truth.” I’m sure everyone remembers hearing in all the Gospels how Jesus stresses the importance of being like children to enter heaven. In Matthew, he ties it to the word “humble” for clarification when he says, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Now why do you think Jesus uses the example of children to teach about humility and the kingdom of heaven?

Let me tell you a little story. Grandma and her grandson Johnny were looking at photos from a recent vacation the little boy had just taken with his parents to Yellowstone. As they leafed through the pictures grandma said, “my, how lovely. It’s as though God painted these beautiful scenes of nature just for you.” And Johnny responded, “yes it does grandma, but God had to paint with his left hand.” Now, naturally grandma was a little curious about Johnny’s left hand of God comment so she asked him to explain. “Well,” Johnny said, “in our religion class Ms. Trina told us Jesus sits on the right hand of God.” So, how do you think grandma reacted? Maybe with a chuckle and a hug? Friends, that’s called naive innocence, childlike humility.

Here is what St. Ambrose says about Jesus using children to explain humility, “Perhaps because usually they are without malice, nor are they deceptive, nor do they dare avenge themselves; they have no experience of lust, do not covet riches and are not ambitious. The Lord is not referring to childhood as such, but to the innocence which children have in their simplicity.” I would sum it all up with two adult human traits undeveloped in children. Adult traits that plague spiritual humility, pride and ego. Certainly, Jesus was trying to address pride in today’s Gospel reading about the Pharisee and his guests, and in case you haven’t looked at the list lately. Pride is number one on the list of seven deadly sins. In fact, many theologians feel we really don’t need the other six at all. St. Augustine simply said, “Sin is pride.” On the other list entitled virtues, humility stands at the top and humility is how we combat pride. Remember, theologically, humility is truth.

So, let’s start at the beginning. I personally feel one of the most misunderstood stories in the whole Bible is the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. People get so wrapped up with things like talking serpents, fruit trees, and a vengeful old God who punished all of humanity for the sin of two people, they often miss the salvation message of the story. People have a hard time grasping a fact of Divinely inspired authors three or four thousand years ago, with no concept of modern science, psychology, or history, struggling to explain why people are so screwed up. Many read the story in a modern context, and they get angry. Bible readers often refuse to look at it in context of the whole of Scripture without realizing it is part of God’s love and God’s plan for salvation. Please, please, never forget this fact, the big book we call Bible has two primary constants. Ready? Here they are. First, God is love and second, we all have a free will.

Now, with those two constants in mind, let me tell the Genesis story in a modern context with me at the center. Once upon a time I walked humbly with God. Lovingly and faithfully, I knew his will. I was innocent. It was Paradise. Then the Tempter entered the scene. With perfumed tones and seemingly perfect logic, he offered what appeared to be the sweetest fruit: Pride! He cooed with a friendly voice, “I know what God told you, but how can, YOU be sure? What about YOU and what YOU want?” The truth that I knew, suddenly seemed shaken. Again, the Tempter whispered, “YOU can be like God.” I suddenly discovered my ego. It felt intoxicating. And so, when the fruit was offered, I bit. G.K. Chesterton called this “dislocated humility.” I became the center of my own universe. It’s now about what I want, what I expect, what I demand, what I deserve. Chesterton went on to say, “We’re all in the same boat and we’re all seasick.”

Sound far-fetched? Let me read a U.S. Supreme Court decision written in 1992 in the Planned Parenthood versus Casey Decision, “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, of the mystery of human life.” Wow! Hello Lucifer. The meaning of the universe, and the mystery of human life, it kind-a sounds like a God thing, doesn’t it?

OK, so what are theological humility and theological pride as we read the Bible. The two are so closely tied it’s hard to talk about one without the other but remember, humility is truth, so here is the truth. First and foremost, God is God, and I am not. I do not have the prerogative to be a god with my words or my actions. Second, everything I have is a gift from God, from my family to the socks on my feet, to my very next breath, to grace. It’s all a gift from God. Be grateful! And finally, I must admit, because of pride and ego, I have bitten the fruit. I know what is good and what is evil. God always wants me to choose good, and I have the Bible and the Church to help. Jesus gave me guidelines with 2 simple commandments, love God and love my neighbor.

OK. I’ve come up with some simple homework, but please remember before you start, the world’s noise always tries to drown God out. So, 1) Find a quiet place. 2) Pray and open yourself to God’s voice. 3) Discipline yourself spiritually with faith. 4) Be spiritually humble with gratitude. Remember Jesus’ words, “Unless you make yourself as a little child, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 27, 2025

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 19:10:53 GMT

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 27, 2025

Peace be with you and greetings on this, our celebration of the 17 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. OK, does everyone know what the word “paradigm” means? Just in case you don’t know or have forgotten here is the dictionary definition; a paradigm is, “a framework containing the basic assumptions, ways of thinking, and methodology that are commonly accepted by members of any group.” Sort of sounds like a, “we’ve always done it that way” practice, doesn’t it? Consequently, I often like to say, one of Jesus’ missions 2000 years ago was to eliminate any paradigms hindering humanities’ relationship with God. And we have a perfect example of one of Jesus’ paradigm crushers today as he tells his disciples how to pray.

Today in Luke’s Gospel, we hear Jesus tell us how to pray by calling God, “Father” in Matthew, we hear him say “Our Father” and in Mark he says “Abba Father”. “Abba Father” is also a phrase used by Paul in Galatians and Romans. And since the whole New Testament was originally written in Greek the word used would have been “Pater” where “Abba” is the Hebrew or Aramaic word Jesus probably spoke 2000 years ago. Our Biblical scholars translate both words simply as “father”. And for most of my life I never gave it a second thought as I mechanically recited the Lord’s Prayer, until something happened in about 1989. Now I’m going to tell a story I’ve told to many people before, including those who attend my adult Bible classes, so if you’ve heard it before – tough. You’re just going to have to hear it again.

While I was still in the Army, I was on an official business trip to Israel and my hosts took me up to Lake Tiberius, about 60 miles north of Jerusalem. BTW when Jesus was walking the land, Lake Tiberius was called The Sea of Galilee. I was standing on a little beach watching families playing in the water and sand when a little girl about 4 or 5 years old running full speed, fell face first in shallow water, and made a face plant on the sandy bottom. She came up sputtering, spitting sand and water, caught her breath, then started crying. She looked around frantically, spotted her dad, and then went screaming across the beach with her little arms flailing in the air crying loudly, “Abba, Abba, Abba!” Now, it didn’t take too long for the old wheels to start turning and translate this whole scene into one that’s probably repeated every day during the summer on our own Gulf Coast and realize, she was crying, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” in Hebrew. And from that day forward I’ve never said the Lord’s Prayer in quite the same old mechanical way again.

At the time of Jesus Christ, Yahweh (YHWH) was the formal Hebrew name for God. The name spoken to Moses from the burning bush, translated in our Bibles as, “I AM”, Ex 3:14. The name eventually became so sacred however, in Jesus’ time, it would never be spoken out loud, except by the High Priest completely alone in the Holy of Holies of the Temple in Jerusalem. No religious Jew would dare speak the sacred name out loud. Consequently, they had kind of lost a type of intimacy with their own creator and wouldn’t dare speak God’s name, even in prayer. A scholar and teacher I once had said this; “They could not experience the echo of the shadow of the Spirit of God.” My friends, that was a serious paradigm. And now suddenly here’s Jesus telling all Jews to start verbally calling God a completely intimate name used in the closest family relationship. He told them; when you pray to God, the unlimited creator of the universe, call God – Daddy. Really? My sisters and brothers, as we sit here in Church some 2000 years later it’s almost impossible to appreciate the effect of what Jesus was saying to his 1 ^st Century Jewish audience. I might suggest you do this; however, my little story may merit a little prayerful meditation sometime, not only as you say the prayer Jesus gives us in today’s Gospel, but the story really applies to all prayer.

There is also one other image I’d suggest you picture in your own mind as you recall this little story about intimacy with God in prayer. The U.S. Catechism for Adults says this; “The point where God’s call and our response intersect is prayer. The event is always grace-filled and a gift.” Now of course we all know prayer takes many, many forms and reciting a formal prayer like the Our Father is just one of those forms but think about what I just quoted from the Catechism for a second. “The point where God’s call and our response intersect – is prayer.” Consequently, the inverse might also be true, no prayer, no intersection with God’s personal call – but then, always remember, a prayer can be as simple as a “help me Lord” or a “thank you” in acknowledgement of God’s presence.

OK, now I’m sorry folks. As a technical engineering kind-a guy I tend to be very visual at times and when I read a sentence like; “The point where God’s call and our response intersect is prayer.” I visualize graph paper and intersecting lines. I just can’t help it, but even out of this somewhat worldly technical visualization I suddenly saw something that actually helped my personal prayer life. A vertical line, represents God’s call, and a horizontal line, represents my response, intersecting in, you guessed it, a Cross! God’s call and my response represented by the Cross. And as a Catholic Christian I also visualize the suffering Jesus Christ at the center, forming a Crucifix as validation of God’s unimaginable love for us all.

So, here’s your homework for today. Take a few minutes sometime soon, to quietly meditate on a frightened little girl on a beach in Israel, crying “Abba, Abba, Abba,” as she runs into her daddy’s arms, and recall this is exactly how Jesus told his disciples to speak to God in prayer. And always remember, anytime you pray, even if it’s just a simple “help me Lord” or a “thank you” to God, it is an intersection with God’s personal call to you, it is always grace-filled, it is a gift, and it is shaped like a Cross.

Memorial Day Weekend, May 25, 2025-Season C

Tue, 27 May 2025 11:44:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil, 25 May 2025

Memorial Day Weekend, Year C

Peace be with you, as we gather for the Mass to celebrate the Sixth Sunday of Easter, and it also happens to be Memorial Day weekend. So, here we are at Mass spiritually celebrating the Lord’s Supper that falls on a secular National Holiday weekend but it is appropriate I think, especially this holiday. From my perspective every congregation in every church in the nation should come together today to pray and thank God for the many freedoms we enjoy here in America and remember, for just a little while, the cost of those freedoms in human life. Unfortunately, many Americans view today as just another great holiday for, barbecues, beaches, and swimming pools.

I sometimes use the metaphor of a coin to describe our American Freedom. One side of the coin is the 4 ^th of July, remembering the day our forefathers officially told the King of England to stick his royal crown where the sun don’t shine. And the other side of the coin is Memorial Day, the last Monday in May, when we remember the cost given in human life, the greatest sacrifice any person can make.

I’ve told some of you my own personal little story about Vietnam. Basically, I was an out-of-control teenager from a broken home, lost my college deferment because I went to the beach instead of class. I qualified for Army flight school, and arrived in Vietnam as a 20-year-old helicopter pilot in 1968. I personally know about 14 of the names on that long black wall in Washington DC called the “Vietnam Memorial” and now I tend to squirm a little when someone says, “happy Memorial Day.” Friends, in my humble opinion, this is not a day for “happy” it is a day for deep respect and remembrance, especially for those who have lost loved ones or close friends.

I was raised on the West Coast. A region of the country I often say has no history other than a string of old Spanish Missions built by an 18 ^th Century Catholic Saint. The Army opened a whole new window for me however, when I was stationed near Washington DC and was given the opportunity to visit places like Independence Hall, Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, Fort McHenry, Gettysburg, and The Arlington National Cemetery. After that came Europe with those magnificent cemeteries of American dead from WWI and WWII. If you’ve never seen those places, you owe it to yourself to log on with your home computer and at least look at the pictures.

So, some 10 years after my last combat tour in Vietnam one of the young pilots under my command was killed in a night helicopter training accident in the mountains at Fort Hunter Ligget, CA, his name was John Brewer. John was a single parent with a 5-year-old daughter and was supposed to start a one-week leave that very afternoon after he died, because his mother was coming for a visit. When I suddenly realized what potentially might happen when his mother got off a plane and no one was there to meet her, I called my Battalion Commander and told him about John’s mother flying in. He told me to put on my dress uniform and meet her when she got off the airplane. Now mind you, I had never met this woman and all I knew was John told me she was coming from Wisconsin, and he hadn’t seen her for two years. Fortunately, there was only one commercial airline that flew in and out of the small airport near Ft Ord and when I called, they identified the flight Mrs. Alice Brewer from Wisconsin was on. And when I explained the circumstances to United Airlines, they said they would take her immediately to one of their offices at the airport so we could meet in private.

I’ve often said two things about that meeting with John’s mother, first I never want to do anything like that ever again and second, by the grace of God, I took Virginia my wife, with me. I found out mothers can talk to other mothers at times like that better than anyone else. Think about the emotions for just a second. This woman was at an emotional high of joy and happiness because she was about to see her son and granddaughter who she hadn’t seen for two years. And then some stranger was going to meet her and tell her, he was dead. As soon as she saw me standing there in the office doorway at the airport in an Army uniform, she knew something was wrong, and immediately broke down.

Now why am I telling you this story about Mrs. Brewer and her son John. My sisters and brothers, from that point on whenever I look at pictures or visit one of those huge memorial cemeteries, with row after row, after row of simple white markers, I also think of the moms and dads, the wives and husbands, the children, the brothers and sisters, and the close friends whose lives will never be the same because of each one of those deaths.

Virginia and I spent several days with Alice Brewer before she left with her granddaughter and flew back to Wisconsin, and the experience touched our lives. So, this Memorial Day if you know someone who lost a loved one while serving in the military say, “thank you” and maybe a prayer for them but don’t say, “happy Memorial Day.” This should be a day for remembrance, gratitude, and prayer. And of course, as we celebrate this Mass here today, we should all meditate on that crucifix up there above the altar and remember what Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, our God incarnate, sacrificed because of love, to free each of us from enslavement to sin. The greatest freedom of all. God bless all of you.

3rd Sunday of Easter May 4, 2025: Season C

Wed, 07 May 2025 10:42:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil, 4 April 2025

Third Sunday of Easter: Season C

Peace be with you and welcome to our Mass for this amazing celebration for the Third Sunday of Easter, and again, Happy Easter to all. And don’t forget, we can all joyfully keep saying “Happy Easter” until Pentecost, a whole month away. Also, as a reminder, we will be open between Easter and Christmas. Tell all your friends who came on Easter Sunday that they don’t have to wait until Christmas to come back. So, I did learn a lesson about our 50-day Easter Season. When you say, “Happy Easter” to a stranger, weeks after Easter Sunday itself, try to be someplace where you can explain. For example, the beer isle in Publix at 9 AM caused some confusion last Friday. I think the lady thought I’d already had a couple and started moving away very quickly. So, now I only say “Happy Easter” to strangers when I’m at a place and time where I can explain a little.

And of course, this weekend we also have the first Sunday of May and started Mass crowning of Mary. This rich Catholic Tradition for honoring Mary as the Mother of God and Queen of Heaven during May goes back over 800 years. When researching, I came upon another interesting fact I think is especially important this year. In 1965 Pope Paul VI issued an encyclical that identified the month of May as an opportune time to incorporate special prayers for peace into our traditional Marian devotions. I’m sure in 1965 he was probably focused on Vietnam but now, in 2025, his guidance seems just as appropriate with what’s happening in Ukraine, Russia, and the Middle East right now.

So, just like last week, our readings today came from the Acts of the Apostles, The Book of Revelation, and the Gospel of John. Readings from these three books will continue up to Pentecost. Today’s reading from the 21 ^st Chapter of John’s Gospel is somewhat unique, however. Many scholars call Chapter 21 the second ending to John’s Gospel. Last week the Gospel reading ended with these two closing verses from Chapter 20, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.” Sounds like the end, right? Well, wrong. Today we heard most of Chapter 21, hence, scholars calling it the second ending. And believe me when I say, volumes of commentary have been written about this so-called second ending of John concerning everything from, who really wrote it, when it was written, and what it all theologically really means. These same types of debates swirl around the three possible endings to Mark’s Gospel and various other apparent academic inconsistencies in the Bible.

Friends, I’ll repeat what I’ve said many, many times. When you find yourself stumbling into this kind of Biblical academic argument take a deep breath, and remember, the Catholic Church teaches the Bible is the inspired Word of God, given to us without error, for our salvation. With an emphasis on “for our salvation!” It’s not modern “schoolbook” type history, even though some Christians today still persist trying to use it that way. The Bible is a book of faith given to us for our salvation. Amen! And that salvation message is exactly what we’re going to talk about for the next few minutes.

One thing that has always struck me personally as I’ve read the Gospels, today’s reading included is, Peter and the guys he hung out with, were not very good fishermen, or at least not whenever Jesus showed up. He always seemed to find them with empty nets after hours of fishing, but when they followed his guidance, no matter how ridiculous it may sound, like, “really Lord, the other side of the boat?” Then they always filled their nets. Gosh, do you think there might be an obvious salvation message for us in this little tidbit, as simple as faith?

Then there’s another message that seems to be obvious about sin and forgiveness during Jesus’ dialogue with Peter. Scholars tell us, Peter’s three vehement yeses to Jesus’ three repeated questions, “Do you love me”, probably represent reconciliation and forgiveness for Peter’s grievous threefold sins of denial? John has given us a strong hint that the two scenes are connected. There are only two episodes in his Gospel where we see a charcoal fire mentioned, in today’s reading and in Chapter 18:18, where Peter sits and literally denies knowing Jesus three times. Whether forgiveness is one of the salvation messages in this specific scene or not, the question that truly matters is the question of love. This is a deeply personal exchange. When I put myself into this scene, I can visualize tears in Peter’s eyes. He certainly seems confused and even frustrated by Jesus asking seemingly the same question three times.

Now, as you pull out those scholarly commentaries about this scene, they’ll also often talk about the three or four various ancient Greek words all translated into the single word “love” in English speaking Bibles. The first two times Jesus asks Peter if he loves him, John uses the Greek word “agapao”. The third time Jesus asks the question he uses the word “phileo”. All three times Peter responds to Jesus, he uses the word “phileo”. By strict definition “agapao” is an unconditional loving even of those seemingly unlovable. “Phileo”, on the other hand is, a love often fostered by a strong friendship or family. Now the smart guys, with all the letters behind their names, have tried to spin the distinction between these two words into various theological messages and meanings in various commentaries. And you know what? They often disagree with each other.

My sisters and brothers, no one in the New Testament uses the word love more often than John. All else aside, today’s Gospel is about love. We don’t need to be linguists or philosophers to listen to Scripture. To profess Jesus Christ is to know we are called to love. The question Jesus asks Peter never goes away and we must visualize ourselves sitting by that charcoal fire, looking Jesus in the eye, and answering that same question, “do you love me?” Then with our sincere answer spoken we should always hear Jesus saying to each and every one of us, individually, “feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Follow me.”

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 13, 2024 (Season B)

Tue, 15 Oct 2024 14:52:00 GMT

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Peace be with you and greetings for our celebration of the Mass for the 28 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. OK. For a couple of minutes, I’m going to give, what our Protestant friends would call a “testimony”. I’m now 76 years old and I’ve been a Deacon for a little over 10 years now. Before my ordination, I had a 30-year Army career and retired in 1997, then I worked for a few years in Washington State before we moved to Huntsville, where I worked for 15 more years on Redstone Arsenal in the Apache Attack Helicopter program. I retired from that job in 2014. In all of this, Virginia and I have moved 23 times, and most of those moves with kids still at home. Now think, even though I may have been doing something different to make a living than most of you, we still probably had the same general priorities; raising kids and getting them through school, paying bills, trying to put a little money into savings, having some fun along the way, and dealing with some crises. For most of my life, I went to Church on Sunday, but I had not read any of the three readings before Mass and I really didn’t listen very attentively as they were being read during the Mass. I might have paid some attention to the homily following the Gospel but there were a lot of variables and distractions that affected that mental effort also.

Now, I’m not going to ask for a show of hands, but can anyone else identify with all that, with any of the story I just told? Yes, no, maybe? So, let’s do a little exercise. Sit back, close your eyes for a few seconds, and think of a big circle. A circle with all your life’s priorities in it and ask yourself, what is at the center of the circle? Where is God in my circle? OK, open your eyes. Now, as kind of a quick self-test you might ask, what was the first reading I just heard a few minutes ago? My sisters and brothers, as I read all three readings today before Mass, I do that now a days, I realized they were all about the big circle and where God is in it, in my own life. And as I meditated on the readings today, two names came to mind that helped my thoughts about priorities, Milton and Helene.

I thought about a man and his wife in NC talking to a news woman about being thankful just to be alive, with the ruins of their home in the background, now a pile of mud and broken boards. I thought about a scene from FL with a long line outside of a store waiting to get in and buy something needed, and a big sign that said, “cash only, no electricity.” There is a lot happening in our world right now that should urge all of us to move God into the middle of our life’s circle of priorities, but I’ll have to admit with a little personal guilt, there always have been catastrophes happening. I just wasn’t paying attention.

Friends, the first reading was from the book of Wisdom, and we were told, “all good things together came to me in her company.” So, we ask, what good things? The writer makes it clear, it’s not gold and silver, those he called sand and mire. Well, our second reading from Hebrews helps, “The word of God is living and effective. And able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.” Reflections and thoughts of the heart. That’s an interesting phrase. Maybe that’s wisdom coupled with faith in God. A vision of life. A vision that lets us go deeper. A vision that abides and comes to our support. And wisdom with faith in God comes to our support particularly when everything has fallen apart. Wisdom with faith in God can become the ground floor of our minds and hold everything else up, but then there is another element in the circle, and that brings us to the Gospel reading.

Jesus invites a rich man to keep company with the poor, but the man cannot give up his wealth and he goes away “sad.” Now, listen carefully sisters and brothers, if you try to take this reading too literal it can spiritually be a real downer. Friends, Jesus is not telling everyone of us to go live in a monastery or a convent if you want to get to heaven. At the time this Gospel was written the Hebrew culture would have viewed this rich young guy as a saint. He kept all the commandments, he followed Mosaic Law, and he was rich. Consequently, that’s physical proof, God must really, really love him far more than the common folks. Hence, the rewards of earthly wealth. That is why you hear the Apostles, “were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, ‘Then who can be saved?’” They would have thought he was near perfect. And one more time Jesus turns their world completely upside down.

Today, is a good day to take stock of our circle of priorities and decide sincerely, where God resides in our own circle. Begin with the people in our lives. Who do we let in to share with us their love and wisdom? Who nourishes our faith and our hope? Who is there and shares our ups, and especially our downs. Perhaps we need to also look closely at who we push away and don’t allow to come close? Then, what things have we chosen to keep us company; our home, our workplace, our Church? What other kinds of company and stuff do we keep around us in our homes; photographs, an old worn Bible, other good books, flowers, a cherished pet? Maybe we should evaluate how much time we spend mindlessly sitting in front of a TV? Then ask ourselves, how do we keep company with those in need in the world; awareness, prayer, financial support, volunteering, advocacy?

Finally, my friends ask this, in the privacy of our own hearts, what are we giving up or giving away to keep company with Jesus?

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time - September 15, 2024 (Season B)

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 10:19:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil ,

24 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year B

Peace be with you and greetings for our celebration of the Mass for the 24 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Wow, what great readings we just heard today. As I read them and meditated on them for a while, I wondered, would the congregation mind if I covered all three and talked today for 30 or 40 minutes? And then I thought, no Paul, better not. Even with your new artificial knee you cannot run as fast as you used to. You should all recognize however, all three of these are great readings. First, we heard a section from Isaiah’s wonderful suffering servant discourse, then a reading from the letter of James with a quote that has been causing debate among Christians ever since the Protestant Reformation, and finally a part of Mark’s Gospel where Jesus gives his Apostles the shocking criteria to be one of his disciples. How do I narrow this down? Well, maybe I got a little divine guidance.

Anyone here have a favorite number or numbers? Do you know what I mean, numbers you consider lucky or special for some particular reason? For example, when I flew helicopters in Vietnam my callsign was “Ghostrider 23” and after a year and 1,200 hours of combat flight time, I came back in one piece, so I’ve always considered 23 a lucky number ever since. Well, when it comes to the Bible however, for me, the number 8 is special. It all started with Romans 8 when I was in graduate school studying scripture at Seattle University. If you go to the last verse in Romans Chapter 8 you read this, “Nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” I personally consider those the most hopeful words in the Bible. Then I discovered at the end of John 8 Jesus declares himself to be God more clearly than anywhere else when he says this, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I AM.” Now in my humble opinion that is a clear declaration of Jesus Christ’s coeternal Godship with the Father.

Now we come to Mark 8, which is where our Gospel reading came from today. My friends Jesus’s message about what he expects from his disciples is consistent in all four Gospels, but with my attention to the number 8 that’s the first place I look. And there again, when you go to Mark Chapter 8 then scroll near the end, look at verse 34 you read, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” By the way, if you have a Study Bible with footnotes, you can look at the bottom of the page and find Matthew’s, Luke’s, and John’s citations of the exact same message. So, if you turn to the end of chapters 8 in Romans, John, and Mark you first, get a message of great hope, second, a declaration of Jesus’s true identity as God, and third, a clear mission statement for Christian discipleship. Without a lot of difficult memorization, I can go toe-to-toe with some of those “Bible thumpers” who love to memorize tons of chapters and verses to explain my own basis in faith.

Really, you might ask? Right now, you might be saying I still don’t quite get it. My sisters and brothers, most of you have seen enough of life to know it is not all rainbows, sunshine, and bright flowers. Unfortunately, more and more people in our culture are finding is harder and harder to deal with that realization. Hence the epidemic of fentanyl or other drugs, deep depression, and an explosion in suicides, especially with our youth. Jesus is offering us all a solution. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him. He is not telling you or me to go lead a miserable life. He is telling me paradoxically; I will see and feel God’s presence more clearly in my pain than at times when life is full of rainbows and sunshine.

If you understand the Bible story you know Jesus will undergo rejection from His own religious leaders and abandonment from the very people who first called him Messiah. He will undergo terrible thoughts that perhaps his life and mission were failures. Without seeing all of this, we cannot begin to understand who Jesus is. Friends Jesus Christ redeems us by taking on the very things in our lives that hurt us. Redemption is not escaping our pain; it is embracing it and overcoming it by God’s love and power. The Son of Man will be rejected, but the Son of Man will be with us until the end of the ages.

We are a fallen people living in a fallen world, and it doesn’t matter who you are, one thing we all have in common is, sadly; there will be pain in our lives. From a beautiful entertainer who fills the world’s largest stadiums, and whose wealth I can’t even comprehend, to an ordinary high school student sitting in classroom Monday morning, to a struggling mom or dad paying bills at the end of the month, we will all have pain in our lives. The miracle is this, we have redemption from a servant God who comes to be with us in the parts of our lives that seem the hardest. That is what, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me”- really means.

So, for homework today I would like to give you something to take home and reflect on for a while based on today’s Gospel reading from Mark 8. What does the suffering and humiliation of Jesus Christ teach me about God?

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 18, 2024 (Season B)

Wed, 21 Aug 2024 10:15:00 GMT

20 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year B

Peace be with you and greetings on our celebration of the Mass for the 20 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. So, today is the fourth Sunday in a row we’ve heard a Gospel reading from the 6 ^th Chapter of John and next week will be the 5 ^th , and last. Then we’ll go back to reading Mark. Basically, this happens every three years during our liturgical calendar. Last year were the A readings from Matthew, this year B is from Mark, and next year is C from Luke, then we start over again with A. One of the reasons we end up with John 6 during our B cycle is Mark is such a short Gospel the Church uses John to fill out the readings for Ordinary Time. This year is especially appropriate however, because it is the year of Eucharistic Renewal and Revival. So, Father Tim thought it would be appropriate for him, Deacon James, and me to talk about some of our own personal Eucharistic experiences as we read John 6, Jesus’s Bread of Life discourse. Now if you’re one of those 50 or 60 percenters who don’t believe in the real presence, I’m probably not going to change your mind with an 8- or 9-minute homily, but maybe you’ll go home today with a little more to think about.

Certainly, one Eucharistic event I’ll never forget was an outdoor Mass in 1979, on a hillside in Western Turkey, when Virginia and I were on a NATO assignment. We were there with probably less than 100 other people and the Mass Celebrant was the brand-new Polish Pope, John Paul II. I’ve thought often about that Eucharistic Celebration over the years. We were probably less than 10 feet from the front of that crude stone altar and could watch every detail during the Mass.

Perhaps the Mass I think about most often however, is depicted in a photo hanging in my office and surprisingly, I wasn’t even in attendance. It’s from 1969 when I was flying combat helicopter missions in Vietnam. We landed at a tiny fire support base on a hilltop and my copilot, and I went into a command bunker to coordinate a helicopter combat assault with an infantry unit. When we came back out a Catholic Chaplain had set up a make-shift altar right in front of our Huey, he was celebrating Mass, and there in the grass, knelt 15 or so young soldiers during the consecration. At that moment I was personally frustrated and felt no spirituality. I couldn’t start up the aircraft and blow everything away until he finished, and I needed to get back and brief the other mission crews. Some 50 years later however, I ran into my copilot from that day again, and he told me that experience was one of the most spiritual moments of his entire life. It seems a good old Southern Baptist recognized Jesus in that moment at a Catholic Mass in Vietnam and I missed it. Hence the picture as a reminder hangs on my wall.

And all this a great lead-in to our Gospel reading. When Jesus actually said, “I am the bread of life.” Well, a real controversy started that day in Israel, and unfortunately, it’s still raging today. We’ve all heard Father tell us how alarmingly high the percentage of Catholics is that view Eucharist as simply a symbol. Kind-a like that plaster Jesus up there, except edible. Well, in today’s Gospel Jesus really doubles down. His language gets even more extreme when he says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” You see, at this point in his Gospel, John changes the Greek word used for eating, from the common human act “esthio” to a word commonly used to describe animals eating, “trogo”, which should really be translated “chew” or “gnaw”. My friends, this is the reason many scholars call this the most difficult sermon Jesus ever gives in the Bible. Next week we’re going to hear the end of this story and it is sad indeed.

Let me ask, does anyone know who the first Christian writer was who described the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist? Well, it’s good old St Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians written probably about 56AD. Now that’s interesting because that’s about 40 years before John wrote his Gospel. So obviously, this spiritual miracle we celebrate during every Mass must have started almost immediately after Jesus’ Ascension. In First Corinthians Chapter 11 Paul gives us the same words used during the consecration in Mass. The words we also hear in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But if you skip down a few more verses in Paul’s letter you hear this, “For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.” My friends, the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, during the Mass, is not some fabricated tradition started by clerical elites during the Middle Ages, as many Catholic critics propose. Last week Father Tim told us about St Cyril of Jerusalem writing some 1700 years ago about how to receive Holy Communion. “When you approach, take care not to do so with your hand stretched out and your fingers open or apart, but rather place your left hand as a throne beneath your right, as befits one who is about to receive the King.” Wow, one hand as a throne beneath the other, as befits one who is about to receive the King.

OK, from St Paul to the Evangelists, the Saints, the Doctors of the Church, and scholars, down through the millennia many have written about the real presence. Something our finite human minds cannot ever fully comprehend. Just like an unlimited and eternal God, the creator of the Universe, the Blessed Trinity, or the Incarnation itself. Ultimately, faith in the spiritual is the only answer. If you’re trying to find scientific proof, sorry. It isn’t there. My sisters and brothers, Jesus defined the faith we need for our salvation with instructions for his Apostles in the Gospel of Matthew when they asked him, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Here was his answer, “He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, ‘Amen, I say to you unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.’” Jesus was not telling his disciples to be silly little kids, he was telling them to push their egos aside, be humble, trust in God, and have faith. Thomas Aquinas, one of the most accomplished men to ever live was often described as “childlike” and “innocent”.

Now, I must assume everyone here believes in God or you wouldn’t be sitting in Church at all. Right? Friends, if you believe in the God of the Bible, you must realize, when God speaks things happen, let there be light, little girl get up, Lazurus come out, this is my body, this is my blood. So, here’s your homework today. As you watch your brothers and sisters in Christ leave Church today, if they received Holy Communion, pause and recognize, each and every one of them is a Tabernacle. And if you received Communion yourself, remember who is within you if you accept him, and remember Jesus’s instruction to his disciples, “turn and become like children.”

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 21, 2024 (Season B)

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 10:47:00 GMT

16 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 21, 2024 (Season B)

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of the 16 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. So, as I meditated on these readings for a while I thought these could be appropriate for “Good Shepherd Sunday.” In the first reading we hear God admonishing the corrupt shepherds of ancient Israel for scattering God’s sheep. Then, I’m sure everyone knew which Psalm we were listening to with the opening words. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, we’re reminded that Jesus leads both Jews and Gentiles equally, to salvation. An impossible task in 1 ^st Century Israel, for any shepherd except God. And finally in Mark’s Gospel, we’re reminded one more time, Jesus is the Good Shepherd with the words, “his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd.”

OK, anyone ever teach children? If you’re a parent that’s certainly a silly question but for those of us who have attempted to teach young people in a classroom environment, you know things can be real interesting. Today’s readings reminded me of one occasion when I was teaching a group of 3 ^rd graders about the Good Shepherd. I was attempting to show examples that God calls all of us to be good shepherds sometimes using our own words, examples, and actions. At the end I was hoping they would see me as the good shepherd in the classroom that day, so I asked, “Who is the good shepherd here today?” Front row center, a hand shot up, “Jesus Christ!” “OK. That’s always right but what do you think I am today as the teacher?” “You’re the sheepdog,” came the enthusiastic answer.

Wow. You know, I’ve never forgotten that innocent little guy’s answer that day and wondered, that’s really not a terribly bad image. Jesus Christ’s, the ultimate Good Shepherd’s own sheepdog helping with God’s flock of humanity. You ever watched a well-trained herding sheepdog in action? It’s really pretty amazing. Words that come to mind are, loyal, fast, intelligent, instinctive, and endurance. The metaphor of the Good Shepherd’s sheepdog, gives a quote from St. Benedict of Nursia a vivid new perspective, “The first degree of humility is prompt obedience.” Let me repeat, “The first degree of humility is prompt obedience.” Now please, please, before you hard core independently minded Americans sitting here become incensed, I am speaking metaphorically about sheep and dogs, not literally. Personally, I’m proud to be called part of the Good Shepherd’s flock and maybe sometimes even one of His obedient sheepdogs helping with the flock.

Now today’s Gospel is a continuation of last Sunday’s Gospel when Jesus originally sent the 12 out on mission. Today they’re back and reporting everything they did and taught, and they are tired, and from the sounds of it, so is Jesus. Jesus says, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any rest for the weary. When they arrive at the deserted place they are met with a vast crowd and Jesus’ heart is moved with pity, “for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.” And it’s probably safe to say, Jesus’ disciples did exactly as he did.

Friends, God intends for us to live in community. The heart of the community is the family, and the foundation of family is the marriage. We sometimes forget the very first instruction God gave Adam and Eve had nothing to do with eating or not eating fruit. The first instruction from God is found in GN 1:28. “God blessed them, and God said to them; Be fertile and multiply.” Now flash forward thousands of years and we have God’s loving redemption of a fallen humanity through his life, suffering, death, and resurrection. And this gift from Jesus called Christianity is neither individualism nor collectivism, neither capitalism nor communism, but communalism. And sadly, unselfishness is not easy for us fallen creatures but without unselfishness community just does not work. We need to learn it, to be conditioned to it, to be socialized. We learn this lesson of unselfishness only in a community – most effectively in the family.

I tell every couple preparing for marriage, don’t marry to find happiness; marry to give happiness. God’s design was that this lesson of marriage, this universal vocation of unselfish love, this experience of becoming yourself by giving yourself away, should expand outward, like circles of water rippling from a stone thrown into a pool. Of course, the first center is the first act of self-giving love of God’s, both in creating us and in redeeming us at the price of his own life. Without that self-giving of the divine stone thrown into the pool’s center, there are no ripples of the human water. There is no human substitute for God.

In the Bible, the community is often described as a flock of sheep but regardless of what metaphor we use, it is part of God’s design for human existence. And within community we all have a fundamental Christian vocation of self-giving. Whether we are preachers, teachers, healers, farmers, bankers, lawyers, hamburger flippers, or comedians. We work for others, and others work for us. We row each other’s boat. As Christians, we work not only to make money but to make love. And my sisters and brothers, there are many kinds of love. Some of them are sentimental, and most of them are not.

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time June 23, 2024 (Season B)

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 10:46:00 GMT

12 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 23, 2024 (Season B)

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of the 12 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Well, the Church has certainly given us a lot to think about with our readings today. The Gospel reading from Mark is a story we should all be well familiar with. A stormy night on the Sea of Galilee, panicky disciples, a sleeping Jesus, then an awakened Jesus calming the Sea, and finally the question, “Do you not yet have faith?” Scholars have probably piled up enough paper writing about this story to sink that boat without a storm. I will talk about the Gospel story but initially I’d like to touch on the first reading from the Book of Job for a couple of minutes. The Bible story that frustrates so many.

You all know Job’s story, right? Basically, it’s kind of a, bad things happening to good people story. You see, Job was written at a time and to a culture that believed if a man was suffering it usually meant he had sinned. Yet here we have good old Job, a righteous man who is now suffering with all kinds of calamities in his life. So, today’s reading starts at the beginning of Chapter 38 with God finally speaking, “Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm.” Oh great! God is going to explain why Job, even though he is a wonderful guy, is suffering with so many miseries. NOT! This discourse from God goes from Chapter 38 all the way to Chapter 41 but, all it seems to do is add to the mystery. When God finally speaks, it is to pose questions of His own. God, in His divine wisdom, enters not to solve problems but to reframe them. “Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning and shown the dawn its place?” These four chapters from Job ultimately display the abyss of God’s love through creation.

Friends, I’m not sure how the ancient Jews felt about the Book of Job but now, the good news for us is not a promise to fix all our suffering on earth. We are not mere problems to be solved but people to be loved. The love of Christ is the good news, a love so profound that even death cannot pose a problem. As we contemplate the paradox of love, suffering, and forgiveness offered on the Cross of Jesus Christ, the Book of Job is finally understood. Jesus is the best man with the worst fortune. His suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension unites us with God the creator of everything. My sisters and brothers, G.K. Chesterton, an expert in the literary arts, aptly described the book of Job as a “riddle” because Job’s suffering seemed to make no sense. We now know; however, Jesus is the answer to the riddle.

So now in the Gospel reading Jesus, the one without sin, the perfect righteous man, gets into the boat and says, “Let us cross to the other side.” From a spiritual perspective that short phrase can have a lot of meaning because we know Jesus said it, and we know all about Jesus, right? As Catholic Christians we now know the whole Jesus story. We know he is fully human and yet fully divine. We know he is the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, coeternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. We know he reopened the gates of heaven for all of us by his own suffering, death, and resurrection. We know Jesus Christ is God and we know God is love.

So, in the Gospel, the Church and most scholars tell us Jesus and his disciples in the boat traveling across the Sea of Galilee can spiritually be seen two ways. First, the boat is the whole Church herself traveling with Jesus through space and time encountering all the storms and difficulties throughout history. Or second, we can view it as our own personal journeys through time with Jesus always there to calm the storms in our own lives. Today, I’d like to talk about the personal journey with Jesus.

Friends, I start each day with a little prayer by Thomas Merton. The prayer starts this way, “My Lord God, I cannot see the road ahead of me. I do not know for certain where it will end.” And the prayer ends with these words, “I will trust you always Lord, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death I will not fear, for you are ever with me. You will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen.” Great words Father Merton but hard to follow.

The reading from Mark’s Gospel we heard today presents the spiritual dynamics of fear and trust. Making their way across the lake in their tiny boat, the disciples stand symbolically for all of us journeying through life within the confines of fear controlled by our own egos. The ego is fundamentally persuaded there is nothing beyond itself upon which it can rely. Unfortunately, this is a typical condition brought on by our own 21 ^st Century Western Culture. The modern attitude our culture teaches and encourages is, “I am completely in control of my own life.” Why and how does this happen? It’s simple, Jesus is asleep in the back of our boat. The sleeping Jesus stands here for the divine power that is literally asleep within all of us, indeed within the very confines of the ego. When in reality, Jesus symbolizes the divine energy that remains unaffected by the fear generated by the grasping ego.

This beautiful narrative from Mark’s Gospel seems to suggest that if we but awaken to the presence of Christ within us all, if we live in basic trust rather than fear, then we can withstand even the most frightening storms. Lord, I know your divine presence is within me. Help me to prevent my own ego from taking control.

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time June 16, 2024 (Season B)

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 10:45:00 GMT

11 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 16, 2024 (Season B)

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of the 11 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. And today also, just happens to also be Father’s Day. Now for those of you who remember one of Good Shepherd’s pastors from not too long ago, there’s no doubt in my mind if he were standing up here right now, he’d tell us all, “this is just another one of those Hallmark holidays invented to make us buy stuff.” And unless you live in a cave with no TV, computer, or smart phone, you must certainly understand his opinion. In fact, the Catholic Church warns homilists to avoid speaking from the pulpit about secular holiday subjects. Regardless however, all of us who are alive should probably take some time today to reflect on the miracle of life and say, “thank you, happy Father’s Day,” and say a prayer for all our own worldly fathers, both living or deceased.

You know there’s a little story about our heavenly Father, I’ve told before but today especially, I think it deserves repeating. Hopefully, anyone who has sat here in Mass through the years, or reads the Bible, is at least somewhat familiar with the Biblical word Abba. Scholars tell us it is a more familiar Aramaic form of the ancient Hebrew word Father, and beyond that I personally, had never given it much thought until a business trip to Israel over 30 years ago. I was at a Mediterranean coastal beach near Tel Aviv and noticed a little girl running full speed through ankle deep water when she suddenly tripped and went face first into the sand and water. So, she comes up out of the shallow water on her hands and knees, sputtering and spitting, looks around, sees her dad on the beach, and then runs to him with her arms open wide, crying, “Abba, Abba, Abba!” My friends, since that day, some 30 years ago, on a beach in Israel, the word Abba has never really meant the same to me. You see, Jesus lived at a time when the Jewish people would not even whisper the sacred Hebrew name of God out loud. Today we pronounce that ancient holy name Yahweh but, after that simple event I witnessed in modern day Israel, I’ve realized Jesus wants us to literally call God – Daddy. In other words, we’re supposed to have an intimate, personal relationship with the unlimited creator of the universe. Now I think there’s something we should meditate on for a while.

OK today, in three of the four readings we hear about growing things. For those of you who are gardeners, perhaps you can relate a little better than most. Ezekiel, the Psalmist, and Jesus are all using the growth of plants, trees, and vines to teach us salvation messages. Ezekiel is ranked among the major prophets of the OT and in this reading, we just heard he is performing one of the two primary missions of OT prophets. Unlike a common modern misperception of what a prophet does, i.e. predict the future, that’s not one of their Biblical missions at all. God sent God’s prophets to Israel for two primary purposes. First, when the people strayed, the prophets tried to pull them back to the path of God’s covenant love. Second, when the people were suffering the prophets spoke words of comfort and hope in God’s eternal promise of covenant love. That second mission is what we find in Ezekiel’s words today.

The prophet and God’s people are in exile in Babylon. Jerusalem and their grand Temple have been destroyed. You see, in ancient times a nation’s gods were defeated by destroying their temples and statues. It was a way of proving my god is more powerful than your god. Now, if you imagine yourself in their place, as captive slaves, in a foreign land, with the destruction of Jerusalem fresh in their minds, you might feel their hopelessness. It’s now time for God’s prophet Ezekiel to speak words of hope. He speaks of the Lord planting “a tender shoot” on the “high and lofty mountain” of Israel. This is language of hope. Despite the profound loss of the Temple, Ezekiel reassures them, and us, of God’s undiminished power. He boldly declares God is neither defeated nor dead. God is alive and actively present among God’s people, capable of both humbling the mighty and exalting the humble.

The psalmist then gives us more words of hope with images of natural organic growth, “The just one shall flourish like the palm tree, like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow. They that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.” And in the Gospel, Jesus compares “the kingdom of God” to a mustard seed growing into the largest of bushes.

So, how do we draw salvation messages from all these natural organic images? People of science might simply call human beings’ rational animals and that’s correct to a point. People of faith, however, will say the rational mind that makes us all human is spiritual, not physical. Our rational thinking minds are not physical objects like computers. The Church teaches we are body and spirit, body and soul, body and mind, and there is perhaps nothing that makes us more totally unique than our God given free will. Our ability to say yes or no. And what is the very best way to teach one of these unique rational human beings with a body and a soul? With images. Images are the first way we learned almost everything when we were young children, and in relation to God we are all very young children. Jesus’ favorite teaching images usually came from parables.

Natural living things like bushes, vines, and trees don’t grow by adding layers from the outside like bricks to a building. They grow from the inside and that’s how our souls grow and that’s how our bodies grow. Is it any wonder Jesus used natural organic growth as an image to eventually teach natural moral law. Unfortunately, from where I sit today however, I would say sadly our Western civilization is losing sight of what we used to call, “natural moral law”. We are starting to see ourselves as objects built from the outside, which we can manipulate and redesign as we please. Almost nothing in our Western cultural vocabulary is called “unnatural” anymore.

Right now, our Catholic Church is growing everywhere in the world except one place, here, in what we call modern Western civilization – Europe and North America. Friends, two things now distinguish our American culture from all others today: the decline of the Church and the decline of the family. Personally, I can take comfort in Jesus’ promise that the gates of hell would not prevail, but that promise was made to Jesus’ Church not a culture, not a civilization, and not a government.

As I said at the start, today is Father’s Day and a good day to say a prayer of thanks for the miracle of life, a prayer for our families, maybe a prayer for our country, and then ask Abba in heaven to bless our earthly dads.

April 14, 2024 - Third Sunday of Easter: Season B

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 13:17:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil, 14 April 24

Third Sunday of Easter: Season B

Peace be with you and welcome to our Mass for this amazing celebration for the Third Sunday of Easter. Well, you might have noticed the scene from today’s Gospel reading from Luke is the same scene we heard last week presented in the Gospel of John. The stories are generally the same, but they are also subtly different. For example, today we’re missing that beautiful proclamation from Thomas, “My Lord and my God.” Whereas in Luke, Jesus offers everyone in the room a physical touch of his wounds but the real proof he’s not just spirit is eating a piece of baked fish. Friends, you’ve heard Father Tim and I both caution over and over about using the Bible as a modern “schoolbook” type history and this is a good example for that caution. A sceptic might ask, “so, what did Jesus actually say?” Our answer should be, “we’re not really sure, but the salvation message is the same in both Gospels and that’s really what the Bible is all about.” The Catholic Church teaches the Bible is the inspired Word of God, given to us without error, for our salvation. With an emphasis on, for our salvation. It’s not a very good history book and it’s certainly not a science book, even though some Christians persist in trying to use it as both. The Bible is a book of faith given to us for our salvation. Amen! And that salvation message is exactly what we’re going to talk about for the next few minutes.

My sisters and brothers, the combination of our first reading today from Acts of the Apostles and our Gospel reading, both written by Saint Luke by-the-way, present us precisely with what it really means to be a Christian. They also present us with a master class in preaching our faith, which we should all be comfortable with. First, in Acts, Peter presents a very clear tension between sin and grace but note, he presents the good news of grace first. In talking about our Christian Faith always start with the Good News first. What we just heard from Peter is his very first sermon preached in the Temple precincts after Pentecost. “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.” Now that is the good news. Jesus Christ has opened the doors of grace for us all and fulfilled the OT promises. But then, Peter drops the hammer when he says, “You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. The author of life you put to death.” Ouch. Considering where Peter was standing at that moment and who his audience must have been, it’s lucky he survived the day. Talk about a poke in the eye.

There are a couple of key points I’d like to make here about talking about the Christian Faith, however. First, our Christian Faith is Biblical. Normally it’s always Matthew who emphasizes Jesus’s Jewish roots because his Gospel was written primarily to a Jewish audience. But here we have Luke the Greek, who was writing primarily to a Greek audience, emphasizing Jesus as clearly in the Jewish Biblical linage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is important to remember when you run into people who love to turn Jesus into just another philosopher or guru from the past who was simply a nice guy who taught nice stuff. Friends, that’s not Biblically Christian.

The next key point I’d like to make when talking Christianity is one that’s really, really unpopular in today’s culture. Sin. Unfortunately, in today’s modern world relativism has become a new religion and the masses are embracing it with enthusiasm. You know, “If I’m not hurting anyone, what does it matter what I do?” Or “Those are you’re rules, not mine.” Or “I’m a victim. If I’m doing something wrong, it’s always somebody else’s fault.” Theologians, scholars, and philosophers have written volumes on the dangers of relativism, but it is alive and well and growing fast. Words like right and wrong, sinfulness and righteousness, or even truth, can sound judgmental and some may be offended.

Well standby folks – here comes a statement that may shock many of you here today. When we lose sight of sin, we lose sight of Christianity. Let me repeat that, when we lose sight of sin, we lose sight of Christianity. Why would I say that? Because Christianity is a salvation religion. Christianity is a saving religion and we all need saving. We all need a savior. It is not just some nice philosophy among many others in the world. Now, there is a caution when talking about our Christian Faith, however. Just like Peter did today, start with grace before talking about sin, and then always close, just like he did, with the salvation message.

Jesus laid out the whole Christian proclamation pretty clearly in the Gospel reading. He opens by first offering His grace of peace. “Peace be with you,” He said. OK, but then you might ask, when does Jesus even mention sin? Well, let me ask you this first, how do you think his Apostles might have felt when he said, “Look at my hands and my feet?” Remember, these are the same guys that all ran away at his darkest hour. Peter even denied him. But you know what? His invitation to, “Look at my hands and my feet” is an invitation for each and every one of us. Jesus’s wounds are permanently a judgement on the whole world. All our sins did that to Him. All of us helped drive in those nails. Whenever we’re ready to say, everything is OK with me, remember the wounds of Jesus. Go home and meditate on that today. Why did Jesus appear with His wounds still present on his body at all? He certainly could have chosen not to.

Then comes the Good News. The grace of Jesus’s love and salvation breaks through. “Thus, it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

This simply stated is it. We are all flawed people, but thank God, because of Jesus Christ, we all have divine bookends on either side of our human flaws. This is the proclamation of our Christian Faith. Grace, sin, and salvation. That’s it everybody. Grace, sin, and salvation. Praise the Lord. We are saved!

March 29, 2024 - Good Friday (Season A)

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 12:56:00 GMT

Good Friday, 29 March 2024 (Season A)

Peace be with you on this solemn second evening of our Catholic Triduum – Good Friday. We’ve just listened to the Passion Reading from John’s Gospel and so here we are focusing, specifically on the Crucified Jesus. We have come here to actually venerate the very instrument of his Passion, suffering, and death – the wooden Cross. In fact, we Catholics are often criticized for displaying that most central symbol of our very own faith, the Crucifix, visually depicting the bloodied corpse of Jesus hanging on that wooden Cross. I’m reminded of a letter I once read by a so-called, fallen away Catholic, to a popular Catholic website and the response to his letter. The writer said, “You Catholics need to get Jesus off the Cross and preach the Resurrection.” The Catholic website responded by directing him to the Bible, specifically, Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s Letters to the Corinthians. They compared one of Paul’s greatest preaching failures to one of his greatest preaching successes. In Acts 17:16-34 Paul’s preaching emphasis was the Resurrection when he spoke to the Greeks in Athens. Verse thirty-two tells us however, “Some of them began to scoff.” Consequently, history reveals he never began a church there. Nor, did Paul ever send one of his celebrated letters to the Athenians.

It would seem; however, the Holy Spirit must have inspired Paul to burn his Athens homilies as he moved on to one of his greatest Christian conversion successes in Corinth. His plan B would later be explained in his two letters to the church he founded in Corinth. Paul wrote; “Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, the power of God and wisdom of God,,, I am resolved among you to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified.” Wow, now there is a clear message. So, why would Paul change his preaching focus from the Resurrected Jesus to the Crucified Jesus? The answer lies with another word Paul used, perhaps more eloquently than any other New Testament writer in 1 Corinthians 13, and that word is love. St. Augustan went as far to suggest that to even talk about the love of God without meditating on the Crucifix was a mockery.

Next time you run into a Christian friend who cannot seem to grasp the message of the Crucifix, ask to see his or her Bible, it shouldn’t matter which translation, and turn to John’s Gospel Chapter 1. Read this; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.” Then find one of those beautiful deep space pictures from the James Webb telescope, or a picture of a newborn baby, or even a microscopic image of a human DNA strand and then hold up a Crucifix and simply say, “There hung the Word.”

My friends, I don’t pretend to understand the Blessed Trinity but neither did smart guys like Augustan or Thomas Aquinas. So, with my own limited intellect, when I read the Prologue of John’s Gospel, look at one of those pictures of the Universe, and then meditate on the Crucifix, it takes my breath away. I must ask, “How could the unlimited creator of the Universe do that for me?” Of course, we all know the answer but on nights like this a simple word like love seems so inadequate. In the end I must agree with good old Saint Augustan. To talk about the love of God and not meditate on the Crucifix is a mockery.

March 3, 2024 3rd Sunday of Lent (year A)

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 12:55:00 GMT

Third Sunday of Lent (Year A)

Peace be with you and welcome to our celebration of the Mass for the Third Sunday of Lent. I hope your Lenten journeys are going well so far. After all, Easter is only four weeks away, and it finally feels like winter is almost over, with wild temperature swings between the mid 70’s and low 30’s in the same week, it feels like spring in Northern Alabama. It could be worse I guess; I could be standing up here giving this homily in International Falls, MN right now.

So, what about these three readings we just heard today? You know, this is one of those Sundays where it is hard to give a homily because all three readings are so full of great spiritual potential. It’s a little difficult to narrow things down. Certainly, the reading from Exodus with God giving those whining Israelites water from the rock is a story with a message for us all. And Paul’s Letter to the Romans with its wonderfully hopeful phrase; “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” This truly is one of those standout verses in the Bible every single Christian should embrace with gratitude. The Church tells homilists; however, when we’re met with this dilemma of too much to talk about, we should always focus on the Gospel reading first.

This Gospel we just heard from Saint John the evangelist is very special indeed. The Church says this specific Gospel reading and the two we’ll hear on the 4 ^th and 5 ^th Sundays of Lent, should always be read whenever our community has adults walking the path for inclusion into our Catholic family of Faith. These three Gospels are read during their final phase of Purification and Enlightenment before the Easter Vigil Mass, when they’ll come into full communion with the Church. For them, these three Sundays are referred to as the Scrutinies and one of the great graces of our Church of course is, all of us are invited to walk with the elect on their beautiful spiritual journeys.

So why would this story of the Samaritan woman at the well be the Gospel reading selected for their first Scrutiny Sunday? Simply stated the rite tells us; “Their spirit is filled with Christ the Redeemer, who is the living water” and this reading absolutely does portray Jesus as the “living water.” There is much more to this Gospel reading than this, however. John gives us a ton of Good News to ponder here in this story.

Hopefully, we all remember the Samaritans were despised by the Jews, but Jesus’ encounter is even more unusual because it is with a woman and the time of day it takes place. The Gospel says it was about noon and Scripture Scholars tell us this probably means, for some reason, the woman at the well was shunned by her own Samaritan community also. You see, woman of that time would not normally go to the well for water during the heat of the day nor would they normally go alone. So not only do we have Jesus sitting down alone with one of those hated Samaritans but the whole encounter is compounded by the fact, it is with a woman, and she apparently seems to be a woman in disgrace. Do you get my drift here? At that moment, when Jesus asks her for a drink from her water jar, he shatters a whole list of Jewish Mosaic taboos with his one simple request.

BTW, another bit of Biblical trivia, this scene between Jesus Christ and an unnamed Samaritan woman is the longest single one-on-one conversation he has with anyone in the Bible. In fact, as I was reading it just now from the pulpit, you were probably hoping I’d read the shorter version, right? This is not Peter, or James, or John, or even his own mother he is talking to. It is a woman who, from a Jewish perspective, makes everything she touches ritually unclean. It is a woman who even seems to be an outcast in her own community. There is almost no way to express in words, as we sit here comfortably in our 21 ^st Century Western Culture, how completely unacceptable this whole scene would be in Jesus’ own culture. So, do you think something important might be happening here? It is certainly clear that this is a scene of Jesus’ self-revelation as the Messiah when he plainly states, “I am he, the one speaking with you.” This statement is absolutely incredible, but there is still more for us to take home today.

We’re confident John’s was the last Gospel written and it was probably finished very late in the 1 ^st Century AD. Subsequently, scholars have written volumes on why it is so different from the other three Gospels. One of the theories I personally like is this; John was inspired by the Holy Spirit to complete Jesus’s story so to speak, where questions remained with Matthew, Mark, and Luke, especially regarding Jesus’ own divinity. John seems to have answered this divinity of Jesus question conclusively with his beautiful prolog, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Then he gave us Jesus’ definitive “I Am” proclamations. In fact, we have one of those in today’s reading.

So, here we have this Samaritan Woman at the well episode from Jesus’ public ministry. None of the other three evangelists chose to mention this scene at all. And it was written in the late 1 ^st Century while the infant Church was still forming. An outcast woman from a hated minority becomes the catalyst for a major conversion event. Do you think the Holy Spirit might have been sending a message here to the infant Church about inclusion, acceptance, and forgiveness? When you consider the impact, this Samaritan woman ultimately had on the conversion story of her own community, she should probably be ranked amongst some of Jesus’ most elite disciples. 2000 years later, this story should give all of us a pause, anytime we tend to become judgmental and refuse to listen, based solely on our own personal cultural norms.

Friends, one of the dictionaries’ definitions for theology is this, “theology is faith seeking understanding.” Therefore, given that definition, I guess, that should make most of us here today a theologian. So, here is what one theologian is taking home from today’s Gospel reading. No matter how repulsive, disgusting, or horrible a person may seem, he or she just may be Jesus Christ trying to tell me something important. A wise man once said this about evangelization; “an evangelist is one starving person telling another starving person – where to find bread.”

February 11: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 13:13:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil , 10 – 11 February 2024

6 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. You know, as I sat down to work on this homily, I prayed and meditated for a few minutes, then it suddenly struck me how this week is kind of a collision between our faith lives and our secular culture. Today (tomorrow) is Super Bowl Sunday (party!), then Fat Tuesday (party!), then the collision. This particular year Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday fall on the same day. So, we have, party versus prayer, fasting, and abstinence. Friends, people have seriously asked, “isn’t there a dispensation from fasting and abstinence on Ash Wednesday since it’s Valentine’s Day?” Really? Well, the short answer is NO – but perhaps most important is, how to make a mental and spiritual shift from secular festivities to spiritually meditative? How do we detach faith lives from secular lives? First, might I suggest, just for this year, if you must celebrate Valentine’s Day, do it on Fat Tuesday. Then, even though it’s not a Holy Day of Obligation, go to Mass on Ash Wednesday, eat only one full meal, abstain from meat, and as you receive ashes on your forehead seriously contemplate the phrase, “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” And if you really want to make a spiritual shift, attend Stations of the Cross on Friday. Read daily one the Lenten booklets. Immerse yourself and relate to what God does for you out of love.

Now, speaking of relating, most of us might find it a little difficult to relate directly to today’s Gospel reading. Praise God, but in most of the world leprosy is all but irradicated. To help put the Gospel reading in context however, the Church gave us our first reading today from Leviticus. At the time of Jesus, the Book of Leviticus was revered as a sacred text of instruction from God given to Moses for the Children of Israel. Today’s first reading is from the portion dealing with the laws of ritual purity. Consequently, this guy who comes up and kneels in front of Jesus was ritually unclean as defined by Mosaic Law. He was supposed to keep his garments rent, his head bare, walk around crying out “unclean, unclean” but perhaps most extreme of all, he was supposed to dwell apart from everyone else. For an observant Jew in the 1 ^st Century, not only did this mean he was excluded from all normal public life, it meant he could not worship in the Temple or a synagogue. Now just think about that for a few seconds. He was completely excluded from worshiping God in the very way he had been taught from as far back as he could remember. He was not only cut off from life socially, he was cut off spiritually.

Now as I thought about this leper for a while it reminded me of a true story I read a few years back. It was about a creative Protestant Minister who had gone trough a very intensive vetting process, an in-depth selection board interview, and eventually selection as the new Pastor for a large, prosperous, and very proper church in Dallas, TX. His name was Bob, and he was moving his whole household and family from Florida to Dallas so he had over a month between his final interview and the first day he would be formally introduced to his new congregation. So, on that predetermined Sunday morning, the selection board president stepped up to the pulpit in front of a jammed packed church, but he looked a little flustered. He had talked to Pastor Bob on the phone that very morning, he knew he was in town, but he didn’t see him in the Church this morning. So, to fill in the time gap, he started reading Pastor Bob’s very impressive qualifications to the whole congregation and this – is what makes this whole story both humorous and sad. Pastor Bob came walking down the aisle that Sunday morning for the first time. You see, he hadn’t shaved or gotten his hair cut in the month since the interview and now he walked down the center aisle of the crowded Church dressed and looking quite like he was homeless. He stepped up to the pulpit and began his first homily like this; “As I walked into Church this morning, with a big smile on my face, I’d say I was generally greeted by everyone I saw just like I was that leper Jesus met in the Gospels.”

And now we have the outrageous courage shown by the leper in Mark’s Gospel. Mark tells us, “A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” In this one single event this unnamed leper completely disregarded and violated the Mosaic Law we heard given in the first reading from Leviticus. As I said earlier, we may not be able to relate to the leprosy, but we certainly should be able to at least comprehend the courage of his great faith. The message is, God wants us to take courage in our most difficult times, come to Jesus, kneel, and beg with faith, just like this leper, or the hemorrhaging woman, or the paralytic, or the great sinner.

My friends, we are supposed to identify with these people we read about in the Bible. We’re not supposed to simply listen to these stories and walk away saying, “isn’t that sweet, Jesus healed the poor leper, or the hemorrhaging woman, or the paralytic, or the sinner.” To some degree we are all lepers, we are all hemorrhaging, we are all paralytics, and certainly we are all sinners. Like all of the outcasts in the Bible stories or like that preacher in Dallas we are all told to be courageous in our faith. This suffering leper in today’s Gospel knew who Jesus was; he courageously walked past an astonished crowd completely repulsed by his appearance and behavior, he knelt down, worshipped, and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Our lesson here is not to view this as a cute little story. Our lesson is to identify with the leper and follow his example of courage. So, a big homework assignment. Lent begins Wednesday. For just a while, let’s courageously separate ourselves more fervently from our secular culture and be people of prayer and fasting.

January 7: The Epiphany of the Lord: Year B

Tue, 09 Jan 2024 11:57:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil , 7 January 2024

The Epiphany of the Lord, Year B

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of The Epiphany of the Lord. And the way things worked out this year, today (yesterday), January 6 ^th , is (was) actually the 12 ^th Day of Christmas. I’m not sure how many of you know it but that Old English folk song, the 12 Days of Christmas, we’ve all heard over and over again was originally a religious song used in 16 ^th and 17 ^th Century Britain to secretly teach the Catechism when it was illegal to practice the Catholic Faith. The 12 drummers drumming, for example were used to teach the 12 points of doctrine given in the Apostles’ Creed. And yesterday (Friday), the 11 pipers piping, represented the 11 faithful Apostles, without Judas. Of course, December 25 ^th , a partridge in a pear tree represented Jesus Christ, where the tree was the wood of the cross, and a partridge is alleged to be a bird that will die defending its’ young in the nest. It is worth looking up sometime yourself. So, now you have some homework for 2024.

Today, as we celebrate The Epiphany, we honor the mystery of the manifestation of Our Lord, Jesus Christ to all peoples worldwide. The feast originally began in the East as far back as the 3rd century. And today, the Eastern Orthodox Church’s celebration still embraces three separate events: the visit of the Magi, Jesus’ baptism, which we celebrate Monday (tomorrow), and they also include His first miracle at Cana. Together they represent the appearance of God to all of mankind. Regardless, Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches both see the Epiphany as presenting us with Jesus’ divinity and we come to understand that His saving work is available to all.

For me personally, when I hear today’s Gospel reading from Matthew about the Magi, I’m always a little torn, torn between my own faith-based theology and what I call, Biblical academia. Many modern Biblical scholars, including some Catholics, using so-called “historical criticism”, often question the historical accuracy of Matthew’s first two whole chapters about Jesus’ infancy. The only other infancy narrative we have in the New Testament is Luke and the discrepancies between him and Matthew are numerous, not the least of which is Jesus’ own genealogy. And of course, Matthew is the only Gospel that gives us this beautiful story of the Magi, which many of our own modern Catholic Scholars historically question.

Friends, here are my own personal rules whenever I’m challenged by literal or historical accuracy as I read the Bible and you know what else, these guidelines really come from our own Post-Vatican II Catholic Church: First, the Bible was never intended to teach modern schoolbook “type” history, or science either for that matter. Second, The Bible is a Book of Faith and my faith tells me – miracles happen. Never lose sight of the miraculous as you read the Bible. It seems pure academics often have a hard time with miracles. And third, the Bible is the inerrant Word of God given to us for our SALVATION! Don’t stumble over historical or scientific inconsistencies. Always seek the salvation message of truth. If you find yourself debating something in the Bible that has nothing to do with salvation, just drop it.

The 17 ^th Century painter Guido Reni left us a magnificent painting of Matthew that helps my own concept of Divine Revelation. The painting depicts an angel kneeling before him, but the angel is not literally guiding Matthew’s hand as he writes. That would deny him free will. The angel is talking to him about Jesus’ life, and as the Evangelist listens, he contemplates, and then he writes. The tale will become his Gospel and a portion of Matthew’s Gospel becomes The Epiphany. It is silly, no, perhaps spiritually suicidal; to turn one’s back on this story because it might seem historically inaccurate.

In articulating divinely revealed salvation truth, the shrewd Matthew had much to teach future listeners and readers. As their journey began, these pilgrim wise men left behind the safety of their native lands, the warmth of their own homes, and the love of their own families. Alone and undaunted, they went searching for a king. Eagerly they responded to the invitation of the Spirit. Then, at last their quest was done. They found God, but God didn’t live in a palace surrounded by servants. Rather, He was in a manger, a feeding trough, surrounded with the foul smell of farm animals. Matthew does not record any disappointment on their part however. Rather, they humbly fell to their knees and placed their finest gifts at His disposal. Only then did they return to their native lands, their homes, their families, and they were changed people forever. They had become the first Gentiles to worship Christ. They had become the first Christians. Wherever the Christmas story is told, they will be remembered. These men proved wise indeed. Now, is there anyone who still doubts that the equally wise Matthew is attempting to teach us something?

Matthew is saying this to listeners down through history: Each of us must take some risk if we are to find God. If we play cautious and fearful in our secular society, we will come up with hands groping frantically at empty air. We will never become an Epiphany people. How unlike the Temple priests, surrounding King Herod, those wise men were. The priests knew the Scriptures. They knew the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, less then a day’s walk from the Temple itself. Yet they chose not to leave their creature comforts. As a result, history has forgotten them. We can only wonder at their blindness. Hopefully we will be wise enough to learn from their lack of discernment. I think the wise men of today’s Gospel would applaud the Epiphany wisdom of another successful pilgrim, once an avowed atheist who became a Catholic at 79. Malcolm Muggeridge wrote about taking risk with the following: “God signifies an alternative impulse – to sacrifice rather than to seize, to love rather than lust, to give rather than take, to pursue truth rather than promote lies, to humble oneself rather than inflate the ego.”

December 24: 4th Sunday of Advent: Season B

Tue, 09 Jan 2024 11:54:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil, 23 - 24 December 2023

4 ^th Sunday of Advent: Season B

Before I talk about any of today’s readings however, I’d like to talk briefly about one of our old Church Fathers and a Doctor of the Church. St Irenaeus was born sometime between 120 and 140AD, probably in Smyrna, which is present day Izmir, Turkey, to Greek parents. In his youth he was taught by the Bishop of Smyrna, St Polycarp. He died a martyr, probably in Lyon, France around 200AD. So, you may be sitting there right now asking, “OK Deacon, why is any of this important today?” Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, our Catholic Church is the only worldwide religion that can relate this fact about one of her historical figures. In one of his books, St Irenaeus wrote, “I was taught by Polycarp, Polycarp was taught by John the Apostle, and John was taught by Jesus Christ.” Secondly, St Irenaeus was instrumental in fighting and defeating a powerful heresy attacking the early Church. And, my friends, had that battle been lost, we would not be worshiping here today, nor would any other Christian denomination for that matter.

OK, more about Irenaeus in a minute, but now let’s talk about the Gospel reading we just heard. Sisters and brothers, there are several reasons why this particular reading today from Luke’s Gospel, is one of my very favorites. One of those reasons specifically is why every single Christian, who embraces the Bible as the inspired Word of God, given to us for our salvation, should have this reading highlighted, underlined, or in some way marked in their own personal Bibles. Not only do we hear it read on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, but we also hear it read on the Feast of the Annunciation. OK, now that may be generating a few more mumbled “so what” out there. Well, you see friends, even though we’ll joyously celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ Monday (tomorrow), our ancient Christian Tradition teaches the actual Incarnation, the enfleshment of God, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, occurred at the Annunciation. As far back as the Second Century, our old friend St Irenaeus and many, many other early Church Fathers wrote that Mary, as a second Eve repaired the disobedience of the first, when she humbly said; “May it be done to me according to your word.” Because at that very instant, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Savior of the World was conceived in her womb! That’s why our Church gives us a wonderful Liturgical Calendar celebrating the Annunciation on March 25 ^th , exactly nine months before Christmas. That’s when the Word became flesh.

Now you know, I don’t normally read long quotes during my homilies, but I cannot possibly express this miraculous event with the same eloquence the great St Irenaeus did over 1800 years ago. Before I read his words however, let me emphasize this, when he lived – there was no Bible. There were many epistles, letters, and gospels floating around, but there was no agreed upon, Divinely inspired book, called Bible. Here are Irenaeus’ words from about 190AD concerning the Annunciation; “Never was there a more entire or humiliating defeat than that which this day befell Satan. The frail creature, over whom he had so easily triumphed at the beginning of the world, now rises, and crushes his proud head. Eve conquers in Mary. God would not choose man for the instrument of His vengeance; the humiliation of Satan would not have been great enough; and therefore, she – who was the first prey of hell, the first victim of the tempter, is selected to give battle to the enemy. The result of so glorious a triumph is that Mary is to be superior not only to the rebel angels, but to the whole human race, yea, to all the angels of heaven. Seated on her exalted throne, she, the Mother of God, is to be the Queen of all creation. Satan, in the depths of the abyss, will eternally bewail his having dared to direct his first attack against the woman, for God has now so gloriously avenged her; and in heaven, the very Cherubim and Seraphim reverently look up to Mary, and deem themselves honored when she smiles upon them, or employs them in the execution of any of her wishes, for she is the Mother of their God.” Wow! Thank you, St Irenaeus. If that doesn’t make you want to run home and mark this Annunciation sequence in your Bibles, I’m not sure I can say anything else that would.

Now, you might ask why one of our earliest Church Fathers, from the Second Century, would write with such obvious passion about the physical Incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ and his very human mother, Mary? You see, Irenaeus was one of the most vehement opponents of the very powerful and popular Gnostic Heresy that was threatening the early Church for several hundred years. The Gnostics held that everything physical in the world was inherently evil and that Jesus Christ himself, only “appeared” to be physically present during his short time on earth. They said, Jesus was actually a spiritual being only. Consequently, there was no way a physical human woman could possibly be called “Theotokos”, the God bearer, the Mother of God.

So, whether you come to one of the Christmas vigil Masses, the Christmas Day Mass, or watch the Mass streamed through your computer from home, remember, the real miracle we’re celebrating started nine months before Jesus’ actual birthday. And now, let me make a little suggestion, as one of your final reflections of the year, as Advent draws to a close. You might consider rereading this Gospel sequence we just heard today and reflect on the miracle taking place nine months before Christmas. A miracle brought about by the Holy Spirit with Mary’s freely given words of surrender to God’s will; “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

October 7/8 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Season A

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 13:17:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil, 7-8 October 2023

27 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Season A

Peace be with you and welcome to our celebration of the Mass for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. You know folks, I’ll have to admit, as I sat down and read today’s readings for the first time, I initially thought, “Wow, what a lucky coincidence. The 1 ^st Reading from Isaiah, the Responsorial Psalm, and the Gospel from Matthew are all about vineyards, growing grapes and, just in case you don’t know what a wine press is for – making wine. This is right up my alley.” Some of you know this but for those who don’t, I was raised in California, lived for a while in the wine country, and even spent two years on the Monterey County Wine Festival Committee. Well, surprise, surprise. The more I prayed and contemplated these readings, the more I was pulled away from the ones about vineyards and was ultimately drawn to Paul’s letter to the Philippians for my spiritual message today.

This is the beautiful phrase I prayerfully contemplated and was drawn to as I sat at my desk. Just five simple words. And as you sit in Church here and now, with everything going on in our chaotic world today, see if you don’t agree. “Have no anxiety at all.” Wow, have no anxiety at all. What a message, but first, before I focus on those five words, a quick suggestion for homework. Paul’s letter to the Philippians is short, only 3 full pages in my Bible. Go home and sometime soon read the whole letter in one sitting. It’s clear Paul had a special affection for the people he was writing to. In fact, this was the first city in Europe where his message took root after the Holy Spirit led him across the Aegean Sea and out of Asia. Here is where European Christianity began. A true cultural revolution started with Paul’s Christian community in Philippi. This is also one of Paul’s prison letters and he seems to be bidding the Philippians an affectionate farewell.

So, today we hear Paul say, “have no anxiety at all.” This coming from the same man who has also told us this, “Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea. In toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and without food, cold and naked.” My friends, there is no way Paul didn’t experience a lot of fear and anxiety in the ordinary human way and on top of it all, he is now writing from prison. As I contemplated Paul’s message to the Philippians and ultimately to us today, “have no anxiety at all,” I was reminded of another quote from another famous Christian almost 2000 years later, C.S. Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Friends, obviously, St. Paul felt a lot of pain, a lot of fear, and a lot of anxiety and in all of that, he heard God’s message loud and clear and as a gift for us today has passed it on with a solution for anxiety. He doesn’t simply give us a kind pat on the head and say, “Oh, don’t worry.” He gives the Philippians and most importantly us a two-part alternative to our modern, present-day anxieties.

First, he says: “In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. In everything, make your requests known to God.” St. Paul exhorts us to turn to prayer, rather than to remain stuck in our own fearful minds. Not only in bad times, but in everything. He urges us not to hold anything back from God in prayer. Whatever fear, worry, anxiety, and even joy, we must make the decision to pray always and to pray without ceasing. A Christian must have a life of prayer that goes beyond the superficial. It is not optional. Perhaps most difficult with Paul’s exhortation to pray is this however, even when we are suffering, to still pray with thanksgiving. He tells us, “Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” As Jesus transformed the suffering of the Cross, we must trust God will transform our suffering for our good.

The second part of St. Paul’s alternative to living life burdened by worry and anxiety is this: Get out of the cultural swamp created by most of our modern commercial media and the internet. Focus your life on, “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious.” He says, “if there is any excellence and there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Now I ask, if you contemplate that list of true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and gracious for a few seconds, how completely counter cultural is that today? One of reasons why we are stuck in the swamp of fear and anxiety is, for some reason, we simply like playing in the muck of the swamp. If we did not, would we ever turn on the evening news or endlessly go down the rabbit holes of the internet. Our modern secular society seems to be fascinated with evil and violence and all of us are continuously being pulled into the same swamp along with everybody else.

Instead of sinking in the swamp, St. Paul urges, think and talk about the good, the true, the beautiful, the pure, the lovely, the gracious. Think and talk about whatever is worthy of praise. Focus on the only one who is truly worthy of our praise – God Himself. Today as you approach to True Presence of the Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, whisper a prayer. Go to God with everything, especially thanksgiving. Then, as you walk back to your seats leave your anxieties behind. After all, they are only of this world. And finally, as you leave Church today and go back into the secular society outside where the swamp is, having been strengthened by the Body and Blood of Christ, continue to pray. Ask for God’s help to focus more intentionally on the true, the good, and the beautiful. As Paul promised, “Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, have no anxiety at all.”

September 10, 2023 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year A

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 12:11:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil, 9-10 September 2023

23 ^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Season A

Peace be with you and welcome to our celebration of the Mass for the 23 ^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. You know folks, as I sat down and read this Gospel reading today and meditated on it for a while, personally, I was a little confused. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve told people how thankful we all should be because Jesus Christ let us off the hook about judging others. I mean right here in Matthew’s own Gospel back in Chapter 7 Jesus says clearly, “Stop judging, that you may not be judged.” Oh, by the way, his guidance about non-judgementalism is a common thread throughout all four Gospels. Today however, we just heard Jesus give his disciples guidance that sounds an awful lot like they are supposed to judge and then act. So, what gives here Lord? Are we supposed to be judgmental Christians or non-judgmental Christians? And what am I supposed to do with this kind of a question during an 8- or 9-minute homily?

Well, before we try to peel back the layers around this perceived contradiction in Matthew, let’s look at our second reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans for a couple of minutes, where Paul says; “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another.” And then again, he says, “Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.” Generally, that’s the same thing Jesus said over and over when he was discussing the Mosaic Law with the Pharisees and Scribes isn’t it? And if you’ve heard me preach before, you’ve often heard me quote St Thomas Aquinas’ definition of this “pure love” Jesus and Paul are talking about. “Love is, willing the good of the other.” Friends – this must always be our start point as we read the Bible. Jesus made it really, really simple; love God and love your neighbor. And Aquinas clarified love of neighbor when he told us; “Love is, willing the good of the other.” Oh my, oh my! Such easy words to say but so very hard to put into practice.

Jesus’ discourse is all about disciples caring for each other with respect to guarding the other’s faith, to seek out those who have wondered away from the fold, and repeatedly forgive those who have offended them. OK, you still might ask; what about this part of Jesus’ sermon we heard today. About going to someone who sinned and ultimately, if they don’t listen, treating them like a Gentile or a tax collector? Not only does that sound judgmental but it also sounds pretty final.

Well, here is an excellent example of why reading the whole of scripture is so important. First remember our anchor point about love. “Love is, willing the good of the other.” Next, listen to how Jesus starts this discourse in Matthew 18. We did not hear it in today’s Gospel, but this is important because it really puts the whole Chapter 18 sermon in context. “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Wow! My sisters and brothers, this simple sentence not only defines Jesus’ principal criticism of the religious hierarchy he was always butting heads with, but it provides us with clear direction for interpreting today’s Gospel reading.

Jesus is clear throughout the NT, final judgment always belongs to God but based on today’s readings, we are not supposed to ignore a fellow Christian who is spiritually in trouble with self-destructive behavior. Here are some guidelines to follow, however; don’t approach anyone with an “in your face” stance of moral superiority. That’s exactly what those Pharisees were always doing. Never use Scripture or the Church as a weapon of moral aggression. Always approach your brother or sister with love. Remember, love is, willing the good of the other.

We have a real challenge with today’s modern culture to deal with. We so easily fall into the “I’m OK, you’re OK” trap and morally don’t care what others are doing. It seems everyone believes they have the right to their own opinions about everything, don’t they? Whether it’s a personal lifestyle, to the definition of marriage, to when a human life actually begins, or when human life should end, it’s my right to decide. And what’s really sad is, people often use Jesus’ own words in the Bible about judging others to defend their own behavior, no matter how bizarre or self-destructive that behavior may be. Well guess what? Friends, here’s the message from our Gospel reading today, so listen up. If we remain indifferent to a friend’s moral failures or self-destructive behavior, we are NOT demonstrating Christian love. We are NOT willing the good of the other. And if you think moral behavior is subjective, go read the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. The Gospel is not about judgement at all, it’s about pulling a wayward disciple back into God’s covenant love when they’ve gone astray.

So, what are we supposed to do when we encounter immoral behavior? First read today’s Gospel. Then, in a context of love,,, talk. Talk one-on-one. We so often do exactly the opposite though, don’t we? The individual whose behavior is destructive is often the last person we talk to. It’s just so easy and sometimes actually fun, to talk to others or even turn to social media when we find someone’s behavior objectionable. Our culture gives us examples of that every day, but the Gospel message is this; sit down eye-to-eye in an atmosphere of humble love talk and pray. The next step, if that doesn’t work, is what the 12-step process calls intervention. Two or three of you who sincerely love and are honestly concerned about your brother’s or sister’s spiritual well-being,,, talk and pray. And finally, after 2000 years we’re not worshipping in community in homes anymore, so “go tell the Church” is not an answer. Go to the community that cares because of love. And that may take many forms such as, professional mental health care or a support group.

OK, say all of that fails. What exactly does, “treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector” mean? It means don’t be seduced by someone else’s immorality. Don’t empower their destructive behavior. My friends, Jesus Christ himself sat down and broke bread with sinners all the time. It drove those self-righteous Pharisees nuts and they finally crucified him. You never hear Jesus tell the prostitute, “Just keep on doing what you’re doing,” however. His message is always one of repentance and love. He didn’t turn his back on the sinner but it’s always the sinner who walked away from the encounter changed, not Jesus.

May 28, 2023 - Pentecost Sunday Year A

Tue, 30 May 2023 14:34:00 GMT

Pentecost Sunday, May 28, 2023 (Season A)

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of one of the greatest Feast Days of the Christian Church, Pentecost Sunday. In fact, most scholars refer to this day literally as the Birthday of the Church. So, Happy Birthday Christians!

OK, let me start with a question that relates to Pentecost, although you may initially wonder how? Here’s the question, have you ever tried to talk to an atheist or agnostic about God? First, a warning. Don’t to try to use the Bible. Always remember, the Bible is a book of faith, given to us by God for our salvation but without faith, unfortunately, that atheist will simply say, “it’s all just fiction, legend, and myth.” In fact, if that atheist has read the Bible, he might throw Biblical inconsistencies back in your face that you might have difficultly explaining. And then there’s the scientific discussion. Personally, I’m not qualified to go toe-to-toe with a well-educated atheist on scientific ground proving the existence of God. I believe in my own heart the universe is far too perfect and complex to be some big cosmic accident, but I don’t have the education to argue the point with an atheistic scientist. There are a couple of events in human history however, that are pretty hard to explain without believing in the divine and they are both tied directly to Pentecost.

For the Jews, Pentecost was both the festival of First Fruits and perhaps more spiritually importantly, it also represented Moses receiving the Law from God on Mt. Sinai 50 days after Passover and their escape from Egypt. So here is question number one for that nonbeliever. Given the belief systems and cultures existing in the 13 ^th Century BC, explain to me how this dusty worn-out tribe of runaway-slaves stumbled out of the Sinai Desert with a set of moral and ethical principles most civilized cultures still use today? Gosh, perhaps they may have encountered God out there in the desert?

And today as Catholic Christians, we celebrate Pentecost as the Holy Spirit infused the followers of Jesus Christ with something both mysterious and remarkable. We know, not only were Jesus’s Apostles generally simple, unsophisticated, working class guys, with little formal education, but they were also a bunch of cowards who abandoned and denied Jesus during his Passion. Now suddenly, they’re standing on a balcony in Jerusalem bravely proclaiming Jesus’s Resurrection in every major foreign language used in that part of the world. Of course, the atheist’s argument is, it was all a big lie or hoax perpetrated by Jesus’s followers.

So now we have question number two. Why would those Apostles stand up there and bravely lie? There was absolutely nothing to gain. History tells us, all but one Apostle died a martyr and none of them ever obtained worldly wealth or power. Does anyone seriously think crucifixion, being torn apart by wild animals, or burning at the steak are great motivations for inventing and then perpetuating a lie? Really? Well, that’s exactly what would happen to any devoted Christian who bravely proclaimed his or her faith for about the next 250 years.

The biggest question revolves around Jesus himself, however. If you believe his Resurrection is simply myth and measure his earthly success strictly by the world’s secular standards, Jesus Christ died an absolute failure. He was executed a criminal, in a backwater Roman province, and abandoned by his own followers. He had no social, political, military, or even religious status,,, beyond that of an itinerate preacher. He never even wrote anything down other than a lost message in the dust. So here is the biggest question; there are about 2.2 billion Christians in the world today, given all these secular worldly facts, exactly how did that happen? Now certainly, as people of faith we’re perfectly comfortable talking about miracles and we know about the miracle the Resurrection and of the Christian fire that really started burning at that first Pentecost but – is it still burning as brightly today? The answer my friends is an undeniable, yes!

Let’s look back at last week’s Feast of Jesus’ Ascension for just a minute because those readings sometimes create a trap many of us Christians occasionally fall into. Too often we view heaven and earth the same way Plato, the Greeks, and the Gnostics did. We sometimes think of God the Son in some spiritual place or existence completely separated from our own physical world. Not only is this viewpoint non-Biblical but also, it is exactly what Pentecost proved completely wrong 2000 years ago and still proves wrong today, tomorrow, and forever. Biblically, from Genesis through Revelation, the spiritual and the material are completely intertwined.

We should always remind ourselves of two very distinct and basic Christian facts. First, the historical Jesus had two distinct natures, one human and one divine and second; our God is one God existing as Trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The historical human Jesus had a three-year public ministry while he directly influenced maybe a few thousand people, within 60 miles or so of Jerusalem, and ascended into heaven somewhere around 30 AD. Then 10 days later, Pentecost literally married heaven and earth allowing our ascended and Divine Savior, in union with the Holy Spirit, to touch anyone, anywhere in the whole world who believes and turns to Him in faith.

As Catholic Christians, the touch of God inflamed by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is certainly no more personal and intimate than in reception of Jesus Christ in Eucharist but here sadly, lack of faith sometimes slips in again. Polls tell us many people right here today do not believe in the real presence. Friends, please listen to what Jesus told Saint Faustina in one of her many mystical encounters with him; “It delights me to come to hearts in Holy Communion. But if there is anyone else in such a heart, I cannot bear it and quickly leave that heart, taking with Me all the gifts and graces I have prepared for the soul. And the soul does not even notice My going.” Ouch! “The soul does not even notice My going.”

My sisters and brothers, Pentecost was, is, and always will be a marriage between the physical and the spiritual but with any strong Christian marriage, strong faith and strong love must be present. God gave us all free wills. That’s what makes us all uniquely human. Without our free wills we cannot choose to love. In a few minutes’ heaven will touch earth right here on this altar. As you receive Communion today choose to accept, embrace, and return His love because of your faith.

Paul T. Keil, 5-28-2023

April 16, 2023 The Second Sunday of Easter, Year A

Mon, 24 Apr 2023 08:04:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil, 16 April 2023

The Second Sunday of Easter, Year A

Peace be with you and greetings on this celebration of the 2 ^nd Sunday of Easter, also called Divine Mercy Sunday. So, this long title for today kind-a begs two questions; first, if this is the second Sunday of Easter, how long does Easter really last and second, what exactly is Divine Mercy Sunday? Well, Easter really lasts seven whole weeks and this year it ends on May 28 ^th when we celebrate Pentecost. Consequently, we can all keep joyfully wishing everyone a Happy and Holy Easter for almost six more weeks. That’s a beautiful gift and a great opportunity to evangelize when your Protestant friends look at you like you’re crazy.

For the second question about Divine Mercy Sunday, it really began during the celebration of the Millennial Jubilee Year in 2000. During a special Mass at the Vatican, on the Second Sunday of Easter, for the canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska, St. Pope John Paul II proclaimed to the world, “from now on throughout the Church this Sunday will be called Divine Mercy Sunday.”

St Faustina lived a mystical experience for some 14 years of her life she literally receiving personal revelations from Jesus Christ. And based one of those revelations I’d like to tell a short personal story. I had a Catholic friend die last Saturday and unfortunately, for multiple reasons, not the least of which is our critical shortage of Priests, he was not anointed prior to his passing. My friends, listen to what Jesus told St. Faustina about praying at the bedside of the dying; “At the hour of their death, I defend as My own glory every soul that will say this chaplet; or when others say it for a dying person, the indulgence is the same. When this chaplet is said by the bedside of a dying person God’s anger is placated, unfathomable mercy envelops the soul, and the very depths of My tender mercy are moved for the sake of the sorrowful Passion of My Son.” Sisters and brothers, the Divine Mercy Chaplet only takes about 10 minutes but what a spiritual gift for someone near death, especially in an emergency. It’s not a substitute for an anointing by a Priest but it is a spiritual promise from Jesus for his Divine Mercy.

OK now, let’s talk about our Gospel reading for a few minutes. One scholar I’ve studied describes the Evangelist John as an artist who, in this Easter evening scene, has captured the whole of Christianity if only we have the eyes to see it. Let’s listen to the Gospel reading bit-by-bit. Here is the opening, “on the evening of that first day of the week.” Almost sounds a little like Genesis, doesn’t it? For us as Christians and really for all of mankind, Jesus’ resurrection on that first day of the week inaugurates a completely new creation. Everything changed. The one called “the light of the world” has risen from the dead. Considering what it means for humanity, it’s as though God said again, “Let there be light” – and my friends, if you’re not getting it, you’re not getting the Easter message.

So, what did change on that very first Easter? Just listen to the next phrase from John’s Gospel, “when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear.” Well, I guess it’s easy to imagine the primary cause for their hiding behind locked doors with very real gut-wrenching fear of physical death, just like Jesus’ horrible death on the Cross. It’s been said, one could argue, the primordial human problem has always been fear of death. Some philosophers actually say the opposite of love is not hate but the opposite of love is fear and its fear that gives birth to hatred. In the 1 ^st Letter of John, 4:18 we’re given a Christian formula however, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear.” And that is exactly what happened on Easter! Jesus’ Resurrection proves that God’s perfect love is more powerful than death itself and humanities’ primordial fear of death can end forever.

Now, as Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst, the Apostle’s may have had another reason to fear, however. They had abandoned him during his dreadful Passion. They may have thought something like, “Oh, Oh, now He’s really angry and He’s going to call down lightening and turn us all into charcoal.” What does Jesus say though? “Peace be with you.” Now here’s kind of a sad note when it comes to Bible translations. The word Jesus used here would have actually been “Shalom” and we really don’t have a textbook English word that can fully embrace the Hebrew concept of Shalom. A clearer translation in this circumstance might be something like; “What God wants for God’s people.” John explains what Jesus means by “peace” or shalom in 14:27 where he says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”

Next John tells us Jesus showed them his hands and his feet and the disciples rejoiced but Jesus wasn’t looking for a party. He immediately sends them on mission, breaths on them, and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” So, about this mission thing, Bishop Robert Barron says, “The Church doesn’t have a mission; the Church is a mission.” He says, “A passionate Catholicism brings people to Christ.” Now folks, that’s not just meant for ordained clergy, that’s meant for every Catholic. We are all the Church. Fortunately, God also gives every single one of us the Holy Spirit in Baptism and every other Sacrament helping us on mission just like those original disciples. In fact, we can view the whole life of the church as this, receive divine life in the Holy Spirit then – give it to others.

Now, certainly Sacramental Absolution of sin is a gift specifically given to Priests but the word forgiveness itself should never be viewed exclusively for the ordained. There is a direct link between sending on mission, the Holy Spirit, and forgiveness. Sin can be thought of as a self-imposed interruption of divine love, a path that can lead to a loss of the divine life. Our own personal willingness to forgive others may not only bring fellow Catholics back from lives of sin and interrupted love but it may also serve as an attraction for non-Catholics. When the great G.K. Chesterton was asked why he became Catholic he responded, “So I could have my sins forgiven.” Therefore, know with confidence, when the Holy Spirit is breathed out by any of us, it can include an invitation for Sacramental Reconciliation within the Church itself but regardless, a personal willingness to forgive should always be offered.

OK, so what about good old Doubting Thomas? He wasn’t with the others on that first Easter evening. We’re never told where he was, but have you ever wondered, why Jesus simply didn’t go to him wherever he might have been instead of waiting until the disciples were all together again in one place? Friends, all the dynamics of God’s new creation; Christ’s new resurrected life, overcoming fear, gifting of the Holy Spirit, forgiveness of sins, giving himself in Eucharist were all on display in community – and that community is what we now call Church. Don’t try to do it by yourself. Don’t try to find your way on your own. There is a message from the Doubting Thomas story you may have never thought about. Stay within the community of Church because this is exactly where you will find God’s new creation.

February 26, 2023 - First Sunday of Lent, Year A

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 08:06:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil , February 26, 2023

The First Sunday of Lent, Year A

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of The Mass for the First Sunday of Lent. Alright, so here we are, four/five days into Lent. How is your spiritual growth going so far? If you’ve been listening to the message from this pulpit for the last couple of weeks you know, personal spiritual growth should be at the heart of these 40 days. In fact, right now might be a good time to contemplate for a few seconds as ask, is what I’m doing so far for Lent helping my spiritual growth? Hopefully the answer is “yes” but if not, now is a great time to reevaluate and perhaps seek a more spiritual path towards Easter. And of course, ultimately, any path we might discover that helps personal spiritual growth should continue right on past Easter and become part of our lives from now on.

So today we’ve just heard Matthew’s version of Jesus’ temptation by the devil in the desert. You know, I’m not sure about you, but over the years there have been a few things that have bothered me about this story. It was probably my engineering mind working but have you ever wondered; who was the eyewitness, who was listening to the exchange between Jesus and Satan to write it down, or how could Jesus Christ, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, ever really be tempted by the devil in the first place? Well, as I was sitting in a Catholic University classroom studying Scripture here is how a wise old professor answered my questions: “First, Jesus is, was, and always will be the Son, coeternal with the Father and Holy Spirit, in Trinity. Second, Jesus knew exactly whom he was talking to in the desert that day. Third, this was not a true temptation encounter from a human perspective. It was spiritual joust using Scripture instead of swords. Fourth, there were no eyewitnesses to this encounter between Jesus and the Evil One. And finally, Jesus himself chose to tell this temptation story to his disciples later, specifically to TEACH through divine revelation.” Now my professor’s answer does not constitute Catholic Doctrine per se, and you can certainly choose to ignore it, but personally, I’ve always loved the image of Jesus’ Apostles sitting around the campfire listening to him talk about this first verbal battle with Satan.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all place this story right after Jesus’ baptism and just before his public ministry, obviously a prominent place in the salvation story. So, as we sit here on this First Sunday of Lent, what is the salvation message to take away from this temptation story? Friends, this is where the New Testament really starts teaching us the difference between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world. This is where Jesus really begins his journey to Calvary. This is where Jesus begins saying to each and every one of us, “As I, so you. Follow my example. Do as I do.” You’ve often heard me talk about the four great false gods of our modern secular culture; pride, power, pleasure, and wealth, for you engineers that’s P3 + W. Well, it doesn’t take much thought to realize these temptations of Christ in the desert crosswalk neatly into the wisdom of the world portrayed by pride, power, pleasure, and wealth.

Let me ask, have you ever thought about this; as the New Testament starts out with a temptation story, so does the Old Testament? Of course, we all know these two-temptation stories end significantly different. The OT story revolves around that first great “P” word on the false god list – pride. When we hear the serpent tell Eve, “You certainly will not die! God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods.” And, out of pride, I think humanity still struggles, making God-like decisions today, don’t you? When theologians talk about the 7 deadly sins, they always place pride on the top of the list as the most dangerous. Why? My sisters and brothers, pride is the sin that opens the door for us to rationalize almost anything. As modern Americans especially, pride is the sin that allows us to say, “it’s my right,” even when it’s spiritually, ethically, or morally wrong.

In Jesus’ temptation story, Satan offered him everything encompassing worldly pride, power, pleasure, and wealth, and his answer was what? Perhaps when we’re tempted to make a god-like decision ourselves, Jesus’ answer to Satan should be our own, “The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” Now imagine yourself with Jesus and his Apostles sitting around the campfire as he tells this temptation story and he looks directly at you and asks, “how often do you serve personal pride, or place your own desire for power, pleasure, or wealth ahead of serving God? Out of pride, do you rationalize an ethical or moral decision that you know deep down in your own heart – is wrong. Do you listen to your God or to your ego.”

Now before I wrap up today, let me make one thing perfectly clear; pride, power, pleasure, and wealth are not, in themselves, inherently evil. They are some of the things that make us truly human and separate us from the animals. God doesn’t want us to go through life as miserable unhappy people. Really and truly, pleasure is OK. These very human characteristics only become evil when we, through our own free wills, allow them to become god-like. When we allow them to control our lives. When we put them ahead of the one true God and creator of the universe. As I hear this 2000-year-old temptation story about Jesus and Satan I’m reminded of a quote from C.S. Lewis, which it seems, is even more applicable today, “While Satan is out of style, he is not out of business.”

So, here’s your homework. As you go home today remember to ask yourself, “Is my Lenten practice helping me to grow spiritually.” If the answer is no, you might want to reevaluate. After all, we’re just starting our first full week. The late Father James Gilhooley gave some great advice for Lent. “Call someone who’s lonely and say, ‘I’ll come over.’ Go to confession. Smile more. Read the Bible. Forgive an enemy. Love someone who doesn’t deserve it. Be kinder than necessary. Exercise. Live one day at a time and make it a work of art. Finish Lent as a more interesting Christian.”

February 22, 2023 - Ash Wednesday

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 08:04:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil , February 22, 2023

Ash Wednesday, Year A

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of the Mass for Ash Wednesday, 2023. So, the first question that often arises for most of us, as we approach Ash Wednesday is, “What will I give up or possibly add to my daily routine this year for Lent?” Maybe we do an examination of our lives and come up with some bad habits we need to break, or we may get really serious and even decide and try to focus on an area of repeated sin in our lives. On the other hand, we may simply think of things like eating less, exercising more, or eliminating some food or drink we really like. Regardless, if those are the types of options you’ve been thinking about for the last few days – friends, you’ve been dwelling on the wrong question. The question we often fail to ask first and dwell on for a while is, “why?” “Why” is it so important to enter into these 40 days at all and view them as any different than any other days of the year?

Most good Christians will answer, “It is important so we can prepare ourselves for the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ during the Tridium.” While the answer is correct, it is somewhat limited and really doesn’t get to the heart of “why.” Yes, for sure, we want to grow by God’s grace, in holiness and virtue, but Lent is a lot more than a forty-day self-improvement program. The second reading we have today from Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians gives us a pretty good answer to the whole “why” question.

First Paul gives us an awesome job title beyond the simple word Christian, when he says, “So, we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us.” God appealing through us. OK St. Paul, that makes me squirm a little. Then good old Paul tells us, as ambassadors, what our message to the world must be. We are supposed to tell the world, “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” Oh no, you may be saying to yourself right now, wait a second Lord, I’m not a Priest, a Deacon, or a missionary and you want me running around telling people to be reconciled to God? That ain’t my job. Well friends, all I can say is this, it’s right there in the Bible, written down by St Paul for all of us Christians.

Hearing this, some of us may feel inadequate or unworthy. How could God ever use an ordinary, sinful, broken person, like me to reach other people? The answer is, God does it all the time! All we need to do is read the Bible and try counting, how many times do the Apostles seem to open their mouths and insert their feet? Gosh, probably the greatest of all at that accomplishment was St. Peter himself. You have to wonder sometimes, why the Evangelists didn’t cut those repeated screw-ups by the Apostles out of the Bible’s stories. My sisters and brothers, I think they left all those embarrassing missteps by the Apostles in the Bible to show us just how normal and human those guys really were. They illustrate how God can do amazing things even through broken, sinful, unsophisticated people,,, maybe just like me and you. At the end of the day, it isn’t about our unworthiness; it is about our resolve to cling to Christ and be open to the movement of His grace in our lives.

This is what the season of Lent is truly about. This is the “why.” We engage in acts of almsgiving, fasting, and prayer so we can open ourselves more fully to the saving grace of Jesus, and be transformed into better witnesses to others, better ambassadors for Christ. And always remember what St. Francis told us, the best way to witness is without using words. So, now I’d like to say a simple prayer for us all to begin this year’s Lenten season. “Lord God, give me the Grace to recognize and overcome the sins, vices, or failings of my life hindering me from being the best ambassador for your Son Jesus, allowing you to appeal to the world through me.” Amen.

February 12,2023 Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 08:03:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil , February 12, 2023

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of the Mass for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time. You know, when Father Tim and I agreed a while back that I would have the privilege to give the homily this weekend I said, “great, that’s just a couple of days before Valentine’s Day!” I was excited thinking it would be just wonderful to pull words of love out of the readings and wrap them into a beautiful tender, maybe even romantic, homily. Well – that was before I read this weekend’s Gospel, however. So, I opened the Lectionary and read, “Whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement,” or “Everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” or here’s a real romantic verse, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.” For today of all days, really Lord? Now a quick lesson here ladies. Before you poke your guy in the ribs when he shows too much interest in that Victoria’s Secret ad. I would remind everyone how to read the Bible in context of a 2000-year-old culture. Words like “brother” and “woman”, in the context we just heard today, should be read as gender neutral. Consequently, Jesus’ prohibitions against anger, judgementalism, and lust apply to everyone.

Regardless, when I read this Gospel for today, thinking about pink hearts, red roses, chocolates, and flowers, I sat down quietly and said to myself, “Really Lord, for Valentine’s Day weekend, we’ve got this particular reading from Matthew. Where’s the message of love?” The good news is, whenever I read really difficult or even kind-a scary scripture passages like these, I can find comfort with a simple phrase I like to use; “It’s good to be Catholic.” I don’t often quote the Catechism during homilies but today is very appropriate, especially when we have trouble finding God’s love in a passage. Paragraph 112 in the Catechism is the first of three criteria Vatican II gave us for “interpreting Scripture in accordance with the Spirit who inspired it.” It says this; “Be especially attentive to the content and unity of the whole Scripture.”

The content and unity of the whole of Scripture. What exactly does that mean anyway? One of my favorite Scripture Scholars, Margaret Nutting-Ralph, went so far as to say this in one of her books; “If you are interpreting anything in the Bible to say God does not love you, you are misinterpreting the Bible.” Wow! Now that’s a pretty broad statement Margaret. I mean after all, I’ve read some pretty ugly stuff in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, that really doesn’t sound at all loving. In her book however, she goes to great lengths to show how some of the most negative sounding scripture passages are generally misinterpreted by many modern readers, primarily because of cultural and contextual issues encountered when trying to read ancient Hebrew or Greek texts translated into English.

Ultimately however, all of us can lean on paragraph 112 in the Catechism when we become frustrated by Scripture even if we’re not scholars. Always remember what I’ve said over and over, the Bible is not modern schoolbook type history, although some Christians try to use it that way. It is a book of faith given to us for our salvation. It is a journey of God’s unlimited love in an intimate and maturing relationship with humanity and it spans over 2000 years of written revelation contained in 73 separate books. And this Revelation was not fully revealed until the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So, when we look for this unity of the whole of Scripture where does it finally take us? My friends, it always leads to love. Another Scripture Scholar, Steven Ray, describes it this way; “Do you ever feel lonely, unloved, unforgiven, or unworthy? Take a look at the crucifix. You are loved. Jesus would have done that if you were the only person on earth, because he loves YOU enough to make the supreme sacrifice.”

Today we heard part of Matthew 5. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 in Matthew’s Gospel all comprise Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and the ideals laid down in his discourse on the mountain have been a constant point of discussion within the Church. Is Jesus demanding that we all meet these ideals without compromise – or we’ll be liable to fiery Gehenna? I mean, if you’re reading it literally, that’s what it says, right? Gosh, I wonder, how many one-eyed Christians would be walking around? Just listen to the very last verse of Chapter 5 if you really want to worry; “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Yikes Lord! You want Godly perfection from me? I’ll try Lord God, but you know I am weak, and I am a sinner.

Friends, you’ve heard me say this before and you may be tired of hearing it, but one of the reasons I love our Catholic Church is because here we openly display the image of the crucified Jesus, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, God incarnate. And I firmly believe there is absolutely no physical image that can better define God’s eternal love for me and for you, than Jesus crucified. The image of the crucified Jesus hangs in the vestibule before you enter the Church. It is the image we process into Church with during Mass, it appears there, on the 12 ^th Station of the Cross, and it hangs above our Altar.

Now, like every good Christian, I enthusiastically rejoice in the Resurrected Jesus and the image above the main doors to our Parish Hall depicts Jesus risen. The Resurrection defines Jesus’ Divinity. And without the Resurrection the Crucifixion would have simply been another Roman execution in a backwater province of their empire, but – if the Resurrection defines Jesus’ divinity surely the Crucifixion defines Jesus’ love. So, remember, if you’re ever tempted to say, “no one loves me.” Simply look at the Crucifix. For homework, go meditate on a crucifix for a bit and remember, God did that for you out of love. And,,, simply stated my friends, that’s my message of love for this weekend before Valentine’s Day.

October 29/30 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 09:32:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil

31 ^st Sunday in Ordinary Time, 10-30-22, Year C

Peace be with you on this our celebration of the Mass for the 31 ^st Sunday in Ordinary time. OK folks, I’m going to ask two questions, but I don’t want to embarrass anyone, so I won’t ask for a show of hands. The first question is, did you go to Mass last weekend? The second question is a little harder, if you went to Mass, do you remember what the Gospel reading was about? For those who answered both yes, and yes, I apologize, because I’m going to review a little. For those who answered no, just listen up, because you’re getting a second chance. Last week we heard Jesus tell a parable about a righteous Pharisee and a humble tax collector praying in the Temple. Ultimately, Jesus said the tax collector went home justified because in his humility he recognized and repented his own sinfulness. What I really want to emphasize however, is Father’s homily. He described how those two men would have been viewed in the eyes of a 1 ^st Century Jew, as opposed to the way we think about them today. Jesus’s actual listeners would have clearly viewed the Pharisee as the good guy and the tax collector as the evil bad guy. That simple parable would have completely shocked a 1 ^st Century Jew.

So, today we heard about a cute little guy named Zacchaeus climbing a sycamore tree in Jericho, right? My sisters and brothers, I’ve thought long and hard about attempting to describe how hated, feared, and evil this guy would have been seen to those citizens of Jericho 2000 years ago. Anyone remember Bernie Madoff? Bernie orchestrated the biggest Ponzi Scheme in history. He swindled thousands of innocent investors out of billions of dollars over years of illegally manipulating the financial system. The difference between Bernie and Zacchaeus is, however, Bernie went to prison, but Zacchaeus was officially empowered by his boss, the Roman Emperor, to swindle his own countrymen to the maximum extent possible. He must have been good at his job too, because the Gospel says he, “was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man.” Cute little Zacchaeus was a sinfully bad man. Friends, I hope this helps set the scene and ultimately, realize how great the good news message is in today’s Gospel.

There are numerous reasons why scholars often view Jericho as a Biblical metaphor for a city of sin. Geographically it is only 17 miles east of Jerusalem but an actual 3,500’ drop in elevation. When you leave Jerusalem, the City of God, you literally go way down to Jericho. It is the first enemy city Joshua, and the Israelites must conquer when they enter the promised land about 1250 BC. In Luke’s previous chapter, it is where the blind beggar, Bartimaeus, sees Jesus as the Messiah, where those with vision are spiritually blind to his identity, including the 12 Apostles. The assaulted traveler in the Good Samaritan parable was “going down” to Jericho. The despot, Herod, built his winter palace there. And finally, today’s Gospel story about a sinful and wealthy chief tax collector. We might even say Jericho spiritually stands for our own dysfunctional human family. Our fallen compromised world.

Brothers and sisters, in a way, we are all citizens of Jericho and to some extent, every one of us should identify with sinful Zacchaeus. Consequently, Jesus’s entire ministry is spiritually, really, nothing more than a sustained act of passing through Jericho, our fallen compromised world. And today Jesus encounters Zacchaeus. We don’t really know what drew him to go see Jesus in the first place. Maybe it was an inner conviction, he was getting richer but not happier, but you know what that lure towards Jesus is called? It’s called Grace. And one lesson for us today is this, never, never ignore the lure of grace.

So, here’s a man with the authority of Rome behind him and he chooses to climb a tree to see Jesus? Really? Certainly, he could have easily demanded anyone blocking his view at ground level to simply, “get out of my way.” Well, you think maybe Zacchaeus didn’t want to get that close to Jesus in the first place. Maybe he intentionally wanted a bleacher seat. Regardless, when Jesus sees him up there in that tree, we hear a simple sentence that can potentially define the whole spiritual life for any of us. “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.”

Friends, sin is the most elemental form of human dysfunction and salvation from sin never comes from our own effort. Nothing the physical world offers, can save us from sin. This is the most fundamental problem facing humanity. Many things the modern would offers can help, medical advancements, phycological treatments, charitable organizations, peace keeping organizations, but ultimately God’s power bursting in from the outside is the final fact of salvation. That’s called grace.

So, today we heard Jesus say, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” Jesus’s invitation to, “stay at your house” has already been offered to each and every one here today, or we would not be sitting in a Church at all. So now, the question we must all go home and pray about and meditate on is simply, where does Jesus live in my house? Have we made space for him at all? In today’s Gospel Zacchaeus empties his life out and allows Jesus to take over his house. Just listen to Jesus’s closing words. “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”

So, your homework for today is this, go home and decide where Jesus lives in your house. Hopefully, He is not in a back closet somewhere that only gets opened once a week for Mass. What Jesus really wants is to be invited to take over our homes.

October 8/9, 2022, 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 12:08:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 10-9-22, Year C

Peace be with you on this our celebration of the Mass for the 28 ^th Sunday in Ordinary time. So, today is all about saying thank you to God – or maybe there’s more. In the Gospel we heard a story almost sounding like a parable Jesus might use for teaching. I mean wow, nine of the ten lepers cured by Jesus of the most dreaded disease of the age don’t even bother to come back and say “thank you.” How strange is that? And oh, by the way, the one and only leper that does come back glorifying God and giving thanks for his cure, just happens to be one of those hated Samaritans. Do you think we might possibly have some lesson to contemplate here besides the obvious one of thanking God for a miracle?

And again, in the first reading from 2 ^nd Kings, we have another feared and hated outsider being cured of leprosy. It’s not completely obvious unless you read the whole scene from 2 ^nd Kings Chapter 5, but this Naaman guy is actually a Syrian General and so, another non-Jewish outsider. In the story a female slave, captured from Israel BTW, suggests Naaman go see the Prophet Elisha to be cured of leprosy. Ultimately the message here is not his miraculous cure however, but his confession of faith when he says; “I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any other god except the Lord.” Ultimately, he takes home two mule loads of Israel’s dirt so he can worship the Lord on Israel’s home soil. Naaman’s profession of faith, coupled with the Gospel, where we hear Jesus telling the unnamed Samaritan, also cured of leprosy; “Stand up and go, your faith has saved you” might be an indication the Church wants to send a message other than two stories of miraculous cures.

You see, both are also stories of salvation and faith of people who are outsiders or at best, on the fringe of Jesus’ society. Do you think there could be a message here to contemplate, like the foreigner or stranger we habitually ignore or shun; the forgotten man or woman, the invisible one, or the desperate one? In meditating on these scriptures and this topic, it is helpful to remember this, somewhere deep within all of us is an outsider or rejected outcast as well. So, whether the outcast is another individual who we habitually reject, ignore, and turn our backs on, or is someone buried deep within ourselves, we probably all need a little help to identify and develop certain qualities, to embrace and welcome the stranger.

The first quality, strangely enough, is gratitude. To be grateful we first must be humble. Spiritually grateful people know everything is a gift. Such a person is usually one who does not take anything for granted. There are grateful even before they sit down to eat a meal, or they recognize and appreciate the unnamed volunteers behind the scenes for Church functions and activities. These people discover what many of us overlook and then, they express their joy and appreciation.

Grateful people are usually optimistic people. They can anticipate the good which others are capable of. All ten of the lepers saw in Jesus the kindly person capable and willing to heal their disease. Similarly, some people have the wonderful insight to see and encourage great potential in others. They can turn the idle youth into a “miracle worker.” They make it possible for others to find themselves. This kind of optimism, is perhaps, what Jesus meant by faith, faith in others as gifted by God. Jesus addressed the Samaritan; “Stand up and go, your faith has saved you.”

By optimism then, we are disposed to recognize talents and good dispositions in others, which many have been overlooking when categorizing them as “outsiders” in the first place. Moreover, with all the more enthusiasm we honor this hidden part of them when we attribute the gift to God’s generosity. The Samaritan “came back praising God.” Naaman declared that his cure shows “there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel.” Such praise of God not only enhances the hidden gift in the other person, but it also gives a note of urgency to act upon it.

Finally, as I implied at the beginning today, we are often afraid to identify and face the stranger for fear of the demands on us. At the very least the outsider will upset our schedule because often this castoff will require attention. In some real way it imprisons us. It may even put upon us some of the outcast’s shame and humiliation. At the time of Jesus there was a real fear of becoming contaminated by the leper or by the non-Jewish foreigner but ultimately, didn’t Jesus’ Gospel message teach the exact opposite? Such was the situation of Paul when writing to Timothy from our second reading when he said; “Such is my gospel, for which I am suffering, even to the point of chains, like a criminal.” Paul immediately adds however; “But the word of God is not chained. Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, together with eternal glory.”

We’re asked to enter that same suffering to enable the stranger and outsider to find themselves, their true self, and their hidden potential. What was hidden is found for eternal glory. Paul also infers the magnificent possibility that we who preach the gospel will discover that same gospel when; by gratitude, by faith, and by optimism we bring to light God’s wonderful gifts hidden within ourselves and within others.

So, today’s readings mean much more than simply saying thank you to God for our many gifts. The deeper message here today is one of recognizing, accepting, and even embracing the outcast, whether they are425 standing on the street corner or hidden in our hearts. The hard part is however, when we recognize someone who can benefit from our gifts, Jesus wants us to give them away. Even when that someone is one of societies outcasts.

September 17/18, 2022 - The 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 08:25:00 GMT

The 25 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Paul T. Keil , 17-18 Sep, 2022

Peace be with you and greetings on this, our celebration of the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Well,,, after what I just read, I must ask, come on Lord? Is this Gospel reading for real? Jesus tells us about a steward who cheated his master, gets caught, and then cheats his master a second time, and then ultimately his master complements him for his ingenuity. Really?

Now, I’m not sure how many of you have ever heard of a Biblical Scholar at Vanderbilt University, named Professor Amy-Jill Levine. She’s written several books on the Bible one of which, entitled “Short Stories by Jesus” I used a few years back for our own Adult Bible Study here at Good Shepherd. You might guess by the title, “Short Stories by Jesus”, the book is specifically about Jesus’ parables. Another interesting fact about Dr Levine is, even though she is herself Jewish, she is the Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt. And if you read her bio, you’ll see she is very complementary of the Catholic Church because she feels Catholic Biblical Scholars generally know how to read and interpret the Bible in the appropriate context. She is not nearly as complimentary about some other Christian denominations and their Bible interpretations, however.

When reading New Testament Parables Professor Levine recommends a few common ground-rules. First, she says we must try to hear Jesus’ parables with the heart and mind of a 1 ^st Century Jew. My friends, that’s not necessarily easy to do without a little contextual study. Second, she says if the parable doesn’t challenge, shock, or surprise us, we’re probably misinterpreting it. Well, no problem with the one we just heard today, right? And finally, she says, don’t ever assume the master, the landowner, the head of household, the father, or other central figure in the story represents, or speaks for God. She specifically singles out the father figure in the Prodigal Son Parable and says Christian preachers, homilists, and catechists continually get it wrong.

Regardless, if Professor Levine is right in today’s parable, the master who commended the dishonest steward for acting prudently, is just another flawed, worldly character whose priorities appear to be wealth, power, and dishonesty. Consequently, the parable itself actually ends with the master’s complement of the dishonest steward and Jesus’ teaching about the parable begins when he says, “For the Children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.” And of course, Jesus’ teaching culminates with a couple of verses that should challenge all of us, “No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.”

Interestingly, based on this one and other of Jesus Parables, there is a meditation called the “Meditation of the Two Standards” used during the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. In the meditation Ignatius leads us to realize there are two forces – two masters – always competing for our minds and hearts. Those two masters are Jesus Christ and Satan. Both are vying for our minds, hearts, fidelity, and ultimately, our souls. While Satan presents the allure of honor, power, pleasure, and wealth as the aim and fulfillment of our lives, Jesus presents the way of spiritual fulfillment, humility, and the realization everything is a gift. All the goods that we are given, whether material or spiritual, become reasons for gratitude rather than greed. Once Jesus is our master, he frees us, and wealth and the goods of the world lose their domineering force, and we can use them as means of generosity and the building up of the Kingdom of God.

So, as I thought about the Ignatian Meditation of the Two Standards it reminded me of the Native American parable of the two wolves. I’m sure some have heard it before, but I think it’s so vivid, colorful, and descriptive it really makes a point and I’d like to present it now. See what you think. An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life and speaks. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” The old man continued, “The other wolf is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside of you – and inside every other person, too.” The young boy asked, “Grandfather, which wolf inside of me will win?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

My sisters and brothers, before each one of us there is a choice to be made. In the Native American parable, the choice is which wolf do we feed? In today’s Gospel Jesus is clearly asking, which master will we serve? He is very clear when he says, “No servant can serve two masters. He will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Mammon.” In the Ignatian Meditation of the Two Standards the two masters are even more definitive, Jesus Christ or Satan. It is this fundamental decision that stands before each Christian disciple. Ultimately, the master whom we decide to serve will determine the way in which we see the world, carry out our actions, and live our lives. What Jesus is teaching in this weekend’s Gospel, cannot be overstated. Which wolf will you feed. Which master will you serve.

August 27/28 The 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C

Tue, 30 Aug 2022 13:04:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil , August 27 - 28, 2022

The 22 ^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C

Peace be with you and greetings on this, our celebration of the 22 ^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. Well,,, if you were listening to the readings today, you should have picked up that humility is a common theme throughout. Humility is not a real popular word in our modern culture though, is it? It is important however, that we understand there is a distinction between theological humility we read about in the Bible, as opposed to the way the word is commonly used today in 21 ^st Century America. Friends, theological humility is so necessary for salvation, Jesus takes every opportunity to stress its importance. As Thomas Aquinas said, “humility is truth.” I’m sure everyone remembers hearing in all the Gospels how Jesus stresses the importance of being like children to enter heaven. In Matthew, he ties it to the word “humble” for clarification when he says, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Now why do you think Jesus uses the example of children to teach about humility and the kingdom of heaven?

Let me tell you a little story. Grandma and her grandson Johnny were looking at photos from a recent vacation the little boy had just taken with his parents to Yellowstone. As they leafed through the pictures grandma said, “my, how lovely. It’s as though God painted these beautiful scenes of nature just for you.” And Johnny responded, “yes it does grandma, but God had to paint with his left hand.” Now, naturally grandma was a little curious about Johnny’s left hand of God comment so she asked him to explain. “Well,” Johnny said, “in our religious ed class Ms. Trina told us Jesus sits on the right hand of God.” So, how do you think grandma reacted? Maybe with a chuckle and a hug? Friends, that’s called naive innocence.

Here is what St. Ambrose says about Jesus using children to explain humility, “Perhaps because usually they are without malice, nor are they deceptive, nor do they dare avenge themselves; they have no experience of lust, do not covet riches and are not ambitious. The Lord is not referring to childhood as such, but to the innocence which children have in their simplicity.” Personally, I would sum it all up with two words that plague theological humility, pride and ego. Certainly, Jesus was trying to address pride in today’s Gospel reading about the Pharisee and his guests, and in case you haven’t looked at the list lately, pride is number one on the list of the seven deadly sins. In fact, many theologians feel we really don’t need the other six at all. St. Augustine simply said, “Sin is pride.” On the other list we call virtues however, humility stands at the top and, humility is how we combat pride. Remember theologically, humility is truth.

So let’s start at the beginning. I personally feel one of the most misunderstood stories in the whole Bible is the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. People get so wrapped up around things like talking serpents, fruit trees, and a mean old God who punished all of humanity for the sin of two people. They often miss the salvation message of the story. People have a hard time grasping a concept of Divinely inspired authors three or four thousand years ago, with no idea of modern science, phycology, or history, struggling to explain why people are so screwed up. Many read the story in a modern context as a stand-alone episode and get angry. They refuse to look at it in context of the whole of Scripture without realizing it is part of God’s love and God’s plan for salvation. Please, please, never forget this fact, the big book we call Bible has two primary corollaries. First, God is love and second, we have free will.

Now, with those two corollaries in mind, let me tell the Genesis story in a modern context with me at the center. Once upon a time I walked humbly with God. Lovingly and faithfully, I knew his will. I was innocent. It was Paradise. Then the Tempter entered the scene. With perfumed tones and seemingly perfect reason, he offered what appeared to be the sweetest fruit: Ambition! He cooed with a friendly voice, “I know what God told you, but how can, you be sure? What about you and what you want?” The truth that I knew, suddenly seemed shaken. Again, the Tempter whispered, “you can be like God.” I suddenly discovered my ego. It felt intoxicating. And so, when the fruit was offered, I bit. G.K. Chesterton called this “dislocated humility.” I became the center of my own universe. It’s now about what I want, what I expect, what I demand, what I deserve. Chesterton went on to say, “We’re all in the same boat and we’re all seasick.”

OK, so what are theological humility and theological pride as we read the Bible. The two are so closely tied it’s hard to talk about one without the other but remember, humility is truth, so here is the truth. First and foremost, you are God, and I am not. I do not have the prerogative to be god with my words or my actions. Second, everything I have is a gift from God, from my family, to the socks on my feet, to my very next breath, to grace. It’s all a gift from God. And finally, I have bitten the fruit and I know what is good and what is evil. God always wants me to choose good and I have the Bible and the Church to help me. Jesus gave me wonderful guidelines with words like love of God and love of neighbor.

August 20/21, 2022 - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 10:22:00 GMT

The 20 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C

Peace be with you and greetings on this, our celebration of the 20 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Well,,, today’s Gospel reading doesn’t come across real bright and cheery does it? What’s with all this talk about division, one against another, even within the same family? It all kind-a reminded me of a story my friend John once told me when he and his wife had gotten into an argument. Now mind you, John and Janis have now been married for over 50 years and are still deeply in love but like any long relationship, there were bumps in the road along the way. They had been in the car traveling all day and had spent the last hour or so in complete silence because of a disagreement. They were not saying a word to each other as they passed a farm with a pasture full of cows, goats, and pigs. At that point John attempted a little sarcastic humor when he should have just kept his mouth shut. He glanced at Janis and then motioned towards the pasture and asked, “relatives of yours?” Now Janis is not only an intelligent lady, but also quite wise. Instead of responding in anger at John’s stupid attempt at humor, she calmly turned towards him and said, “you’re right John,,, I believe they’re some of my in-laws.” OK, sorry folks. Now, I know that story isn’t very spiritual, but I couldn’t help it when I read the in-law against in-law part of today’s Gospel.

Seriously though, what is the spiritual message from today’s Gospel? It doesn’t sound like good news when Jesus says, “Do you think I have come to establish peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division” or, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing.” His words seem to be right out of the Old Testament, don’t they? Where is our merciful, gentle, and loving Jesus we’re so used to hearing? My friends, as hard as it is to accept sometimes, God didn’t change somewhere between Malachi and Matthew. Oh, just in case you didn’t know, Malachi is the last book of the OT and Matthew if the 1 ^st book in the NT. The God of the OT is the God of the NT, and we must never forget, Jesus himself is the second person of the Trinity. He is God.

Honestly, today’s reading challenges me with what I consider one of the great mysteries of my own personal Christian Faith; it’s not the incarnation, the virgin birth, or even the Blessed Trinity. From my humble perspective I have difficulty reconciling a God who is perfectly merciful with a God who is perfectly just. When someone tells me, they don’t like the God of the OT, I remind them, no one in the Bible talks more about Hell and damnation than Jesus Christ himself. Go read about the sheep and the goats in Mt 25 for example.

OK, so how do I reconcile a God who seems fierce and judgmental with a God who is loving and merciful? Doesn’t the Bible tell us God is love? Well, yes it does – but unfortunately, our perceptions of God’s love are obscured by the fallen world we live in. Thomas Aquinas wrote volumes about our perception of God viewed through humanities’ lens of sin in a fallen world and I’ve only got about 7 more minutes but let’s try. Aquinas said, “Whatever is received is received according to the mode of the recipient.” OK Thomas. So, what does that mean? Well let’s think of God’s love as the sun. On a bright blue sunny morning, the sun shines into our homes with radiant beauty. Now let’s add window shades to our simple little metaphor for God’s love. When the shades are wide open our home is full of light from the sun but as we start pulling those shades closed the sun’s light is diminished. The same sun is still shinning on the world outside, but we’ve chosen to dim its’ light by pulling the shades. Friends, this simple image is sort of what sin does to our perception of God’s love. It becomes distorted or diminished.

If you’re living in a relatively good spiritual state, God’s love will be perceived as kind, gentle, and merciful but if you’re spiritual life is off the rails, God will be perceived as fierce, threatening, and judgmental. You can see this story repeated over and over and over in the Bible. The great news is, however, the sun itself hasn’t changed. God’s love is still shinning as brightly as ever but our perception of that love is distorted, and, in most cases, we did it ourselves by closing the shades, through sin, or ego, or simply our every-day priorities like, pride, power, pleasure, and wealth.

Another key variable in Aquinas’ formula for perception of God is his definition of love itself. Thomas says, “love is willing the good of the other.” Now I’ve used Aquinas’s love definition often before but it’s critical to let it sink in. “Love is willing the good of the other.” When it comes to the Bible and our perception of God there is a flip side to this whole “love of God”, however. If love is willing the good of the other, then God’s love for us must – by necessity, generate God’s opposition to whatever works as evil within us. Hence, we have today’s Gospel. When Jesus says, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” He is telling us He wants to burn away anything opposed to God’s love for us. Anything that diminishes our perception of God’s love. He wants to burn up those shades we have pulled over the windows of our hearts distorting our awareness of God’s love! Jesus came to shake things up and that’s why this reading sounds a little scary and can cause confusion. The bottom line always really, really is, however, God is love!

Several weeks ago, I read a quote from Bishop Robert Barron summarizing why we sometimes tend to be divided, sadly even within our own Catholic Church. And also how we sometimes swerve off the path of God’s love. He said this; “The entire point of religion”, let me repeat, “The entire point of Religion is to make us humble before God and to open us to the path of love. Everything else is more or less a footnote. Liturgy, prayer, the precepts of the Church, the commandments, sacraments, sacramentals – all of it – are finally meant to conform us to the way of love. When they instead turn us away from that path, they have been undermined.” Friends, if you believe anything in the Bible says God doesn’t love you, you’re misinterpreting the Bible. And if anything in your own personal faith life is pulling you away from love of God and love of neighbor, open those shades to your heart and let the sunshine in.

July 23/24, 2022 - 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C

Thu, 04 Aug 2022 12:42:00 GMT

The 17 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C

Peace be with you and greetings on this, our celebration of the 17 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. OK, does everyone here know what the word “paradigm” means? Just in case you don’t know or have forgotten here is the definition; a paradigm is a widely accepted belief, example, or concept held by a society or a person. Now honestly, paradigm is a relatively new word in the English vocabulary, but I often like to say, one of the Jesus’ missions 2000 years ago was to eliminate any paradigms hindering humanities’ relationship with God. And we have a perfect example of one of Jesus’ paradigm crushers today as he tells his disciples how to pray.

Today in Luke’s Gospel, we hear Jesus tell us how to pray by calling God, “Father” in Matthew, we hear him say “Our Father” and in Mark he says “Abba Father”. “Abba Father” is also a phrase used by Paul in Galatians and Romans. And since the whole New Testament was originally written in Greek the word used would have been “Pater” where “Abba” is the Hebrew or Aramaic word Jesus probably spoke 2000 years ago. Our Biblical scholars translate both words simply as father. And for most of my life I never gave it a second thought as I mechanically recited the Lord’s Prayer until something happened in about 1989. Now I’m going to tell a story I’ve told to many people before, including those who attend my adult Bible classes, so if you’ve heard it before – tough. You’re just going to have to hear it again.

While I was still in the Army, I was on an official trip to Israel and my hosts took me up to Lake Tiberius, about 60 miles north of Jerusalem. BTW when Jesus was walking the land, Lake Tiberius was called The Sea of Galilee. I was standing on a little beach watching kids and families playing in the water and sand when a little girl about 4 or 5 years old running full speed, fell face first in shallow water, and did a face plant on the sandy bottom. She came up sputtering, spiting sand and water, caught her breath, then started crying. She looked around frantically until she found her dad and then went screaming across the beach with her arms flailing in the air crying loudly, “Abba, Abba, Abba!” Now, it didn’t take too long for the old wheels to start turning and translate this whole scene into one that’s probably repeated every day during the summer on our own Gulf Coast and realize, she was crying, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” in Hebrew. And from that day forward I’ve never said the Lord’s Prayer in quite the same old mechanical way again.

At the time of Jesus Christ, Yahweh was the formal Hebrew name for God. The name was so sacred however, it would never be spoken out loud, except by the High Priest completely alone in the Holy of Holies of the Temple. No common Jew would dare speak the sacred name. Consequently, they had lost a type of intimacy with their own creator and wouldn’t dare speak God’s name, even in prayer. A scholar and teacher I once had said this; “They could not experience the echo of the shadow of the Spirit of God.” My friends, that was a paradigm. And now suddenly here’s Jesus telling all Jews to start verbally calling God a completely intimate name used in the closest family relationship. He told them; when you pray to God, the unlimited creator of the universe, call God – Daddy. Really? As we sit here in Church some 2000 years later it’s almost impossible to appreciate the effect of what Jesus was saying to his 1 ^st Century Jewish audience. I’d suggest you this; however, my little story may merit a little prayerful meditation sometime, not only as you say the prayer Jesus gives us in today’s Gospel, but the story really applies to all prayer.

There is also one other image I’d suggest you picture in your own mind as you recall this little story about intimacy with God in prayer. The U.S. Catechism for Adults says this; “The point where God’s call and our response intersect is prayer. The event is always grace-filled and a gift.” Now of course we all know prayer takes many, many forms and reciting a formal prayer like the Our Father is just one of those forms but think about what I just quoted from the Catechism for a second. “The point where God’s call and our response intersect is prayer.” Consequently, the inverse must be true, no prayer, no intersection with God’s call – but then, always remember, a prayer can be as simple as a “yes” or “thank you” in acknowledgement of God’s presence.

OK, I’m sorry folks. As a technical engineering kind-a guy I tend to be very visual at times and when I read a sentence like; “The point where God’s call and our response intersect is prayer,” I visualize graph paper and intersecting lines. I just can’t help it, but even out of this somewhat worldly technical visualization I suddenly saw something that actually helped my personal prayer life. A vertical line and a horizontal line intersecting in, you got it, a Cross! God’s call and my response represented by the Cross. And as a Catholic Christian I also visualize the suffering Jesus Christ at the center, forming a Crucifix as validation of God’s unimaginable love for us all.

So, here’s your homework for today. Take a few minutes sometime soon to quietly meditate on a frightened little girl on a beach in Israel, crying “Abba, Abba, Abba,” as she ran to her daddy, and recall this is exactly how Jesus told his disciples to speak to God in prayer. And always remember, anytime you pray, even if it’s just a simple “yes” or “thank you” to God, it is an intersection with God’s personal call to you, it is always grace-filled, it is a gift, and it is shaped like a Cross.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 10, 2022 (Season C)

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 13:21:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil

15 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 10, 2022 (Season C)

Peace be with you on this, our Mass celebrating the 15 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. My friends, for me, there are two great Biblical questions I try to repeat in my own heart several times every single day. Interestingly, neither question was originally posed by Jesus himself, or one of his disciples, or not even from one of the Biblical “good guys” at all. In fact, neither question probably had any spiritual intent when they were originally asked some 2000 years ago. The first question is near the end of Chapter 18 in John’s Gospel when Pontius Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” Now that’s one I ask myself about every time I pick up my smart phone or turn on the TV, but I think it’s critical, we must try to ask the question from a truly spiritual perspective in our modern secular society. We now live in a culture that is constantly trying to redefine truth every day. It’s reached a point where the concept of truth has become nothing more than an individual subjective opinion. Words like, right and wrong, good and bad, or even moral and evil aren’t popular in our modern vocabularies anymore because they tend to define – truth. Sadly, we now live in a world where it sometimes takes real courage to speak the truth.

The second Biblical question I always try to keep in my own heart every day is one we just heard in today’s Gospel reading. It came from our stories’ antagonist, a scholar of the law. He said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Now to fully appreciate Jesus’s answer we must step back 2000 years and try to hear this parable in context of the who, where, and when. In that world where a human Jesus walked, talked, and taught, the words “good”, and “Samaritan” would have never been used in the same sentence. We always must remind ourselves Jesus and his Apostles were all observant Jews. And almost everyone Jesus spoke to in the Gospels were observant Jews. A common misconception many Christians have today is, Jesus wanted to destroy Judaism. My sisters and brothers, nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus’s affirmation of the scholar’s answer about his own salvation was proof of that. “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus Christ simply wanted to bring his Jewish brethren back to the original covenant of God’s love and fortunately for us today, his Jewish disciples successfully carried that same Gospel message out into the rest of the world. In fact, Biblical scholars tell us if we don’t hear Jesus’s parables in context of a 1 ^st Century Jew, we’ll miss the meaning. And that is what makes this specific parable a little scary for two reasons. First, the word “outcast” doesn’t come close to describe how 1 ^st Century Jews felt about Samaritans. Hatred might be a more appropriate word. Notice the scholar in this dialogue doesn’t even use the word Samaritan himself. So, Jesus uses a hated foreigner in his parable, but the second reason the story should make us all squirm is this, St. Augustine tells us we should see the Samaritan as Jesus Christ himself, and the half-dead man as Adam, the source and symbol of all fallen mankind. Is it any wonder, Saint Teresa of Calcutta called the most repulsive outcasts lying in the city’s gutters, Jesus in disguise?

The Church Fathers saw this story as Jesus curing a fallen world and the parable is full of other signs of Jesus’s healing. Jerusalem was God’s city on Mt Zion. Jericho is only 17 miles East but a decent of almost 3,200 feet in elevation and from the Book of Joshua, viewed as a disordered city, a place of sin. Consequently, the Fathers saw Jesus’s language, “he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho” as humanity’s descent into sin and the robbers stripping and beating as the result of sin robbing all of us sinners of human dignity. The Priest and Levite going down the same road represent religious leaders without love. Men who used rules without God’s love to glorify their own egos.

Scholars point to the pouring of oil and wine as Sacramental signs of Baptism, Confirmation, Ordination, Anointing the Sick, and even Eucharist itself. St. John Chrysostom used the image of the Inn in this parable as the Church. He said, “The Inn is the Church, which receives travelers who are tired with their journey through the world and oppressed with the load of their sins; where the wearied traveler discarding the burden of his sins is relieved, and after being refreshed is restored with wholesome food. And this is what is said here. For outside the Inn is everything that is conflicting, hurtful, and evil, while within the Inn is contained all rest and health.”

So, Jesus always was and still is trying to bring all of humanity into a loving covenantal relationship with God. The message of this parable is certainly pretty clear. Everyone, regardless of race, gender, faith, politics, or any other orientation,,, is my brother and if they need help, I’m supposed to give it. Wow, that’s so easy to say but I know, after I walk out of those Church doors today, it sure is hard to put into practice, isn’t it? It’s just so easy to judge and then allow my judgements to affect my actions. It’s so easy to become just like one of those ancient scholars of the law, or Pharisees, or Sadducees Jesus was always trying to teach the way of God’s love.

Well, a couple of years ago I read a mediation by Bishop Robert Barron that really hit me. He was directing it right at all of us who say we have faith but sometimes lose sight of God’s love. Here’s what he said. “The entire point of religion is to make us humble before God and to open us to the path of love. Everything else is more or less a footnote. Liturgy, prayer, the precepts of the Church, the commandments, sacraments, sacramentals—all of it—are finally meant to conform us to the way of love. When they instead turn us away from that path, they have been undermined.” So, in prayer, all I can say is, Lord Jesus, I’ll try my best to be open to your path of love and recognize you – in every person I meet. Amen.

The Ascension of the Lord, Year C May 28-29, 2022

Fri, 03 Jun 2022 13:07:00 GMT

The Ascension of the Lord, Year C

Peace be with you, and welcome as we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord. Now, most of you folks know that if you count 40 days after Easter, like the Bible says, the Ascension of the Lord was last Thursday. In 1999 however, the Church allowed celebration of the Ascension on the Sunday before Pentecost. Today, there are only about six dioceses in America left, that currently recognize last Thursday as a Holy Day of Obligation and celebrate the Ascension on that day. In my humble opinion, the move from Thursday to Sunday was a good idea for a couple of reasons. First, the Ascension is such an important event in our Catholic Christian Faith, if we celebrate it on a weekday, I’m sorry to say, there probably would be far less people listening about this event’s importance. And second, the Ascension and Pentecost really do go hand-in-hand and celebrating them on consecutive Sundays, liturgically, helps tell the whole story in sequence.

So, most of you also probably know, scholars often call next Sunday, which is Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. And if that’s the birthday, I like to say, the labor pains start today with the Ascension of the Lord. Our first reading from Acts and our Gospel reading both describe Jesus’ Ascension. And even though Saint Luke wrote both, his description is more vivid in Acts. In fact, as a literary technique, Luke’s narration in Acts contains, what I call, the dumbest question in the whole Bible. We’re told Jesus’ Apostles had literally watched their physical Lord rise and disappear into the bottom of a cloud when suddenly two men dressed in white garments appear and ask; “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” Now you gotta wonder, was Peter thinking, “Really, are you kidding me? Did you guys see what just happened? We just watched the bottom of the Jesus’ Birkenstocks disappear into that cloud.” Well, let’s not worry about this awkward question right away; let’s look for today’s real spiritual messages as we celebrate Jesus’ Ascension. Let’s find something we should take home today and possibly even meditate on for a while.

Acts of the Apostles is one of the few books in the Bible that reads almost like a real adventure story, which maybe makes it a little easier to identify with. It’s about our early Church after Jesus’ Ascension.

So, today we just heard the first eleven verses from Acts of the Apostles and the last eight verses from Luke’s Gospel. A new story begins with those labor pains I just mentioned to give birth to our new Church. Jesus Ascends into heaven and leaves an unlikely bunch in charge to spread the Good News. There is an important fact here you should never forget. These guys we hear about every Sunday like; Peter, Paul, James, John, Matthew, or Stephen are not people mentioned in other secular history books. They are not well known political, military, or religious leaders of their time. Nor, would it seem, are any of them wealthy. For the most part, they are just simple dirty knuckle working class folks who no one important even knew. Add to that, the man they’d followed was just brutally executed as a criminal in some backwater province of the Roman Empire. And now, their whole religious movement is going to start suffering centuries of murderous persecution, beginning with most of the Apostles becoming martyrs. Yet here we are, some 2000 years later and there are over 2 billion of us who call ourselves Christian. So, call it what you want Mr. non-believer, that is a miracle.

OK, so how do we people of faith explain the miracle? It started right in the second verse of Acts where Jesus gave “instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.” He also told them to stay in Jerusalem after his ascension until the Holy Spirit baptized them. Now, we’ll hear all about that baptism in the Holy Spirit next weekend so be sure to come back. Regardless, it is obvious the Holy Spirit played a major role in the growth and success of our Church after Jesus’ ascension. This journey of our new Church and her first disciples, under some pretty ugly circumstances, with the power, guidance, and protection of the Holy Spirit is what Acts of the Apostles is all about and that’s why it is such a great story to read.

By the way, Saint Luke’s technique of asking that dumb question when the answer was obvious, had a definite purpose. It really wasn’t a dumb question at all. It was a sarcastic poke in the eye. It was really a statement; “Apostles of Jesus, He has given you a mission to accomplish, so don’t just stand around staring at the sky wishing he were here to hold your hands. It’s time to get on with it. Now move out!”

Oh my, oh my, but Jesus wasn’t there. Their spiritual leader who had all the answers, was gone. Now again, as we sit here 2000 years later, we know the rest of the story. We know what happens on Pentecost but, at Jesus’ Ascension, the Apostles must have felt maybe – abandoned but certainly, scared. Hence, I used the metaphor of the labor pains started there and then. And here is what you should take home to meditate on. This sense of pain and spiritual loneliness is one we all feel at times, isn’t it? The Apostles must have initially felt Jesus had gone to heaven, somewhere out there with God, completely separated from them, now alone on earth. They were not alone however, and you know what else,,, neither are we ever alone. The historical human Jesus was gone but the Divine Jesus was still with them, just as he promised to be, and the confidence and courage would come when the Holy Spirit enflames their souls at Pentecost. Now for everyone here today, who is baptized, that same flame is burning in us also, we just must open our hearts and embrace it. Jesus’ disciples are about to bravely travel and spread the Good News throughout the known world. His ascension into heaven, to sit at the right hand of God as the eternal Divine Jesus ensured he could be with them forever, wherever they go, and strengthen them through the power of the Holy Spirit, no matter what the pain or circumstances. And with confidence, we can know the Divine Jesus Christ is with us today and forever. This is the powerful message of Jesus’ physically human ascension.

The Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C

Tue, 17 May 2022 12:29:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil, 15 May 2022

The Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of the Mass for the 5 ^th Sunday of Easter. I sincerely hope everyone is still experiencing a holy, joyful, and rewarding Easter Season. And remember, it is still OK to be wishing everyone a Happy Easter. When you get those questions however, as I am sure you will, especially now, since Easter Sunday was last month, it provides a wonderful opportunity to evangelize a little, and remind people what the Bible says. The Risen Christ spent 40 days with his disciples before He ascended into Heaven and then the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples at Pentecost 50 days after Jesus’ physical Resurrection thus, giving birth to the Christianity we still practice today. That’s what we call the Easter Season, and the Bible is the reason why! Wow just think, a Bible lesson coming from a Catholic living in the Bible Belt, what a novel idea that is?

So, today we just heard three separate Bible readings talking about the spiritual journey each of us are now on. In the first reading from Acts Paul tells us it is not going to be an easy trip when he says, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” The second reading from Revelation tells us where we are going on our journey when we hear, “I John, saw a new heaven and a new earth.” And finally, in the Gospel reading, we hear Jesus tell us what is most important, as we make our individual journeys, “I give you a new commandment: love one another.” Then the Lord takes it one step further and tells us all how to preach his Gospel message without using words, “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Oh my, oh my, love one another? Lord Jesus those are such easy words to say and so very hard to put into practice, especially when people can be so ugly, violent, and nasty to each other.

You know, Mahatma Gandhi was not only a great political leader, who arguably, led the greatest non-violent revolution in history, many also considered him a great philosopher and theologian. Now admittedly, many of his most memorable quotes were directed at that powerful British Empire as unwelcomed occupiers in India but see if his words might still ring true today. I must examine my own conscience and ask, “Lord, do Gandhi’s words apply to me right now?” He said this, “Jesus is ideal and wonderful, but you Christians – you are not like him.” And good old Gandhi went on to say, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Ouch! Anybody else feel a twinge of guilt when they hear Gandhi’s words? There is good news here however, as wise as Mahatma Gandhi may have been, he was not quoting the Bible. If he’d been a Christian himself, he would have known there was more to the Jesus’ story than his many flawed human sinful followers.

One more time, let’s look at this journey we’re all on together as imperfect sinful human Christians. As Paul said it is not going to be easy but if you read the whole message of Scripture, as the Catholic Church teaches, Jesus made it clear; if we are to understand anything at all about God then we must understand that God’s driving force is nothing other than love. Love is what God is all about and there could be no greater sign of this than Jesus Christ giving his life on the Cross of Calvary for our salvation. Yes, Jesus did tell his disciples to love one another because He knew living lives of love was the best way to redemption, salvation, and greater knowledge of God but Jesus also taught repentance and forgiveness. There can be no greater lessons of repentance and forgiveness than those of Peter and Judas. Basically, both were guilty of the same sin in their separate denials of Jesus. One had a contrite heart, repented, and was forgiven while the other died in despair never asking for forgiveness. The message for us all is clear, and it is full of hope and love. Come before God with a humble contrite heart, ask for forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, continue our journey towards the Heavenly Kingdom, then repeat as necessary.

OK so far, we’ve thrown the word love around quite a bit but really what does it mean? How do we put Christian love into action? One of my favorite definitions of love but perhaps the most challenging to put into action comes from Saint Thomas Aquinas. “Love is willing the good of the other.” Wow, willing the good of the other. Lord, I’ve certainly tried to love like that with my own family and those closest to me through the years, but you know well Lord God, I have sometimes, even failed there. How am I ever supposed to do that with the guy full of road rage who just cut me off on the Parkway? My friends, the best way to express and deepen our love for God and our neighbor is through prayer. And as hard as it may be at a moment like that on the Parkway, I just hit the brakes, take a deep breath, and whisper a prayer for the guy. No horn, no obscene hand-gesture, no cursing. Basically, prayer takes various forms and probably the best one for the rude driver would be one of petition. “Lord grant this man the grace of patience and fill his heart with your love. I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.” There may be times when prayer is not the only solution; however, you may have to get your hands dirty, do some heavy lifting, dig into your pockets, or humbly demonstrate love to actually “will the good of the other.”

My sisters and brothers prayer still remains an open line of communication between us, and God and we should use it always and often on our journeys. In fact, every form of prayer is used in the Mass. At the Penitential Rite we say sorry, at the Readings we listen, at the Intercessions we request, at the Offertory we present gifts, in the Eucharistic Prayer we offer praise and thanks, and the Communion becomes a consummation of all that went before. We can think of the Mass as a microcosm of our entire relationship with God. It is the best place therefore, to express our love for God and, of course, also the best place to deepen our relationship with God.

Now, let me close with one more quote from our old philosophical friend Gandhi because I think it goes a long way in helping us love God and neighbor, especially when that neighbor seems unlovable, “A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative only of the brave.” So, happy Easter everyone – and be brave enough to love

Third Sunday of Easter: Season C

Tue, 17 May 2022 12:27:00 GMT

Paul T. Keil, 1 May 2022

Third Sunday of Easter: Season C

Peace be with you and welcome to our Mass for this amazing celebration for the Third Sunday of Easter, and again, Happy Easter to all. As Father Tim said last week, we can all joyfully keep saying “Happy Easter” until Pentecost, a whole month away. Also, as a reminder, we will be open between Easter and Christmas. Now, I have learned, when talking to complete strangers, a “Happy Easter”, may cause confusion unless you can explain. For example, cutting down the beer isle in Publix at 9 AM caused some confusion for me last week. I think the lady thought I’d already had a couple and started moving away very quickly. So, now I only say “Happy Easter” to strangers when I’m at a place and time where I can explain a little.

And of course, this weekend we also have the first Sunday of May and start Mass with the crowning of Mary. This rich Catholic Tradition for special observances honoring Mary as the Mother of God and Queen of Heaven during the month of May goes as far back as at least to the 13 ^th Century. When researching, I came upon another interesting note I think is especially important this year. In 1965 Pope Paul VI issued an encyclical that identified the month of May as an opportune time to incorporate special prayers for peace into our traditional Marian devotions. I’m sure in 1965 he was probably focused on Vietnam but now, in 2022, his guidance is especially, just as applicable with what’s happening in Ukraine and the Middle East right now.

So, just like last week, our readings today came from the Acts of the Apostles, The Book of Revelation, and the Gospel of John. Readings from these three books will continue up to Pentecost. Today’s reading from the 21 ^st Chapter of John’s Gospel is somewhat unique, however. Many scholars call Chapter 21 the second ending to John’s Gospel. Last week the Gospel reading ended with these two closing verses from Chapter 20, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.” Sounds like the end, right? Well, wrong. Today we heard most of Chapter 21, hence, scholars calling it the second ending. And believe me when I say, scholars and theologians alike have written volumes about this so-called second ending of John concerning everything from, who really wrote it, when it was written, and what it all theologically really means. These same types of debates swirl around the three possible endings to Mark’s Gospel and various other apparent academic inconsistencies in the Bible.

Friends, when you find yourself stumbling into this kind of Biblical academic argument take a deep breath, and remember, the Catholic Church teaches the Bible is the inspired Word of God, given to us without error, for our salvation. With an emphasis on “for our salvation!” It is a poor history book and it’s certainly not a science book, even though some Christians today still persist in trying to use it as both. The Bible is a book of faith given to us for our salvation. Amen! And that salvation message is exactly what we’re going to talk about for the next few minutes.

One thing that has always struck me personally as I’ve read the Gospels, today’s reading included is, Peter and the other guys he hung out with, were not very good fishermen, or at least not whenever Jesus showed up. He always seemed to find them with empty nets after hours of fishing, but when they followed his guidance, no matter how ridiculous it may sound, like, “really, the other side of the boat.” Then they always filled their nets. Gosh, do you think there might be an obvious salvation message for us in this little tidbit as simple as faith?

Then there’s another message that seems to be obvious to me about sin and forgiveness during Jesus’ dialogue with Peter. I’ve often asked myself, could Peter’s three vehement yeses to Jesus’ three, “Do you love me” questions, possibly be an example of forgiveness for Peter’s grievous threefold sins of denial? John has given us a strong hint that the two scenes are connected. There are only two episodes in his Gospel where we see a charcoal fire mentioned, in today’s reading and in Chapter 18:18, where Peter sits and literally denies knowing Jesus three times. Whether forgiveness is one of the salvation messages in this specific scene or not, the question that truly matters is the question of love. This is a deeply personal exchange. When I put myself into this scene, I can visualize tears in Peter’s eyes. He certainly seems confused and even frustrated by Jesus asking seemingly the same question three times.

Now, as you pull out those scholarly commentaries about this scene, they’ll often talk about the three or four various ancient Greek words all translated into the single word “love” in English speaking Bibles. The first two times Jesus asks Peter if he loves him, he uses the Greek word “agapao”. The third time Jesus asks the question he uses the word “phileo”. All three times Peter responds to Jesus, he uses the word “phileo”. By strict definition “agapao” is an unconditional loving even of those seemingly unlovable. “Phileo”, on the other hand is, a love often fostered by a strong friendship or family. Now the smart guys, with all the letters behind their names, have tried to spin the distinction between these two words into various theological messages and meanings in various commentaries. And you know what? They often disagree with each other.

Fifth Sunday of Lent April 3, 2022

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 12:59:00 GMT

The Fifth Sunday of Lent, 3 April 2022

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of the Mass for the 5 ^th Sunday of Lent, 2022. So, just in case you didn’t know, the longest continuous narrative in the Gospel of John is Jesus’ Passion narrative. When everyone comes to Mass on Good Friday, we’ll get to hear it. Well, it just so happens, the second longest narrative is the raising of Lazarus. Now I just read the abridged shorter version however, for a couple of reasons, and one of them is NOT to get you out of Church earlier. First, everything I needed for my homily was covered in the shorter version. And second, in my many, many public speaking classes I’ve been taught, at about 9 to 10 minutes max, I’ll start losing people’s attention, unless I have visual aids. Maybe that’s why guys like Joel Osteen have those big jumbo-tron screens instead of a crucifix behind them. Oops, can I say that? Sorry Joel. Of course, at times as I look out there, I think I start losing some folks in about 10 seconds. Regardless, here I go. Wake up everybody for about 7 more minutes.

OK, so, there is a bit of Biblical trivia in this reading we just heard today, that is very important. Everyone should go home and mark John 11:35 in your personal Bibles. Why? Because it is not only important in what it says, but it is the shortest verse in the whole big Bible. “And Jesus wept.” In many translations it’s only two words, simply, “Jesus wept.” We’re going to talk more about the shortest verse in the Bible but first let’s lay out some background.

Today’s Gospel is a crescendo, so to speak, of the readings from the last two Sunday’s. Even though we’re technically in the Year C cycle we have the option of using Year A readings during the third, fourth, and fifth Sundays of Lent. Some scholars consider these three specific readings the best in the whole liturgical year. The story of the Samaritan woman at the well, the story of healing the man blind from birth, and now the raising of Lazarus. These are all stories that can be viewed as metaphors for God’s loving willingness to heal all our own spiritual disfunctions. Living water for our spiritually thirsty souls, light for our spiritually blind eyes, and ultimately, resurrection and life for the spiritually dead. There is a catch to all of God’s wonderful mercy and healing portrayed in these stories however, and it is a catch many so called Christians in our modern society either consciencely or unconsciously just can’t get past. We must push our big, inflated egos aside and embrace the real cornerstone of true Christian spirituality. In this modern world where it’s all about me, mine, and self, we must admit to our own spiritual helplessness. Friends, the cornerstone of true Christian spirituality is this, I am incapable of saving myself. I need a savior.

In today’s Gospel reading we see our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ at His most human. “Jesus wept.” Then, suddenly, we see Him at his most divine. By His own power as the second person of the Blessed Trinity, He raises the long dead, stinking, rotting Lazarus from the tomb. Anyone have a King James Bible at home? Go read verse 39. I love it. It tells us, “He stinketh.” John makes it perfectly clear. This was not just a resuscitation; this was a resurrection. And this is the greatest sign of who Jesus is. The most undeniable proof of His Divine Sonship until He rises from the dead himself on Easter morning. There is a big difference between Lazarus’ resurrection and Jesus’, however. The Lord is raised to eternal life; Lazarus is raised to earthly life. Lazarus will die once more on earth, but the Lord Jesus Christ will never die.

Jesus calls Lazarus out of the tomb, and we read that Lazarus comes out, bound hand and foot. Well now, this begs a simple question; if he were bound hand and foot, how exactly did he come out? According to Saint Bernard, Lazarus just floated out. Then the Lord says these simple words: “Untie him and let him go free.” With this in mind, what exactly is the Lord Jesus saying to us today? Saint Augustine uses this scene as a symbol for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The same Jesus Christ, who is fully human and fully divine is calling to us, beckoning us to come out and let Him untie us and let us go free from sin. Let’s ask ourselves, what is tying us up and refusing to let us go spiritually free? I’d venture to guess it is sin. Jesus wants us to be free from sin, so He offers us the beauty of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

My sisters and brothers, in today’s Gospel we have one of the most concise definitions Christ gives of himself in the Bible. “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” Oh, it is so very, very easy to read these words and simply say, “I believe” but in saying those words we must also reflect. Don’t forget that cornerstone of Christian spirituality I gave earlier. I am absolutely incapable of saving myself. I need a savior. We cannot sincerely embrace this attitude without surrendering to our Savior and turning loose of ego.

Let me suggest a simple meditative exercise. First, as much as it might hurt, recognize that sin, is spiritually turning away from God’s eternal desire for our friendship. Then remember verse 35, “Jesus wept.” This is Jesus Christ, both human and divine, at his most human, weeping because of a friend’s death. This is literally God weeping. Now imagine God weeping in sorrow because of all sin and death. God is weeping in sorrow over our sinfulness because sin always has a spiritual dimension and spiritually sin is freely turning away from friendship with God. So, I say to myself Paul, next time I feel trivial about some “little” sin I’ve committed, I’m going to imagine God weeping over my “little” sin. Wow, that hurts.

Friends, everybody is to some degree spiritually dead. Today we see however, Jesus can and will call us back. It doesn’t matter how spiritually dead we may feel. So, put your own name in the place of Lazarus. Then hear Jesus say “Bonny, or Fred, or Mary,,, or Paul, come out – untie him and let him go free.”

Second Sunday of Lent March 13, 2022

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 12:58:00 GMT

The Second Sunday of Lent, Year C

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of the Mass for the 2 ^nd Sunday of Lent, 2022. So, how is Lent going so far? Well, if you’re still spiritually challenged, here’s something that might help. A friend, living in Texas, told me about the homily he heard last Sunday. The Priest gave some unusual advice I thought might be appropriate to pass along. His advice was this, what we really need during Lent is “more beer.” What, really? Well, that immediately got my attention. Then he went on to explain the acronym his Pastor shrewdly applied to the phrase “more beer” – more Bible, more empathy, more Eucharist, and more Reconciliation. And this simple, clever, guidance can easily crosswalk into exactly what the Church always recommends for Lent – prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

Unfortunately, I think all of us too often, get the wrong focus during Lent regardless of what clever words we apply. We sometimes tend to fall into a personal trap and use the words “me or I” during our Lenten journeys when the word we really should use is “relationship” and relationship is never just about me or I. We always must remember we’re never journeying alone. Obviously, the relationship I’m talking about here is the one we have with Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, we all live in a world that is continuously trying to tear that relationship apart. My sisters and brothers as Christians, the only source for strength to keep us from being “carried along” by our secular society, away from Jesus, is grace from God. Grace given for us all by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Especially during Lent, we should all lean heavily on our personal relationships with Jesus, pray for God’s grace, and concentrate on our journeys of renewal.

You know I meet people all the time, and you probably do to, who say something like, “I consider myself a spiritual person I just don’t believe in organized religion.” Do you know anyone like that? Of course, these people usually say something like, I sit on a mountain, or I sit on a beach, or I sit in a quiet room and personally commune with God without going to a church. What they naively don’t understand is, God simply becomes whatever they eventually rationalize God to be. Regardless of what they may say, it’s simply an easy path about “me or I”. And it is missing one critical word so elemental to our Biblical Christian Catholic Faith – and that word is, sacrifice. Sacrifice is never, never an easy path but that’s the path Jesus repeatedly tells us to walk if we want to be his disciples.

In today’s Gospel reading we see Peter, James, and John experiencing a real “mountain top” event when they witness Jesus in his heavenly glory. Sacrifice doesn’t seem to be in the formula. Shucks, good old Peter doesn’t want it to end. He wants to pitch tents and stay right there, but do you know what comes just five short verses before this heavenly scene? Jesus says, “The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes,,, and be killed.” Then he follows that shocking statement up with this, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” In our Gospel reading today, Jesus responds to Peter with his actions. “We cannot stay on this mountain top. I must go down into the valley of a sinful world and sacrifice myself to redeem mankind. Will you follow me, Peter?”

All of us have those “mountain top” experiences in our lives. You know, those great and wonderful feelings and times we never want to end. Maybe a wedding day, the birth of a child, special recognition at work or school, or maybe simply relaxing on a beach. Unfortunately, life always pulls us down off those mountain tops into a world of pain and suffering. Many of you here today know exactly what I’m talking about. Ultimately, that’s life on earth. So, Luke’s Gospel today is the only one telling us Jesus went up that mountain to pray. Friends, Jesus stood on that mountain top knowing he was about to face the most agonizing eight days anyone who has ever walked the face of the earth, will endure. What did he do? He confronted it in prayer.

As followers of Jesus, we are all called to carry crosses. We are obliged to take seriously the summons to loosen our grip on the things of this world and to grasp more firmly the realities of eternity. We are called to sacrifice. Might I suggest today, in our hectic 21 ^st Century America, we can sacrifice something perhaps even more precious to us than money. I suggest we sacrifice time: time for prayer, time for spiritual reading, time to reflect, time to listen to others, and perhaps most difficult, time to help others.

Now there may still be skeptics sitting here right now, who don’t really get this whole sacrifice thing. The big question may be, why sacrifice at all? Let me read a short meditation from St Alphonsus written in the early 18 ^th Century. This is what he said about Jesus’ sacrifice, “He could have saved us without suffering or dying and yet he chose a life of toil and humiliation, and a bitter and shameful death, even death on a cross, something reserved for the very worst criminals. And why was it that, when he could have redeemed us without suffering, he chose to embrace death on the cross? To show us how much he loved us.” Wow! “He could have redeemed us without suffering.” Friends, not only did he do it to show how much he loves us, the life he led also gave us an example to follow.

So, as we leave today and continue our Lenten journeys towards Easter, becoming Christians anew, walk with confidence in relationship with Jesus, willingly try to sacrifice more of that valuable commodity, time. If you’re having difficulty figuring out what to do next, remember the acronym “more beer”, more Bible, more empathy, more Eucharist, more Reconciliation.

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time February 20, 2022

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 12:57:00 GMT

The Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of The Mass for the 7 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Today’s Gospel reading is actually a continuation of last week’s Gospel from the 6 ^th Chapter of Luke. If you were here and remember what Father said last weekend, you know this portion of Luke is often called “The Sermon on the Plain.” Obviously, even to the casual reader, it is a shorter and parallel version of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount given in Matthew’s Gospel. The clear difference between the two is, the Sermon on the Mount takes up three whole chapters in Matthew that is, 5, 6, and 7. Whereas, the Sermon on the Plain is only 33 verses from Luke’s Chapter 6. Scholars tell us the probable reason for the drastic difference in length is attributable to the two evangelists’ intended audiences. You see, Matthew was writing primarily to Jews who accepted or, were leaning towards accepting Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. Accordingly, Matthew’s audience embraced the lengthy and complex Mosaic Law. So, after the Beatitudes, we hear Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount dealing with the often-uncompromising pride sometimes generated by the Torah. Luke, on the other hand, was writing primarily to Greek Gentiles living throughout the Mediterranean world who had little or no intimate knowledge of Mosaic Law. Hence, he cuts right to the chase.

Mosaic Law aside however, even in the greater Greek Mediterranean world, hatred of evil and bad people was assumed to be the right thing to do. So, Jesus’ extension of the love commandment to the enemy and the persecutor would have been just as shocking for them as it was for the observant Jews back in Israel. His disciples, as children of God, must try to imitate the example of the Father, who grants his gifts of sun and rain to both the good and the bad alike. The scary thing though, as I stand up here right now and preach is, these words are directed by Jesus Christ right at me, as much as they were to his listeners 2000 years ago. “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well.” Really Lord, is it possible for me or any other human, to really live life perfectly like this?

My sisters and brothers, the answer to that question is probably no – but the last sentence in today’s Gospel reading gives us our real answer; “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” In Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount Jesus’ statement is even more extreme, “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” My friends hopefully, we all know the perfection of God and the perfection of God’s mercy is humanly impossible, but it is always something we should continuously strive for. You see, it is our firm Christian belief in and knowledge of God’s perfect mercy that makes this reading today one of hope, not one of impossibility.

When I read passages like these passages in the Bible that seem so humanly impossible to follow completely, I often think about a meditation I read in a book called “Praying with Saint Paul”. This meditation helps me when I wrestle with thoughts of sin and grace. The meditation was written by Father Vincent Nagle, and he talks about a time when he was listening to another priest giving a retreat to students. At one point a girl stood up to ask a question. She said, “When I’m with my Catholic friends, I’m good. When I’m not, I’m bad.” Now that took courage and probably generated a few chuckles, but the priest’s answer is something I’ll never forget. He said, “First stay with your Catholic friends. Second, imagine a man who has a weakness, we won’t speculate on what it is. Each morning he arises with confidence in Jesus and his Mother, light-hearted in his hope not to fail that day. He does fail however, repeating the mistake arising from his weakness. He goes home full of tears and repentance, praying to Jesus and his Mother for mercy, forgiveness, healing, and help. Again, he awakens the next morning full of gratitude, and the same pattern repeats itself. And this goes on for years, perhaps for the rest of his life. What do we call a man like that?” There was silence. The priest, speaking forcefully now, insisted, “What do we call him?” Again, silence. Finally, the priest said this, “We call him a saint… He is a man alive entirely through his recognition of and confidence in the presence of Jesus and the prayers of his Mother. These define his entire reason for living. They define who he is. This is the definition of a saint.”

Now I’ll have to admit, neither the priest giving the retreat, nor Father Nagle were quoting the CCC but the words of hope based on God’s perfectly eternal mercy have stayed with me ever since I first read that meditation many years ago. And to bring it all to a close he opened his Bible and read from Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 12, verses 7 – 9; “That I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.”

So, when I read Biblical passages like today’s that give spiritual goals that seem difficult, if not impossible, I often remember Father Vincent Nagle’s meditation and I often say the prayer he closed with; “All perfect God, how I suffer because of my defeats. How I squirm under my humiliations. Give me liberation through fixing my hope, not on myself, but upon your Son, who has changed disgrace into redemption. Amen.”

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Jan 23, 2022

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 12:55:00 GMT

The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of The Mass for the 3 ^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. Now, even though we call this season Ordinary Time, we all know the Mass is never ordinary, but today is special for another reason; Pope Francis designated the 3 ^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time as the “Sunday of the Word of God.” Here’s what he said in his Apostolic Letter, “The relationship between the Risen Lord, the community of believers, and sacred Scripture is essential to our identity as Christians. Without the Scriptures, the events of the mission of Jesus and of his Church in this world would remain incomprehensible.” Consequently, Francis declared the 3 ^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time be devoted to the celebration, study, and dissemination of the Word of God. Of course, we always hear the word of God through Scripture during Mass, but his hope is we also read it outside of Church. Well now, sounds like Pope Francis has given us all a homework assignment, doesn’t it? Take some time to read a little Scripture on our own, outside of Mass. Right now, however, let’s talk about today’s readings for a bit.

I’m not sure how many of you have ever heard of the American poet and writer Edwin Markham. His works espoused progressive social and spiritual beliefs in the early 20 ^th Century and they generally contrasted the pessimism characterizing most literature of that era. Even though you may have never heard of him you’re probably a little familiar with some of his work, like this except from his poem “Outwitted”; “He drew a circle that shut me out – heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle and took him in.”

So today, I think one of Markham’s other little poetic stories gives us something to contemplate as we talk about the Gospel reading, we just heard. He tells of a shoemaker who was told in a dream that he would see Jesus the very next day. The shoemaker waited in his store all day. The only one who came in the morning was an elderly man in tattered clothes. His shoes were worn out. The shoemaker gave him a fresh pair at no charge. In the afternoon an old woman came in. She was hungry. The shoemaker gave her his own lunch. As evening approached, a child came in crying bitterly. She was lost. The shoemaker took her home to the other end of town. Returning, he was certain he had missed his rendezvous with Jesus. Then he heard a voice. “I kept my word. Three times today I came to your door. Three times my shadow was on your floor. I was the beggar with bruised feet. I was the woman you gave food to eat. I was the lost child you took home.” And so today, in the Gospel, we heard what many scholars’ call, Jesus’ first public teaching and as we talk about it for the next few minutes don’t forget Markham’s little story.

The Church gave us this Gospel reading today in two distinct segments. We started with five verses from Luke’s 1 ^st Chapter and finished with eight verses from his 4 ^th Chapter. The brief introduction we heard makes Luke unique when compared to the other three evangelists. He presents us with both his motivation to write about Jesus in the first place and the techniques he used to gather facts for the story. He investigated accurately and interviewed eyewitnesses to present a friend with the complete story, so he too might believe in Jesus’ teachings. This is why Luke’s is the only Gospel where we hear words like; “Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.” You have to wonder how many hours Luke might have spent sitting and talking with Mary about things she pondered in her heart?

In the next part of the Gospel reading Jesus goes home to Nazareth. The news about the miracle at Cana had probably preceded Him. After all, Cana was only about five miles away. By the way, the population of Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth was not much different than the number of people we have sitting here in Church today. Consequently, His name was probably on everybody’s lips. A local boy making news. If he could do that neat trick in Cana, what might he do here, in his own backyard? On Sabbath morning, we can imagine Mary’s arm in her Son’s as they walked together to the synagogue. He would never miss Sabbath worship regardless of what town he was in. BTW, if you’ve concluded Jesus was telling us we should be at Mass each Sunday, you have broken the code.

You can bet the synagogue was packed to the rafters that particular morning. Predictably the presiding Rabbi invited the new hometown celebrity to read the Scriptures. He knew well if he had not, he might be lynched by his fellow townspeople. Jesus deliberately chose the particular passage from Isaiah that He wanted to share with His neighbors that morning. These are the first recorded adult words Jesus the Christ uses to start teaching His salvation message. The 61 ^st Chapter of Isaiah, oftentimes called by scholars, the Gospel of the Old Testament. The words of Isaiah would constitute the inaugural address of our Lord.

There is something very important today when we hear Jesus read from Isaiah, however. When we hear words like; poor, captive, blind, and oppressed, Jesus is talking as much to us right now as he was to his neighbors 2000 years ago. We all must ask ourselves, how often have I been spiritually poor, or spiritually blind, or captive to our secular culture, or morally oppressed? And then we have to ask, how often has it been my own fault? Jesus words are meant to be glad tidings for all of humanity throughout history but they also require us to provide an active response with our own lives. In today’s Gospel reading we don’t hear how His original audience reacted to the message. Their reaction is not important. The one that is crucial is yours and mine.

Christ allows each and every one of us to make up our own minds. As we contemplate what He said, we’re left to form our own personal responses to his words. Listen to the 16 ^th Century mystic, Saint Teresa of Avila though: “Christ has no body on earth now – but yours. Yours are the eyes through which He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless people now.” The shoemaker in Markham’s little story took St Teresa’s advice to heart. Today’s question is, will we?

3rd Sunday of Advent, Year C

Tue, 14 Dec 2021 14:14:00 GMT

3 ^rd Sunday of Advent, Year C

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of the third Sunday in Advent, also called Gaudete (gau da ta) or Joyful Sunday. As we do every year at this Mass, we light the rose-colored candle on our advent wreath, and we wear these attractive rose-colored vestments. Pretty good looking and joyful, don’t you think?

Well, I read several commentaries written by lots of smart people about this celebration today and generally they all talk about slowing down and giving yourself time to be spiritually joyful. They advised us not to fret about all the stuff we haven’t done yet getting ready for Christmas. They say stop, pray, and think of all the good things life had given us. Pretty good advice as we rush around focusing on all the material elements of the holidays, just exactly as our materialist society tells us we should be doing.

Friends, when you do slow down for just a minute, it’s important to meditate on what joy really means and what the reason for Christmas joy really is. Meditating on the true meaning of joy is particularly important because the word joy is often misunderstood, especially spiritually. Many think joy is always reduced only to pleasurable feelings or physical delights. Joy, however, is NOT a simple pleasure or delight. Gosh, even my dog takes delight in getting a doggie treat, but good old Daniel Webster tells us joy is an emotion. And folks, as hard as it is for all of us pet owners to believe, real emotion just happens to be a uniquely, God given, human only trait.

So, what causes this uniquely human and yet, very positive emotion we call joy? My sisters and brothers, true joy, that’s true joy, can only be generated by another God given, uniquely human trait – love! The joy of Christmas, therefore, does not come from all the bright and colorful holiday “stuff” our culture wants us to buy. Far greater than the presents we exchange at Christmas is the presence of Jesus Christ, sent to us by God the Father out of love! A gift wrapped in swaddling clothes. God’s presence in the Word made flesh is the true source of Christian joy. As people of faith, this is why we can actually feel joy, yes joy, even when we might be suffering.

Now, I’ll have to admit, when I first read those commentaries, where they advised me to slow down and think of the good things’ life has given me, I initially thought to myself, what about those people suffering at Christmas? If I’m physically, mentally, or emotionally in pain right now it’s real hard to think about good things’ life has given me. Anybody ever been there or maybe, you’re there right now? I couldn’t help thinking about a 20-year-old Paul Keil, December 1968, halfway around the world from home, sitting there with other guys, sipping warm beer in a dark, damp, dirt floored shelter, staring at a stupid little plastic Christmas tree. We were not joyful, and we cried. In fact, mental health professionals tell us, Christmas is sometimes a season of even greater despair for those suffering, especially emotionally.

OK, so let’s start with today’s readings to talk about joy for everyone, but especially those who may be suffering. First, of all, in the Gospel we hear the same question asked three times, “what should we do?” John the Baptist gives three specific answers in three specific situations, but the real answer comes from Paul in the second reading. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” Really? OK St Paul, but I’m lonely, during my first Christmas away from home, with people trying to kill me every single day, staring at that stupid little plastic Christmas tree, and you want me to rejoice?

Well, fortunately for me, and for all of us sitting here in Church today, we now know the whole salvation story. First, let’s always remember the Bible operates at multiple levels, both literal and spiritual. Now, as we read the Bible, never, never, never think that Jesus wasn’t literally a great healer and miracle worker. He did literally cure physical blindness, physical crippling disease, physical deafness, and even physical death. Today however, we might look at all those physical conditions as metaphors for our own spiritual ailments. If the most successful leader in industry is spiritually blind then, like anyone who cannot see, he or she may spiritually wonder aimlessly tripping over obstacles, unless someone is there to guide, and guidance is accepted. With the incarnation the Creator God was, and still is, repairing a creation damaged by sin. With his life, death, and resurrection Jesus Christ is eternally dealing with the greatest suffering affecting all of humanity, and you know what, it’s not physical. The greatest suffering is brought about by alienation from God – through sin.

Let me make a suggestion for homework. During the rest of this Advent Season, wow, for the rest of our lives for that matter, let’s get our Bibles out and review all those physical ailments Jesus cured during his earthly sojourn and ask; am I sometimes spiritually blind, spiritually crippled, spiritually deaf, or even spiritually dead? Maybe I should relook at that list and make it part of my examination of conscience before reconciliation. Regardless, we can confidently know Jesus is perfectly merciful, ready to heal us of our spiritual ailments, and forgive our sins, just like he healed and forgave those suffering 2000 years ago.

Before his Ascension, the Lord Jesus promised he would never abandon us when he said, “I am with you always, until the end of the age.” He remains present with us in many ways, but especially through the Eucharist. Always, always, always remember, real joy, I say again, real joy is a uniquely, God given, human emotion and it is not dependent upon physical pleasure or even physical wellness. It is dependent on love. So today, we can truly rejoice before the True Presence of the Lord on the altar given in love.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, the first to experience the presence of the Lord in the flesh come to our aid as we approach the solemn days of Christmas, reminding us, “there is cause for rejoicing here.” (1Pet 1:6). Amen.

34th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Christ the King, Year C

Tue, 14 Dec 2021 14:12:00 GMT

34 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Christ the King, Year C

Peace be with you on this, our very last Sunday in the Liturgical year and the celebration of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. King of the Universe. Really? When you gaze upon that Crucifix, it’s not really a very kingly image is it? Paul said for the Jews it was scandal and for the Gentiles it was folly. Now I will say, in our first reading from Daniel we were told, “His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.” Then, we have the second reading from The Book of Revelation where we hear an even more definitive proclamation of Jesus’ Lordship, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Both of these readings are certainly in harmony with today’s Christ the King celebration. The Gospel reading from John, however, seems a little out of place with today’s overall message. On the surface, a Gospel scene with Jesus humbly standing trial before Pontius Pilate may not appear to be in agreement with our celebration of; “Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.”

In fact, if we look at this scene from a purely secular perspective, now I emphasize the word secular, Jesus’ trial and crucifixion says – he died a failure. And speaking of a secular perspective, has anyone ever heard of Michael H. Hart? In 1978 he wrote a book entitled, “The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History.” Jesus was number three on his list, behind Isaac Newton. Anyone want to guess who number one was? It was Muhammad. Now before you get upset and walk out of Church, let me explain his analysis, because when we examine his logic, it really highlights the true miracle Christianity. First, Mr. Hart used purely secular variables and focused on those people who influenced numbers of other people. He did not focus on people because they did great things for humanity. Consequently, even guys like Stalin and Hitler made his list because they influenced large numbers of people. Using these secular variables, Muhammad not only died a successful religious leader, he was a successful military and political leader as well. Hart actually credits Paul of Tarsus with the real success of Christianity’s influence. Paul was number six on his list of 100, BTW.

As we sit here comfortably in Sunday worship, some 2000 years after Jesus’ ascension, with 2.4 billion other Christians, we know the whole story and we know with confidence the essential elements of Jesus’ story are spiritual not secular. We know all about Jesus’ Resurrection, we know about the Blessed Trinity, we know Jesus Christ as true God and true man. Perhaps we don’t know however; the divinity of Jesus Christ with absolute belief that He is God and reigns forever with the Father and the Holy Spirit was debated and even fought over for many centuries after His Ascension into Heaven. We can thank our early Church Fathers like Ignatius of Antioch, Athanasius, and Augustine for fighting the good fight as they were led by the Holy Spirit. And we can thank our own Catholic Church’s Sacred Tradition, with a firm conviction that her 21 Ecumenical Councils were led by the Holy Spirit to define Christian belief without error. Because without all of these spiritual gifts from God it is unlikely, we’d be sitting here today in this worship service founded on a belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior – nor would any other Christian denomination, for that matter.

So, it is with this absolute certainty that the crucified Jesus is in fact God that makes this particular reading from the Gospel of John appropriate as we celebrate Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. In his book “Jesus of Nazareth,” Pope Benedict XVI makes it clear that only because Jesus is truly God could his Passion and Resurrection open the gates of Heaven. Benedict says this; “In Jesus’ Passion, all the filth of the world touches the infinitely pure one, the soul of Jesus Christ and hence, God himself. Through this contact, the filth of the world is truly absorbed, wiped out, and transformed in the pain of infinite love.” What Benedict is telling us is this; only because Jesus is God and then became man and actually became historically present and active in our physical world was he able to break down the impenetrable wall of evil that stood between humankind and the perfection of God in heaven.

Now, another notion that deserves consideration as we think about the Passion of Christ is the idea of God’s demand for atonement. There are many people today who have this image of a cruel Father demanding the bloody Passion of his only Son to atone for the many sins of mankind. My friends, there is nothing that could be further from the truth. The real forgiveness accomplished on the Cross functions in exactly the opposite direction. Here is what Benedict tells us again; “God himself becomes the absolute focal center of reconciliation, and in the person of his Son takes the suffering upon himself. God himself ‘drinks the cup’ of every horror to the dregs and thereby restores justice through the greatness of his love, which, through suffering, transforms the darkness.” Many scholars and theologians through the ages have tried to understand the mystery of the Trinity and failed. What Benedict is telling us, through this very mystery of the Trinity; the limitless creator of our limitless universe is the one suffering on that Cross because of limitless love for us. In my humble opinion, anyone who thinks that is a cruel God, is simply ignorant.

You know, sometimes we Catholics are criticized for our crucifixes depicting the bloody, beaten, and dead body of a human Jesus on the Cross. “After all,” they say, “Jesus has risen in glory and isn’t there on that Cross anymore.” “Well, you’re right” I respond, “but that crucifix vividly reminds me that the King of the Universe, the Creator of the Universe, and God eternal, went through that pain and suffering because of infinite love for me and you.” I like to be reminded of that Divine love for humanity and that’s why I wear a crucifix, display it in my home, and am forever grateful the image of a Crucified Jesus is displayed in the place I worship. In her wisdom, the Church has given us a perfect Gospel reading to define Jesus’ Kingdom and describe the absolute miracle of our Christian faith.

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year B

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 12:49:00 GMT

27 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year B

Peace be with you and greetings on this, our celebration of the Mass for the 27 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. You know, one Sunday afternoon, pre-COVID, I was in the checkout line at Publix and the lady in front of me was a neighbor. After the clerk had wrung everything up for her, she was digging through her purse for her wallet and I happened to notice a TV remote control and couldn’t help asking, “Ann, do you always carry your TV remote in your purse?” “No” she said with a big smile. “I asked Bill to come with me to help with the shopping, but he said he had to stay home and watch football games, so I figured this was the most wicked thing I could do that was still legal.” So – here we are today, having just listened to that beautiful story from Genesis 2 about the creation of the first man and the first woman and the story continues, doesn’t it?

You know, I heard another homily a while back, where the Priest suggested this Creation Story from Genesis we just heard, actually lays out the fundamentals for human anthropology. Specifically, from the very beginning the Bible tells us we are all created to be social creatures. Now I know that may not track with what our Western culture teaches however, about how important our personal individualism is, but like it or not fellow Christians, the Bible tells us we are all created to be social by nature. Listen one more time to what we just heard from God in Genesis, “It is not good for the man to be alone I will make him a suitable partner.” With his uniquely human capacity to love, Adam needs someone coequal, a soul mate, someone to share his life. That good old heathen Aristotle even said, “We can only be friends with someone who is our equal.” “A friend” he said, “is a second self.” And this relationship between a man and a woman presented in Genesis is meant to be the deepest form of friendship. These words create the primordial sacrament. The Bible tells us, “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh.”

Wow, now that’s a very sensual sounding Bible verse, isn’t it? Well again interestingly, in our modern American culture, we Catholics are often criticized for being overly puritanical or opposed to human sexuality as though it is something evil. My sisters and brothers there certainly couldn’t be anything further from the truth. Follow me here for just a minute. I read an article by Dr. Scott Hahn recently, where he says Satan is probably a greater theologian than any human alive. He says Satan could probably quote the Bible better than anyone on earth. Dr Hahn points out that every single demon Jesus ever drove out knew exactly who Jesus was, the Holy One, the Son of God. Now how did they know that – because those nasty old demons had faith? Oh, come on Doc, how can that be, demons with faith? You see, he says, faith alone – without love – collapses in upon itself and of course; Satan and his demons have no love. Everything in the Christian world must be related to love and just like faith, that includes human sexuality. You see, God is love and as Thomas Aquinas said, “love is willing the good of the other.” Consequently, a casual recreational philosophy, where sensuality is good in and of itself, as simply pleasure or entertainment, without love and commitment, will eventually collapse upon itself and ultimately cause pain, hurt, and suffering. Remember, love is willing the good of the other and it must be elemental in every Christian’s life. With love human sexuality is a beautiful gift from God.

Why is love so elemental for our human existence, the Bible emphasizes it, especially in the New Testament. All people are called to holiness and if God is love, holiness and love must be codependent. With this emphasis that all people are called to holiness, Vatican II articulated this about marriage; “marriage is every bit as much a vocation or spiritual calling as the Priesthood or religious life.” My friends, marriage is a vocation from God. When two people are married they actually mirror what God is, because, as Trinity, God is a loving relationship. The Father and the Son are equal and their love of each other as the Holy Spirit is also equal. The Biblical image is clear. Marriage is not simply some secular or social arrangement. It is part of God’s plan for God’s purposes. Marriage is a symbolic sign of God’s very way of being. Now meditate on that for a while folks. Marriage is a symbolic sign of God’s very way of being.

Now we have the Gospel reading for today and along with it, we have an elephant in the room no one wants to talk about – divorce. You know, because of everything going on in our country right now concerning marriage, I’ve stopped referring to what we do here in Church as simply a marriage ceremony, I now call it Sacramental Marriage. Shucks, in Alabama right now you can get married at the bank without any ceremony at all. You download a form from AL.com, two spouses sign, have their signatures notarized, and Zap, they are civilly married. If you want a Catholic Sacramental Marriage however, it will take place in a Church and a Priest, or a Deacon will preside.

Today, we heard Jesus himself quote Genesis 2 before he said, “Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” Friends, in a Catholic Sacramental Marriage the vows recited establish a sacred covenant between a man, a woman, and God. Sadly however, in our fallen world, we realistically know many marriages are not “happily ever after” unions. Consequently, our Church has a unique process, very few people really understand called Annulment. Wait, that’s just Catholic for divorce, right? Wrong!!! Annulment is a type of investigation that proves, a Sacramental Marriage did or did not take place and unfortunately, there are many, many reasons why the authentic truth might say, it did not.

Regardless, wherever any of us in this broken world may be, in our own personal lives right now, above all else remember, GOD IS LOVE and God’s greatest attribute is mercy! Go home today and reflect on what Paul tells us at the end of Romans 8; “Neither height, nor depth, nor anything in all of creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, (Year B)

Tue, 07 Sep 2021 09:42:00 GMT

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, (Year B)

Peace be with you and welcome to our celebration of the Mass for the 23 ^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. You know, when I first read these readings today, I wasn’t overly excited. Initially nothing really jumped off the page. With the Gospel for example, it’s sad to say, but I think all of us hear readings with Jesus performing these amazing miracles so often, I think we sometimes get a little numb to them. We take them for granted. You know what I mean, “ho hum”, just another one of those Jesus’ miracles. Well, after I sat back, closed my eyes, and meditated for a few moments, I realized, there is something very unique and timely about today’s Gospel reading. Something that is still resonating down through the millennia even as we sit here today.

Anyone attended a Catholic Baptism lately? If not, let me refresh your memories. After the child is baptized with water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, the white garment is emphasized as representing a new creation clothed in Christ with the white as an outward sign of Christian dignity. Then a lit candle is passed to a parent or a godparent representing the light of Christ. And then, the celebrant performs the rite of “Ephphatha” or the Prayer over Ears and Mouth. He says this, “May the Lord Jesus who made the deaf hear and the mute speak grant that you may soon receive his word with your ears and profess that faith with your lips, to the glory and praise of God the Father. Amen.” And as he says that prayer, he touches the child’s ears and mouth.

Ephphatha – “be opened”. Friends, this proclamation of Jesus still presents us all with a challenge here in the 21 ^st Century, perhaps even more so that it did 2000 years ago. Of course, on the surface, this is just another one of those Jesus’ miracles in the Bible but spiritually, just like the Church uses “Ephphatha” in the liturgy of baptism, it is a clear and precise instruction for each and every one of us.

You see, the unnamed deaf man represents all of us as we are often deaf to the voice of God and cannot speak plainly the truths of his message. Therefore, the Gospel asks us, in what ways do we need to be opened by God through Jesus? One big clue from the Gospel today is, Jesus crossed into the district of Decapolis. My sisters and brothers, this literally means Jesus crossed outside of the boundaries of his own Jewish homeland. Consequently, it forces us to ask, what boundaries are we afraid to cross to proclaim the Good News of Christ? The list of boundaries that divide us today is almost endless, politics, religion, race, neighborhoods, physical appearance, education, gender, sexual orientation. And Jesus said, “Ephphatha” – be opened!

Be opened. Ask, can we be open to beauty, goodness, and truth in a society so severely divided? Be opened. Know that we can learn from each other, especially from people who may be different than us. Be opened. To the complications of life and the reality that we just can’t always have easy answers. Be opened to the voice of God communicating with us from places we least expect. Be opened to experiences and truths of others that seem foreign to us. Be opened to the voice of God calling us to people and places that make us uncomfortable. Be opened to ultimately receiving love and graces from God.

Unfortunately though, being opened to the voice of God calling us in our modern 21 ^st Century American Society is not an easy task. Anyone ever read C. S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters? In case you haven’t, the general plot line is about an experienced demon, old Screwtape, teaching his apprentice demon, young Wormwood, how to tempt and ultimately take the soul of a new Christian for their master below, Satan. Of course, Screwtape makes maximum use of those secular false gods we all battle every day, pride, pleasure, power, and wealth. Fortunately, in the end however, Screwtape and Wormwood fail but there is one particular bit of wisdom Lewis puts forth in his book I often think about today. Having realized they had failed Screwtape tells Wormwood, someday Satan will make the world so noisy men won’t be able to hear God’s voice. Wow. You know that book was written in the early 1930’s. So here we are today, with our smart phones, smart pads, laptops, desktops, ear buds, smart TVs, wireless networks, and blue tooth. We are so connected to noise generating and visually distracting devices can God breck in? You must wonder, has C. S. Lewis’ 90-year-old prediction come true?

Being open to God’s voice can be challenging as it takes us out of our comfort zones in many, many ways. And when we talk about being open in this spiritual context, we’re not simply talking about hearing. It takes all of our senses. We all must open our hearts and our minds to any form God chooses to call us and there is only one sure way to do that. We must give God a little bit of time in our noisy days. We must find time to disconnect from our electronic world. Ask yourself, when is the last time I’ve intentionally laid my smart phone down in one room and walked to another room, where I can’t hear it? Of course, the operative word here is intentionally. An hour in Mass once a week is magnificent, but doesn’t the unlimited creator of the Universe deserve maybe just a few minutes of our dedicated attention the other six days also? We need time to ask, what needs to be opened inside of us? What do we need to hear from God? How can we let the Spirit strengthen all that seems weak and limited within us so we can be a blessing and strength to others? OK. Here’s our obvious homework. Find a silent place, disconnect from electronics, and dedicate just a few minutes listening to God at least once a day, until you come back to Mass next weekend. Ouch!

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thu, 02 Sep 2021 09:28:00 GMT

21 ^st Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year B

Peace be with you and greetings on this our celebration of the Mass for the 21 ^st Sunday in Ordinary Time. Today we’ve just heard our final reading from the sixth Chapter of John’s Gospel, sometimes called Jesus’ “I am the Bread of Life” discourse. Several times in the last several weeks you’ve heard both Father and me emphasize the importance of this specific chapter for its’ very vivid description of Eucharist, as the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Additionally, often times in the past, you’ve heard me emphasize how important it is for all Catholics to be comfortable enough with the Bible to explain our own faith to our Protestant brothers and sisters in context of God’s written word. This “Bread of Life” discourse is certainly an excellent example of what I’m talking about.

So, today I’m going to do something very unusual for a homily in a Catholic Church during Mass. I’m going to use the commentaries from a KJV Study Bible to talk about Jesus’ “Bread of Life” discourse in John 6. First, when Jesus says he is the living bread come down from heaven and whoever eats this bread will live forever, this Study Bible says, “eat” is really a synonym for faith. And when Jesus’ listeners questioned how He could possibly give his flesh to eat the KJV Study Bible says those questioning were mistaken because Jesus was only speaking figuratively, and they incorrectly took him literally. And finally, in verses 53-58; when Jesus seems to really emphasize, “Eat My flesh and drink My blood:” These Biblical commentary notes say, Jesus had made it abundantly clear, in this context, eternal life is gained by believing. These verses teach that the benefits of Jesus’ death must be obtained, by individual faith.

Now certainly belief and faith are important aspects of Jesus’ message but is that really all he is talking about in his “Bread of Life” discourse? Why is there no mention in this Study Bible, when Jesus is asked to explain his confusing words about eating him as living bread come down from heaven, he actually becomes more descriptive or even crude with his language? He changes his vocabulary from the polite word “esthio” to describe human eating and suddenly uses a verb four times describing animals eating. “Trogo” is a verb really meaning, “chew or “gnaw”. So, should it surprise us at all in today’s Gospel, when we hear Jesus’ own disciples ask, “This saying is hard, who can accept it?” My friends, these are Jesus’ own disciples saying this! These are not Pharisees and Scribes questioning his shocking language. Here as Chapter 6 closes, John emphasizes who Jesus Christ really is and this revelation should make it absolutely clear why our Lord’s words should not be heard figuratively or interpreted as some type of simple metaphor for faith.

Jesus’ disciples were quite used to hearing him speak in agreeable metaphors to describe himself and his work here on earth; I am the vine, the Good Shepherd, the light of the world, the way, the truth, and the life. Never do we hear discord from his followers until today when they ask, “This saying is hard, who can accept it?” Gosh, do you think perhaps they were interpreting what he said literally? So, how does Jesus respond? Does he say something like, “Please don’t worry, this eating my body language just means have faith.” No, absolutely not!!! Jesus’ response is a question, which emphasizes his earlier words even more, “Does this shock you?” In their silence you can almost hear them thinking, “Yes it shocks us Lord. Please explain this eating your flesh and drinking your blood so we can understand what you really mean.” Now, for the rest of this interchange, John’s Gospel again stands out as unique, as John portrays Jesus as both human and divine, which is exactly why we can easily believe and accept his words literally.

Jesus says, “What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit that gives life. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.” My sisters and brothers, unlike human beings, God’s words are not descriptive. God’s words are creative. God imagines the universe, and then speaks it into existence. Right here in John 6, Jesus is reminding everyone listening there and then and everyone throughout eternity, he is the Word of God who dwelt among us. When Jesus speaks things happen; “Little girl get up, Lazarus come out, this is My Body, this is My Blood.” When Jesus told his disciples the words he spoke were both Spirit and Life he was outlining essential elements of what we Catholics call Sacramental. On that day in Capernaum Jesus explained exactly what the Sacrament of Eucharist really is.

Unfortunately, many of Jesus disciples still didn’t get it and then we have arguably some of the saddest words in the New Testament, “Many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” Interestingly, Catholic scholars have written volumes about that one single sentence from John 6. “Many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” Not some, or a few, or a group, but many! Amazingly the scholars who wrote this KJV Study Bible commentaries – were silent. In my own heart I think it is all really explained by Jesus’ next question and their response as he turns to the Twelve Apostles, “Do you also want to leave?” Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” At that moment, it was doubtful, Peter and the other Apostles understood Jesus’ divinity as God incarnate, the second person of the Trinity, but they did know and recognized Him as fulfillment of the promise made to the people of Israel. They may have been confused but they had trust that Jesus’ words were truth – truth for their eternal salvation.

So, as we sit here today, given everything happening in our own present, sometimes tumultuous Catholic world, here’s our homework. Go home, sit quietly, and meditate on Jesus’ question to the twelve for just a few moments, “Do you also want to leave?” Then ask, “Do I truly stand with Jesus Christ of the Eucharist?”

12 Sunday in Ordinary Time June 20, 2021

Tue, 22 Jun 2021 13:06:00 GMT

12 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 20, 2021 (Season B)

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of the 12 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. And today also, just happens to also be Father’s Day. Now for those of you who remember one of Good Shepherd’s pastors from not too long ago, there’s no doubt in my mind if he were standing up here right now, he’d tell us all this is just another one of those Hallmark holidays invented to make us buy stuff. And unless you live in a cave with no TV, computer, or mail delivery, you must certainly understand his opinion. Regardless however, all of us who are alive should probably take some time today to reflect on the miracle of life and say, “thank you” and “happy Father’s Day.”

You know there’s a little story I’ve told before but today especially, it deserves repeating. Hopefully, anyone who has sat here in Mass through the years is at least somewhat familiar with the Biblical word Abba. So, scholars tell us it is a more familiar Aramaic form for the Hebrew word Father and beyond that I personally, had never given it much thought until a business trip to Israel over 30 years ago. I was at a Mediterranean coastal beach near Tel Aviv and noticed a little girl running full speed through the shallows when she suddenly tripped and went facefirst into the sand and water. So, she comes up out of the shallow water on her hands and knees, sputtering and spitting, looks around, sees her father on the beach, and then runs to him with her arms open wide, crying, “Abba, Abba, Abba.” My friends, since that day, some 30 years ago, on a beach in Israel, the word Abba has never really meant the same to me. Jesus lived at a time when the Jewish people wouldn’t even say the sacred Hebrew name of God out loud. Today we pronounce that ancient holy name Yahweh but, after that simple event I witnessed in modern day Israel, I’ve realized Jesus tells us we can literally call God, Daddy. Now I think, there’s something we can meditate on for a while.

So, the Catholic Church cautions homilists on secular holidays like this to stay focused on the readings for the Mass and don’t go astray so to speak. Regardless, there is someone I believe deserves mentioning today in particular however, who may not initially appear to be relevant to today’s readings. Some of you may not even know it, but Pope Francis named 2021 the “Year of St. Joseph” and certainly, I think Father’s Day may be a good time to talk about him for a couple of minutes. The “silent saint” who utters not one single word in Scripture and yet was chosen by God to be the protector and provider for God’s incarnate Son on earth. We’re told by St Matthew; Joseph was a righteous man but even as a righteous Jewish man he does not do exactly what the Mosaic Law called for. Joseph does not put a pregnant Mary aside. Acting on faith, he brings Mary into his home. He parents and protects Emmanuel, “God with us” and quietly, contributes to what Jesus Christ, both God and man, will become. Even impacting in a way, how Jesus would conduct his earthly ministry.

People often say, “We don’t know anything about Joseph.” Well, we do know what matters. The Bible tells us he was righteous. We certainly know he was faithful. His actions proved that. Joseph was courageous as he packed up what little he could and went into the unknown foreign land of Egypt. He was generous as the needs of Mary and the Child Jesus came before all else, even his own familiar life and livelihood. Joseph was wise because he clearly understood God’s ways were not his ways. Perhaps most important to realize is this, Joseph was kind. His kindness may outweigh all his other good qualities, even his righteousness. We all understand, righteousness can sometimes produce judgementalism and become a stumbling block but kindness, which contains an element of mercy, can move that block aside. Joseph’s kindness was a demonstration of his strength. His upbringing, in unyielding righteousness would have told him to cast Mary aside but his kindness taught him mercy at times, must outweigh the law. This is something Jesus himself often taught, perhaps most vividly in the story of the woman caught in adultery.

So, we really do know a lot about Joseph after all. His righteous life developed faith. Faith gave him courage. Courage permitted generosity. Generosity let him grow in wisdom. And ultimately, wisdom taught Joseph kindness. Maybe a good little prayer to say now and then would be, “Saint Joseph, teach me kindness.”

Well sisters and brothers, believe it or not, thanks to good old Saint Augustine and an ancient prayer to Saint Joseph, dating back to the 11 ^th Century AD, it came to me, this Gospel reading today is tied to Jesus’s earthly stepfather. Now however, I have to go back even further than that trip to Israel in the late 80’s to make the connection. In 1968 I was a 20-year-old Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam and on one occasion I admitted to a Catholic Chaplain one of my fears was burning in a crash. So, he hands me a Saint Joseph Holy Card with a prayer on the back and tells me the prayer dates to the First Crusades. He says if I say the prayer daily with faith, I will not die a violent death and will be protected from flames. Really? Now honestly, this was not a very religious time in my life, but as old Ike Eisenhauer once said, “There are no atheists in the foxhole.” So, I prayed. Here are the closing words to that prayer; “I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press him in my name and kiss his fine head for me and ask him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath. St Joseph, patron of departing souls – pray for me.”

Now St Augustine compares today’s Gospel of a boat on a stormy sea to a Christian’s life. He says all of God’s children embark with Christ on a life full of dangerous storms, especially attacks from evil spirits and temptations of the flesh. He always emphasizes that we should never fear, because Christ is ever with us and will never leave us to face our perils alone. With the specific imagery of today’s Gospel reading however, St Augustine likens the sleeping Jesus in the back of the boat to our own reliance on self-centered egos and then, because of distractions by the cares and pleasures of the world, we have allowed the power of God within us to go to sleep. It’s only when we reawaken Christ within us through faith that the power of the storm is calmed.

Consequently, when I read St Augustine’s interpretation of today’s Gospel and thought of the sleeping Jesus in the boat and then thought of the sleeping Jesus in the Prayer to Saint Joseph, I realized through faith, the storms will be calmed, and he will never leave us to face our perils alone.

Pentecost Sunday (May 23, 2021)

Tue, 25 May 2021 13:43:00 GMT

Pentecost Sunday, May 23, 2021 (Season B)

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of one of the greatest Feast Days of the Christian Church, Pentecost. In fact, most scholars and theologians refer to this day literally as the Birthday of the Church.

So, let me start with a question that relates to Pentecost, although you may initially wonder how? Here’s the question, have you ever tried to talk to an atheist or agnostic about God? But first, a warning. Don’t to try to use the Bible. Always remember, the Bible is a book of faith, given to us by God for our salvation but without faith, unfortunately, that atheist will simply say, “it’s all just fiction, legend, and myth.” In fact, if that atheist has read the Bible, he might throw some Biblical inconsistencies in your face that you might find difficult to explain. And then there’s the scientific discussion. Well personally, I’m not qualified to go toe-to-toe with a well-educated atheist in a scientific argument over the existence of God either. I believe in my own heart the universe is far too perfect and complex to be some big cosmic accident, but I don’t have the education to argue the point with an atheistic scientist. There are a couple of events in human history however, that are pretty hard to explain without believing in the divine and they are both tied directly to Pentecost.

For the Jews, Pentecost was both the festival of First Fruits and perhaps more importantly, it also represented Moses receiving the Law from God on Mt. Sinai 50 days after Passover and their escape from Egypt. So here is question number one for that nonbeliever. Given the belief systems and cultures existing around 1200 BC, explain to me how this dusty worn-out tribe of runaway-slaves stumbled out of the Sinai Desert with a set of moral and ethical principles most civilized cultures still use today? Gosh, perhaps they may have encountered God out there in the desert?

And today as Catholic Christians, we celebrate Pentecost as the Holy Spirit infused the followers of Jesus Christ with something both mysterious and remarkable. We know before Pentecost, not only were Jesus’s Apostles generally simple, unsophisticated, working class guys, with little formal education, but they were also a bunch of cowards who abandoned and denied Jesus during his Passion. Now suddenly, they’re standing on a balcony in Jerusalem bravely proclaiming Jesus’s Resurrection in every major foreign language used in that part of the world. Of course, the atheist’s argument is, it was all a big lie or hoax perpetrated by Jesus’s followers.

So now we have question number two. Why would those Apostles stand up there and bravely lie? There was absolutely nothing to gain. History tells us all but one Apostle died a martyr and none of them ever obtained worldly wealth or power. Does anyone seriously think crucifixion, being torn apart by wild animals, or burning at the steak are great motivations for inventing and then perpetuating a lie? Really? Well, that’s exactly what would happen to any devoted Christian who bravely proclaimed his or her faith for about the next 250 years.

The biggest question revolves around Jesus himself, however. If you believe his Resurrection is simply fairy tale and measure his earthly success strictly by the world’s secular standards, Jesus Christ died an absolute failure. He was executed a criminal, in a backwater Roman province, and abandoned by his own followers. He had no social, political, military, or even religious status,,, beyond that of an itinerate preacher. He never even wrote anything down other than a lost message in the dust. So here is the biggest question; there are about 2.2 billion Christians in the world today, given all these secular worldly facts, exactly how did that happen? Now certainly, as people of faith we’re perfectly comfortable talking about miracles and we know about the miracle the Resurrection and of the Christian fire that really started burning at that first Pentecost but – is it still burning as brightly today? The answer my friends is an undeniable, yes!

Let’s look back at last week’s Feast of Jesus’ Ascension for just a minute because those readings sometimes create a trap many of us Christians occasionally fall into. We heard about Jesus being lifted up and disappearing in the clouds and as a result we often view heaven and earth the same way Plato, the Greeks, and the Gnostics did. We sometimes think of God the Son in some spiritual place or existence completely separated from our physical world. Not only is this viewpoint non-Biblical but also, it is exactly what Pentecost proved completely wrong 2000 years ago and still proves wrong today, tomorrow, and forever. Biblically, from Genesis through Revelation, the spiritual and the material are completely intertwined.

As Catholic Christians, the touch of God inflamed by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is certainly no more personal and intimate than in reception of Jesus Christ in Eucharist but here sadly, lack of faith sometimes slips in again. National polls tell us many people right here today do not believe in the real presence. Friends, please listen to what Jesus told Saint Faustina in one of her many mystical encounters with him; “It delights me to come to hearts in Holy Communion. But if there is anyone else in such a heart, I cannot bear it and quickly leave that heart, taking with Me all the gifts and graces I have prepared for the soul. And the soul does not even notice My going.” Ouch! “The soul does not even notice My going.”

5th Sunday of Easter (May 2, 2021)

Tue, 25 May 2021 13:41:00 GMT

Fifth Sunday of Easter: Year B

Peace be with you and, as we come together here on this Fifth Sunday of Easter, I sincerely hope everyone is still experiencing a very happy and blessed Easter season. So, here’s an Easter homework challenge. Today, go wish a stranger happy Easter and watch the look on their face. Who knows, it might give you an opportunity to evangelize a little. So, we just heard Jesus say, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” This is the last of seven “I am” metaphors Jesus uses in John’s Gospel and perhaps the most difficult to understand. John links all seven to some very vivid images. Let’s listen for a moment to the others; “I am the bread of life, I am the light of the world, I am the resurrection and the life, I am the way and the truth and the life, I am the gate,” and from last Sunday, “I am the Good Shepherd.” What do all of these “I am” statements have in common? They give us absolute certainty, Jesus Christ is not simply some inspiring teacher, philosopher, or guru from the past. No, nothing as superficial or simple as that. You may admire Abraham Lincoln or Gandhi, but you don’t call them the resurrection and the life. Jesus is telling us he is a force in which we, as Christians, participate. He is a river of light in which we swim. Today’s Gospel statement is so radical we’re actually told there is an organic relationship between Jesus and humanity. And perhaps most extreme he says, “Without me you can do nothing.” That is certainly not a statement we’d hear from some spiritual guru or philosopher.

Unfortunately, it certainly is a statement that is completely counter to our strong individualistic American culture, however. In this country we’re raised and taught to admire or even emulate that tough, independent, unique individual, aren’t we? Independence is an American icon. And here we have Jesus telling us, “Without me, you can do nothing.” And then he goes on to say, “Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither.” Is Jesus telling us here unless we remain grafted onto him, we cannot be saved or if we don’t worship him, we’re like a worthless branch, broken off, and thrown into a fire? All I can say is, “thank you Lord for telling me eternal judgment ain’t none of my business. And all I’m supposed to do is my best to be a fruitful branch on the vine grower’s vine.”

OK, to really put these “I am” statements into a proper context, especially “I am the vine, you are the branches,” let’s go back to the beginning of John’s Gospel to help us try and understand who Jesus is, maybe just a little bit better. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” The written Greek John used that we translate as “the Word” is Logos, which has a deeper and broader meaning then the simple English four letters, w-o-r-d. As the Logos, Jesus is the very embodiment of the power by which God created and sustains everything. It means that anything that exists, exists through Jesus Christ, the Word, the Logos of God. John brings Jesus’s image into even sharper focus when he says, “All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.” Consequently, we find everything in our very being exists in Jesus. So now when we hear him say, “Without me you can do nothing,” it should make a little more sense. Albeit it still is pretty heavy theology. Perhaps most humbling however, is when we read, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Just think, the power that created and now sustains the whole universe choose to enter human history and dwell among us as a human being.

So, let’s think about the implications here for a minute. “I am the vine, you are the branches” and “Without me you can do nothing.” Jesus, the creative Word of God, is not simply making this proclamation for his disciples 2000 years ago; he is making it for all of humanity for all of eternity. All of humankind, every single person, is somehow spiritually rooted in the same vine, Jesus Christ. Everyone in all of creation is supernaturally rooted in the Logos of God. Now Christians have been given the enormous privilege to know the Logos of God in a most personal way. The Logos by which everything exists, the Logos that undergirds the intelligibility of the universe, the Logos by which all logic, science, and philosophy operate is a real person whom we, in Jesus Christ, have come to know.

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” So as Christians, we know the Word of God through which everything exists as a real person who entered human history. We know Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, as a person who talks with us, walks with us, and feeds us. As Catholic Christians we know Jesus in the most intimate way possible through his real presence in the Eucharist. Whew. As I try to meditate on this for a while, it’s almost impossible to get my head around it. And the unlimited creator of the Universe is not only a friend, but his demonstrated love for me and for you is so great, he freed us from the death of sin by his own suffering and death on the Cross. Everyone may be rooted in Christ, but Christians have been given the incomparable privilege of knowing personally and physically the Logos of God.

Finally listen to what Jesus says at the end of today’s Gospel, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.” So, are these magic words? Does this mean I can pray for that new Corvette? No, you have to put them in context with his next sentence. “By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” In our personal relationship with Jesus, the Logos of God, he wants us to always live, act, and seek gifts that will glorify the Father. If you remain personally rooted in Jesus Christ, your mind will become aligned with him and you will be given gifts that will enable you to give glory to God. Every single day all of us should pray to the Lord for gifts of grace enabling our thoughts, words, and actions only to give Him glory.

Third Sunday of Easter (April 18, 2021)

Tue, 25 May 2021 13:40:00 GMT

Third Sunday of Easter: Season B

Peace be with you and welcome to our Mass for this amazing celebration for the Third Sunday of Easter. Well, you might have noticed the scene from today’s Gospel reading from Luke is the same scene we heard last week presented in the Gospel of John. They are generally the same, but they are also subtly different. For example, today we’re missing that beautiful proclamation from Thomas, “My Lord and my God.” Whereas in Luke, Jesus offers everyone in the room a physical touch but the real proof he’s not just spirit is eating a piece of baked fish. Friends, you’ve heard Father Tim and I both caution over and over about using the Bible as a modern “schoolbook” type history and this is a good example for that caution. A sceptic might ask, “so, what did Jesus actually say?” Our answer should be, “we’re not really sure, but the salvation message is the same in both Gospels and that’s really what the Bible is all about.” The Catholic Church teaches the Bible is the inspired Word of God, given to us without error, for our salvation. With an emphasis for our salvation. It’s not a very good history book and it’s certainly not a science book, even though some Christians persist in trying to use it as both. The Bible is a book of faith given to us for our salvation. Amen! And that salvation message is exactly what we’re going to talk about for the next few minutes.

My sisters and brothers, the combination of our first reading today from Acts of the Apostles and our Gospel reading, both written by Saint Luke by-the-way, present us precisely with what it really means to be a Christian. They also present us with a master class in preaching our faith, which we should all be comfortable with. First, in Acts, Peter presents a very clear tension between sin and grace but note, he presents the good news of grace first. In talking about our Christian Faith always start with the Good News first. What we just heard from Peter is his very first sermon preached in the Temple precincts after Pentecost. “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.” Now that is the good news. Jesus Christ has opened the doors of grace for us all. But then, Peter drops the hammer. “You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. The author of life you put to death.” Ouch. Considering where Peter was standing at that moment and who his audience must have been, it’s lucky he survived the day. Talk about a poke in the eye.

There are a couple of key points I’d like to make here about talking the Christian Faith, however. First, our Christian Faith is Biblical. Normally it’s always Matthew who emphasizes Jesus’s Jewish roots because his Gospel was written primarily to a Jewish audience. But here we have Luke the Greek, who was writing primarily to a Greek audience, emphasizing Jesus as clearly in the Jewish Biblical linage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is important to remember when you run into people who love to turn Jesus into just another philosopher or guru of the past who was simply a nice guy who taught nice things. Friends, that’s not Biblically Christian.

The next key point I’d like to make when talking Christianity is one that’s really, really unpopular in today’s culture, and that’s sin. Unfortunately, in today’s modern world relativism has become a new religion and the masses are embracing it with enthusiasm. “If I’m not hurting anyone, what does it matter what I do?” Or “Those are you’re rules, not mine.” Or “I’m a victim. If there’s something wrong with me it’s always somebody else’s fault.” Theologians, scholars, and philosophers have written volumes on the dangers of relativism, but it is alive and well and growing fast. Black and white, right and wrong, sinfulness and righteousness sound judgmental and today that seems to be a bad thing.

Well standby folks – here comes is a statement that may shock many of you here today. When we lose sight of sin, we lose sight of Christianity. Let me repeat that, when we lose sight of sin, we lose sight of Christianity. Why would I say that? Because Christianity is a salvation religion. Christianity is a saving religion. It is not just some nice philosophy among many others in the world. Now, there is a danger when talking about our Christian Faith, however. Just like Peter did today, start with grace before talking about sin, and then always close, just like he did, with the salvation message.

Jesus laid out the whole Christian proclamation pretty clearly in the Gospel reading. He opens by first offering His grace of peace. “Peace be with you,” He said. OK, but then you might ask, when does Jesus even mention sin? Well, let me ask you this first, how do you think his Apostles might have felt when he said, “Look at my hands and my feet?” Remember, these are the same guys that all ran away at his darkest hour. Peter even denied him. But you know what? His invitation to, “Look at my hands and my feet” is an invitation for each and every one of us. Jesus’s wounds are permanently a judgement on the whole world. All of our sins did that to Him. Whenever we’re ready to say, everything is OK with me, remember the wounds of Jesus. Go home and meditate on this today. Why did Jesus appear with His wounds still present on his body at all? He certainly could have chosen not to.

This simply stated is it. We are all flawed people, but thank God, because of Jesus Christ, we all have divine bookends on either side of our flawed human lives. This is a proclamation of our Christian Faith. Grace, sin, and salvation. That’s it everybody. Grace, sin, and salvation.

4th Sunday of Advent: Season B

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 14:57:00 GMT

4 ^th Sunday of Advent: Season B

Peace be with you and welcome to our celebration of the Mass for the 4 ^th Sunday of Advent and look at this – all four candles on our Advent Wreath are now burning brightly!!! And we all know what that means. Christmas is almost here. And for those of you with young children at home, I’m sure the excitement is really building. And speaking of kids, I’d like to take a minute and tell a little Christmas story about children. For those of you who have attended my Bible Study classes in the past you may remember it because I’ve often used it as a lesson about reading the Bible and sometimes misinterpreting the meaning because we often read it too literally.

Ms. Jones is a 3 ^rd Grade teacher in a public school and several years ago just before Christmas break, she had her students drawing pictures with Christmas themes. As she walked around the classroom, she saw some were drawing Christmas trees, Santa Claus, and snow men, while others were drawing religious scenes with angels, mangers, Mary, Joseph, and a baby Jesus. Then she came up behind little Johnny and looked over his shoulder at his artwork. From one side of the paper to the other was an outline of what appeared to be a big jet airplane with four people inside. Now remember, I’m talking about third graders here, so the people were kind-a like stick figures. There were three in the middle of the plane and there seemed to be two adults and one small child, with the fourth figure up front apparently flying the plane. So, she asked; “Gosh Johnny, is that you and your parents going on a trip for Christmas?” “Oh no Ms. Jones.” He exclaimed, “That’s Jesus, Mary, and Joseph on their flight to Egypt.” “Wow,” she said encouragingly, “that’s very creative. And is that person up front flying the airplane?” “He sure is,,, that’s Pontius the Pilot.” So, there’s your Christmas Bible reading lesson for the day. Beware getting too literal.

Now you know, I don’t normally read long quotes during my homilies, but I cannot possibly express this miraculous event with the same eloquence the great Saint Irenaeus did almost 1800 years ago when he wrote this; “Never was there a more entire or humiliating defeat than that which this day befell Satan. The frail creature, over whom he had so easily triumphed at the beginning of the world, now rises and crushes his proud head. Eve conquers in Mary. God would not choose man for the instrument of His vengeance; the humiliation of Satan would not have been great enough; and therefore, she – who was the first prey of hell, the first victim of the tempter, is selected to give battle to the enemy. The result of so glorious a triumph is that Mary is to be superior not only to the rebel angels, but to the whole human race, yea, to all the angels of heaven. Seated on her exalted throne, she, the Mother of God, is to be the Queen of all creation. Satan, in the depths of the abyss, will eternally bewail his having dared to direct his first attack against the woman, for God has now so gloriously avenged her; and in heaven, the very Cherubim and Seraphim reverently look up to Mary, and deem themselves honored when she smiles upon them, or employs them in the execution of any of her wishes, for she is the Mother of their God.” Wow. Now if that doesn’t make you want to run home and mark this Annunciation sequence in your Bibles, I’m not sure I can say anything else that would.

You might ask why one of our earliest Church Fathers, from the Second Century, would write with such obvious emotion about the physical Incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ and his very human mother Mary? You see, Irenaeus was one of the most vehement opponents of the very powerful Gnostic Heresy that was threatening the early Church for several hundred years. The Gnostics held that everything physical in the world was inherently evil and that Jesus Christ himself only “appeared” to be physically human during his short time on earth. Consequently, there was no way a physical human woman could possibly be called the “Theotokos”, the God bearer.

So, whether you come to one of the vigil Masses on Thursday, the Christmas Mass on Friday morning, or watch the Mass streamed through your computer from home, remember the real miracle we’re celebrating started nine months before Jesus’ actual birth. Now, let me make a little suggestion, as one of your final reflections, as Advent draws to a close, you might consider rereading this Gospel sequence we just heard today and reflect on the miracle taking place because of Mary’s freely given words of surrender to God’s will; “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

1st Sunday of Advent: Season B

Wed, 02 Dec 2020 13:00:00 GMT

Peace be with you and welcome to our celebration of the Mass for the 1 ^st Sunday of Advent and Happy New Year! You know, if this weren’t the “Year of Weird” as I’ve started calling it, you’d have come into a much fuller Church today, with no blue tape on the pews, and found brand new Missalettes with 2021 printed on the covers, ready to pick up and use during our celebration of our first Advent Mass. At least we do have the Advent Wreath present with the first candle burning to signal the beginning of this special season and the beginning of a new liturgical year.

So, as I started meditating on Advent 2021 and got ready to write a homily for this weekend, I couldn’t help thinking about how completely different everything is from last year at this very same time. At first my mind dwelt on all of the bad; businesses closed, jobs lost, illnesses, deaths, a complete disruption of our “normal” American – gosh, I’d have to say our whole global, lifestyle. A general worldwide atmosphere of anxiety, bewilderment, or even fear. If you’d asked me a year ago, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you what “social distancing” really even meant.

Then you know what happened? As I sat there thinking about all of the negatives, I sort of got a big spiritual tap on the shoulder. As I reread all three of today’s readings a question formed in my heart, “Paul really, what is Advent supposed to be all about anyway?” Friends, just think about how you’ve spent most of your Advent Seasons in past years? Have you ever known people who’ve said they’re glad when Christmas was finally over so they could slow down and relax? Have you ever been there yourself? I know I have and, I’ll have to admit, it wasn’t my spiritual activities that consumed all my time either.

I once heard a somewhat cynical old Priest say this during his Advent Homily, “Most Catholics really only recognize two liturgical seasons, Lent and not-Lent.” Well, here we are in the “not-Lent” Season of Advent 2021. My sisters and brothers, here’s what I’m going to personally do, and I would challenge you to do the same thing during this very unusual Advent Season we find ourselves in. It’s really what all of us should have been doing during every single Advent Season past but maybe this year we’re being given an opportunity to slow down and make it a reality. I’m going to get in touch with the fact that I’m not, yet the person God wants me to be and – I need a savior.

Nothing could be more appropriate for Advent, as we prepare to celebrate birth of Christ, our Lord and Savior, then the hymn we hear over and over during this special season, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here.” Now, if we flash back to last year’s Advent Season with our days jammed full of Christmas shopping, social events, new movie premiers, and overall holiday preparations, the song’s lyrics might have just pleasantly gone in one ear and out the other. This year however, I’m moving a little slower and for me personally, the hymn’s words resonate a little deeper in my heart. I need a savior.

St Augustine once said we’re all in the grip of the lust to self-dominate. Now, some 1600 years later, we literally live in a society that encourages us to focus almost totally on ourselves. A society that encourages the lust to self-dominate. What’s in it for me? Who are you to tell me what to do? I’m beautiful, and your words can’t bring me down. I’m OK, you’re OK. They are all little mantras 21 ^st Century Americans love to embrace, and they are all counter to the heart of Biblical teaching. It seems humanity is a big dysfunctional family that needs intervention. For this, we all need a savior. O come, O come Emmanuel.

With the first reading we heard today from the 63 ^rd Chapter of Isaiah, the Church has given us a keynote address for Advent. We heard, “Why do you let us wander, O Lord, from your ways.” As I meditate on this simple phrase I pray, O Lord let me enter into the knowledge and feeling that I have wondered from the path you want me to walk. I need the grace and discernment to recognize the path that will fulfill your plan for my creation, and I need the grace to follow that path. For this, I need a savior. Again, we heard, “Behold, you are angry, and we are sinful.” As I meditate on this simple phrase O God, I know in my heart your anger is not the anger of man, but it is a loving passion to set things right. I know O God; you burn with a loving passion to put us all in right relationship with you. For this, we need a savior. Finally, we heard, “We are the clay and you the potter. We are all the work of your hands.” With this simple phrase O God, you are perhaps asking the most difficult of all. You are asking me to surrender my will to be shaped by your hands. For this, I need a savior.

My friends, I hope you see what the biggest challenge for us all during this Advent Season is. We must, must all recognize the absolute need for a savior. Perhaps most critical in the recognition of our need for a savior is, however, we are not talking exclusively about Jesus Christ, but about God. God is eternally a Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus of Nazareth was not some free-floating holy man. Jesus was both fully divine and fully human, but if the fully human Jesus is not God incarnate, then salvation is not from God after all. If Jesus is not the second person of the Trinitarian Godhead as attested to in the Nicene Creed, then God’s self was not directly involved in the manger at Bethlehem nor the Cross on Golgotha.

So, your homework is, do everything you can during this Advent Season to increase the feeling and need to be saved by God from a sinful world. And as you prayerfully visualize your savior, Jesus Christ, go beyond the cute little baby in the manger but also remember the bloody, battered body on the cross. That is the unimaginable demonstration of the love that saved us all. O God, I need a savior.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Season A

Wed, 02 Dec 2020 12:59:00 GMT

Peace be with you and welcome to our celebration of the Mass for the 32 ^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. So today, before I talk about the readings, I’m going to take just a couple of minutes to talk about this coming Wednesday, November 11 ^th . The day here in America, we’ve specifically set aside to honor our countries’ Veterans. For all of you history buffs, you also know Veterans Day used to be called Armistice Day in recognition of WWI veterans only. When at the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, in 1918, the battlefields went silent, bringing to a close the “War to end all wars.” Unfortunately, the egos of the victors got in the way and the severe conditions of surrender forced upon the losers ultimately, laid the foundation for WWII, just 20 short years later. Maybe a lesson to learn here, you think?

OK, enough about that ancient history. Personally, I would like to say, as a Veteran, it’s really good to live here in Huntsville. For one thing, this city has one of the biggest Veteran’s Day Parades in the entire Nation. Unfortunately, this year, because of the pandemic, there will be no parade. Regardless, Huntsville really does love showing appreciation for our Nation’s veterans, and all of us who served, really do feel the love. Thank you.

Let me talk briefly about one hero in particular though. CPT Michael J. Quealy died 54 years ago today (tomorrow), November 8, 1966, in combat, in the Tay Ninh Province of Vietnam. At 37 he was a little old for a brand-new CPT but what really made him unique – he was a Catholic Priest serving as a Chaplain with the 1 ^st Inf Div. And he was exactly where he wanted to be, doing exactly what he wanted to do. In a Time Magazine article, you can read online, it said he had developed his own solution so he could best spiritually support the troops. He would hop on the outgoing Medevac helicopters headed into the heaviest combat and then remain on the ground serving the injured and administering Sacraments to the dying. Concerning the day, he actually died, the BN Cdr told Time he was, “the bravest man I’ve ever seen.” Chaplain CPT Quealy was posthumously awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart. So why did I choose to talk about Father Quealy in particular? Well, it seems, before he volunteered for the Army he served right here in our own Diocese. He had been the Pastor at Holy Spirit Church in Winfield, AL and when our own Father Tim was assigned there as Pastor some years later and researched the story, he went to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC, did a rubbing of CPT Quealy’s name from the Memorial’s Wall, and brought it back to Holy Spirit for framing and mounting. One last Veterans Day point before I move on to today’s readings. From WWI on, six Chaplains have been awarded the highest medal for valor in the US, the MOH. All six were Catholic Priests.

So, our second reading for today is from Paul’s 1 ^st letter to the Thessalonians. Now, if you were listening you’ve already heard Father Tim say, 1 ^st Thessalonians was Paul’s first letter written. There is an important point to remember about all of Paul’s letters though. Most scholars agree, Paul wrote his letters before Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote their Gospels. Now, if you meditate on that for a while, you begin to realize just how much the Holy Spirit must have filled Paul’s mind and heart to be able to write everything he did without ever experiencing the human Jesus or reading the Gospels. So, if 1 ^st Thessalonians is his first letter, that means it is oldest document in the entire New Testament, probably written in the early 50’s of the 1 ^st Century AD. And as you read it, you might realize, Paul was expecting Jesus’ second coming real soon. This is important when we read Paul’s letters in context of the whole New Testament. He didn’t have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and sometimes his theology might seem just a little bit contradictory to the Gospels. That’s why I always say, read the whole of Scripture. For example; today we just heard 1Thess 4:17, “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” This specific verse is one of the primary scripture passages some of our Christian brothers and sisters use to prove the “Rapture”. You’ve probably seen it portrayed in movies when, just before that nasty tribulation starts, the righteous people all disappear leaving only a pile of clothes behind.

This time of year, as Ordinary Time draws to a close, the Church always gives us these “apocalyptic type” readings to get us ready for Advent and Christmas but what’s the real message Jesus continues to give us over and over in these readings? Always be ready because no one knows the actual time. Personally, I call it the “banana peel concept”. I could slip on the old proverbial banana peel today and my life on earth would be over. Then the only question then is; have I kept enough oil in my lamp to light the path and am I ready to meet the bridegroom? Friends, in today’s Gospel that lamp stands for the divine life we were all given in baptism and that lamp is filled with oil by prayer, faith filled study, the Sacraments, love, works of mercy, and any other spiritual example Jesus gave us by his words and actions.

What burns that oil up is our own indifference, our vanity, our inability to establish genuinely human relationships, our failures to help someone who is alone, abandoned, or ill, our ever-consuming human desire for power, pleasure, and wealth, and perhaps most of all, our own pride.

Staying vigilant does not mean physically keeping our eyes open, however. In todays parable all ten virgins went to sleep. It means having one’s heart free and facing the right direction. Being vigilant in life is the attitude of faithfully awaiting the Lord, of being ready. Jesus Christ presents himself in some way each and every day of our lives. He knocks at the door of our hearts but if our hearts are so full of things of the world, the things that are always there pulling us away from the divine life of baptism, there may be so much distraction, we never hear His knock. Jesus proposes life as a vigil of diligent expectation, which heralds the bright day of eternity. So, let’s keep our lamps full with the oil that illuminates our divine lives and don’t let the world burn it all up.

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Season A

Wed, 02 Dec 2020 12:57:00 GMT

Peace be with you and welcome to our celebration of the Mass for the 23 ^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. You know folks, as I sat down and read this Gospel reading today and meditated on it for a while, personally, I was a little confused. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve told people how thankful we should all be because Jesus Christ let us off the hook about judging others. I mean right here in Matthew’s own Gospel back in Chapter 7 Jesus says clearly, “Stop judging, that you may not be judged.” Oh, by the way, his guidance about non-judgementalism is a common thread throughout all four Gospels. Today however, we just heard Jesus give his disciples guidance that sounds an awful lot like they are supposed to judge and then take action based their success. So, what gives here Lord? Are we supposed to be judgmental Christians or non-judgmental Christians? And what am I supposed to do with this kind of a question during an 8- or 9-minute homily?

Well, before we try to peel back the layers around this perceived contradiction in Matthew, let’s look at our second reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans for a couple of minutes, where he says; “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another.” And then again, “Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.” Generally, that’s the same thing Jesus said over and over when he was discussing the Mosaic Law with the Pharisees and Scribes isn’t it? And if you’ve heard me preach before, you’ve often heard me quote St Thomas Aquinas’ definition of the pure “love” Jesus and Paul are talking about in the Bible. “Love is, willing the good of the other.” Friends – this must always be our start point as we read the Bible. Jesus made it really, really simple; love God and love your neighbor. And Aquinas helped clarify when he told us; “Love is, willing the good of the other.” Oh my, oh my! Such easy words to say but so very hard to put into practice.

OK, with this definition of love as our footing and start point, let’s go back to the Gospel reading. First of all, I followed the advice I give others when something I read in the Bible confuses me. I turn to expert scholarly commentary and here I found something about Matthew’s Gospel I didn’t realize before. Scholars tell us there are 5 great sermons or discourses by Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel and we just heard part of one today. They are; the “Sermon on the Mount” in Chapters 5, 6, and 7, the “Church’s missionary” sermon in Chapter 10. That’s where Jesus tells us to take up our crosses and follow him by the way. Then we find the “sermon of parables” in Chapter 13. The “church order” sermon in Chapter 18, where today’s Gospel reading came from. And finally, we have the “great judgment” sermon in Chapter 25 with the sheep on the right and the goats on the left.

Now in my humble opinion, the title “church order” used by the scholars for Matthew 18 is misleading. Consequently, I would highly recommend you sit down and read all of Chapter 18 sometime soon to put today’s Gospel in a better context. It really has nothing to do with the structure of the Church at all. Jesus’ discourse in Chapter 18 is all about the care the disciples must have for one another in respect to guarding each other’s faith, to seeking out those who have wondered away from the fold, and to repeated forgiving those who have offended them. OK, you might ask; what about this part of Jesus’ sermon we heard today about going to someone who sinned and ultimately, if they don’t listen, treating them like a Gentile or a tax collector? Not only does that sound judgmental but it also sounds pretty final.

Well, here is an excellent example of why reading the whole of scripture is so important. First remember our anchor point about love. “Love is, willing the good of the other.” Next, listen to how Jesus starts this discourse in Matthew 18. We did not hear it in today’s Gospel, but this is important because it really puts the whole sermon in context. “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Wow! My sisters and brothers, this simple sentence not only defines Jesus’ principal criticism of the religious hierarchy he was butting heads with 2000 years ago, but it provides us with clear direction for interpreting today’s Gospel reading.

Jesus is clear throughout the NT, final judgment always belongs to the Father but, based on today’s readings, we are not supposed to ignore a fellow Christian’s spiritually self-destructive behavior. Here are some guidelines to follow; don’t approach anyone with an “in your face” stance of moral superiority. That’s exactly what those Pharisees Jesus was always fighting with were doing. Never use the Bible or the Church as a weapon of moral aggression. Always approach your brother or sister with love. Remember, love is, willing the good of the other.

You know what’s really interesting about today’s culture? We so easily fall into the “I’m OK, you’re OK” mantra and don’t worry much about morality. It seems everyone believes they have their right to their own opinions about everything, don’t they? Whether it’s from a personal lifestyle, to what is a marriage, to when a human life begins, or when human life should end, it’s my right to decide isn’t it? And what’s really interesting is, people often point to Jesus’ own words in the Bible about judging others to defend their behavior, no matter how bizarre or self-destructive that behavior may be. Well guess what? Friends, the message emphasized in our Gospel reading today is this; if we remain indifferent to someone’s moral failures or self-destructive behavior, we are NOT demonstrating Christian love. We are not willing the good of the other. And if you think moral behavior is subjective, go read the Sermon on the Mount.

So, what are we supposed to do when we encounter immoral behavior? First read today’s Gospel. Then, in a context of love,,, talk. Talk one-on-one. We so often do exactly the opposite though, don’t we? The individual whose behavior is offensive is often the last person we talk to. It’s just so easy and sometimes actually fun, to talk to other people or even turn to social media when we find someone’s behavior objectionable. Our culture gives us examples of that every day, but the Gospel message is this; sit down eye-to-eye in an atmosphere of humble love and talk. Next, if that doesn’t work, is what the 12-step process calls intervention. Two or three of you who sincerely love and are honestly concerned about your brother’s or sister’s well-being,,, talk. And finally, don’t take the phrase “tell the Church” literally. Go to the community that cares because of love. And that may take many forms such as, professional mental health care or a support group.

OK, say all of that fails. What exactly does, “treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector” mean? My friends, Jesus Christ himself sat down and broke bread with sinners all of the time. It drove those self-righteous Pharisees and Scribes nuts and they finally had him crucified. True, you never hear Jesus tell the prostitute just keep doing what you’re doing. His message is always one of repentance, but he never turns his back on the sinner.

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 10-13-19, Year C

Tue, 15 Oct 2019 09:53:00 GMT

Peace be with you on this our celebration of the Mass for the 28 ^th Sunday in Ordinary time. So, today is all about saying thank you to God right – or is there more? The Gospel reading itself almost sounds like a parable Jesus might use for teaching, doesn’t it? I mean wow, nine of the ten lepers cured by Jesus of the most dreaded disease known don’t even come back and say “thank you.” How strange is that? And oh, by the way, the one and only clean leper that does come back glorifying God and giving thanks, just happens to be one of those despicable Samaritans. Well, maybe we do have another lesson to contemplate here besides what appears to be the obvious one of thanking God for a miracle? I mean Jesus, the Jewish teacher, isn’t even supposed to talk to a Samaritan let alone cure his illnesses.

Then in the first reading from the 2 ^nd Book of Kings, we have another hated outsider being cured of leprosy. It’s not completely obvious unless you read the whole scene from 2 ^nd Kings Chapter 5 but this Naaman guy, we just heard about, is actually a Syrian General and so, another non-Jew and consequently, another outsider. In the story his servant, who just happens to be a slave captured from Israel, convinces him to go see the Prophet Elisha to cure his leprosy. Again, the message here is not his miraculous cure but his confession of faith when he says; “I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any other god except the Lord.” Ultimately, he takes home two mule loads of Israel’s dirt so he can worship Israel’s God on Israel’s home soil. Naaman’s profession of faith, coupled with the Gospel, when we hear Jesus telling the unnamed Samaritan, also cured of leprosy; “Stand up and go, your faith has saved you” might be an indication there is a message other than two stories of miraculous cures.

You see, both are also stories of salvation and faith of people who are outsiders or on the fringe. The Samaritan would be considered a complete outcast, absolutely hopeless, and a total non-person in the 1 ^st Century Jewish society. Do you think there could be something to contemplate, like the foreign alien or repulsive stranger we want to ignore; the forgotten man or woman, the disgusting one, or the desperate one? While meditating on these scriptures and this topic, remember this also, some part deep within ourselves may be that outsider or rejected outcast as well. So, whether the outcast is actually another individual who we habitually reject and turn our backs on or someone deep within ourselves, might I suggest we try to develop some qualities to help us welcome the outcast exactly as Jesus taught.

The first quality, oddly enough, is gratitude. A grateful person is usually the one who does not take anything for granted. Such people have an eye to see what is being done for them. They recognize the long preparations before they sit down to eat! The careful planning before a family reunion or a parish picnic makes them appreciate the unnamed workers behind the scenes. These grateful people discover what most of us overlook and then, they express their joy and appreciation.

Grateful people are usually optimistic people also. They can anticipate the good which others are capable of doing. All ten of the lepers saw in Jesus the kindly person capable and willing to heal their disease. Similarly, some people have the wonderful insight to see and encourage great potential in others. They can turn the useless outcast into a “miracle worker.” They thus make it possible for others to find themselves. This kind of optimism, perhaps, is what Jesus meant by faith, faith in others as gifted by God. Jesus addressed the Samaritan; “Stand up and go, your faith has saved you.”

By optimism then, we are disposed to recognize talents and qualities in others, which many have been overlooking when categorizing them as “outsiders.” Moreover, with all the more enthusiasm we honor this hidden part of them when we attribute the gift to God’s generosity. The Samaritan “came back praising God.” Naaman declared that his cure shows “there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel.” Such praise of God not only enhances the hidden gift in the other person, but it also gives a note of urgency to act upon it.

A good memory is also important to recognize the outsider and to allow this hidden aspect of ourselves or of others to reach full potential. Memory is the ability to draw upon the best of one’s own life and one’s own tradition. Memory says: look what wonderful things you have already done; this proves you can still do more, so don’t give up. Memory is at the heart of biblical religion as we recall God’s great redemptive acts and hear the greatest of all repeated during the Mass as the Priest says; “do this in remembrance of me.”

Finally, as I when I started today, we are often afraid to identify and face the stranger for fear of the demands upon us. At the very least the outsider will upset our schedule because often this castoff will require our attention. In some real way it imprisons us. It may even put upon us some of the outcast’s shame and humiliation. At the time of Jesus there was a real fear of becoming contaminated by the leper and made impure by the foreigner but ultimately,,, doesn’t Jesus’ Gospel message teach the exact opposite?

Our Christ like actions on earth enable the stranger and outcast to find themselves, their true self, and their hidden potential. What was hidden is found for eternal glory. Paul also infers the magnificent possibility that we who preach and live the gospel will rediscover that same gospel when; by gratitude, by faith, and by remembrance we bring to light God’s wonderful gifts hidden within ourselves and within others.

So, today’s readings mean much more than simply saying thank you to God for the many gifts we’re given. The deeper message here is one of recognizing, accepting, and maybe even embracing the outcast, whether that outcast is standing on the street corner or hidden in our own hearts. Then to accept that outcast or offer that embrace God has given each and every one of us unique human qualities we should continue to develop and nourish, they are; gratitude, optimism, remembrance, and most of all courage to live the gospel in faith.

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, (Year C)

Tue, 17 Sep 2019 11:59:00 GMT

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, (Year C)

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of the Mass for the 23 ^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. You know, as I initially began to meditate on this Gospel today I thought, “whoa, hate father and mother, wife and children, are you kidding me? What can I say about such extreme words from Jesus that sound so ugly and threatening?” I don’t know about you but when I was raising my own children and heard any of them use the word “hate”, especially when talking about their feelings for other people, I would cringe. It would often generate one of those, “Oh Dad!” type conversations. Hatred is just such a strong and negative emotion.

Is this really what Jesus meant in today’s Gospel? Well, in the context of our own modern English language, the short answer is no. In context of Jesus’ 1 ^st Century Jewish audience his use of the word hate would have referred to love versus a strong preferential love. His Jewish listeners would have probably reflected on Genesis where it says God loved Jacob and hated Esau. In that context God loved them both but his strong preferential love was given to Jacob. Perhaps the way Matthew wrote about this same event in his Gospel at 10:37 might seem a little more acceptable to our 21 ^st Century sensitivities where Jesus says; “Whoever loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me.”

There is a phrase from today’s Gospel that would have completely shocked to Jesus’ 1 ^st Century audience however, when he said, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” Today we easily think of the loving spiritual message offered by the symbol of the cross but in 1 ^st Century Israel it represented brutal torture, cruelty, death, and perhaps most difficult to comprehend, absolute and complete public humiliation.

So what is going on here in these nine short verses from Luke? Where are those words of love, mercy, and forgiveness we’re used to hearing from Jesus? I think the answer comes in the very first verse when Luke tells us, “Great crowds were traveling with Jesus.” It sounds like Jesus was rapidly becoming the ancient equivalent of a modern rock-star. It probably deserves some serious contemplation on our part right here to think about these great crowds in this scene – compared to the few disciples at the foot of the cross during Jesus’ Passion and death. And while we’re contemplating those two scenes, enthusiastic crowds versus his passion on the cross, we probably should do a little soul searching ourselves.

In these nine verses Jesus uses the phase “my disciple” three times and each time he ties it to what our modern secular culture might call negative motivators; suppress love of family, take up your cross, and set aside possessions. If Jesus were a modern rock-star and used language like this to encourage album and t-shirt sales his manager would go crazy. This is the whole point to this reading though. Jesus is not trying to sell earthly popularity, merchandise, or entertainment. He has turned to this huge crowd and told them this whole discipleship thing is not going to be easy and it probably will be painful. He was trying to make it very clear to his listeners 2000 years ago and the reading is sending exactly the same message to us today, just being a fan of Jesus isn’t good enough. We always have to ask ourselves, “Am I a true follower of Jesus Christ or just one of his fans?” And perhaps one of the best times to ask this question is when we leave Mass today.

In his book “Theology for Beginners”, Frank Sheed says this, “To see ourselves merely as spectators at Mass is to miss the opportunity to take our part in the highest action done on earth.” The highest action done on earth, wow! You see my friends, in the Mass Jesus has given us the perfect form of worshiping God and that is exactly why we are supposed to be here today – giving worship to God,,, not to be entertained. And of course the pinnacle of our worship is the intimate and personal reception of Jesus himself in the Eucharist. If we walk out of Mass feeling board or disappointed because we just weren’t appropriately entertained, we just might want to think about that question; “am I a true follower of Jesus or just a fan?”

Today’s Gospel makes it perfectly clear; if we love God first everything else in our spiritual lives will fall into place. If however, we let love of something or someone else in this physical world move ahead of God, our spiritual lives will never be right.

You know last Thursday, Sep 5 ^th was the Feast Day of St. Teresa of Calcutta, or simply called Mother Teresa. I can’t imagine anyone in my own lifetime who most clearly defines being a true follower of Christ. She chose to live in one of the most horrible places on earth to bring Jesus to societies’ most despicable people. She called them all, “Jesus in disguise.” And I’m not sure if you’ve ever read any of her little books but she had an amazing gift for expressing profound wisdom using very few words. Personally, I’ve always liked to call her the little Saint of one-liners. One of my own favorites that perhaps also helps sum up her own life was this; “I know God will never give me more than I can handle. I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.”

She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and in keeping with her gift for wisdom expressed with few words, as she stood there on the world’s great stage with everyone watching and listening, the moderator asked her what we can do to promote world peace. Instead of a speech, she answered with six simple words, “Go home and love your family.”

And finally, in all of her humility, I’m sure Mother Teresa never dreamed she would one day be canonized a saint yet she said this many years before her own death. “If I ever become a Saint – I will surely be one of ‘darkness.’ I will continually be absent from Heaven – to light the light for those in darkness on earth.” So, whenever you feel a little darkness in your own life or you feel like that cross, you’re carrying is just too great, you have a special saint in Heaven ready to intercede for you. For myself however, I like to meditate on Mother Teresa just a little whenever I’m really challenged by that “fan or follower” question.

The 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C

Wed, 21 Aug 2019 10:55:00 GMT

Peace be with you and greetings on this, our celebration of the 20 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Well,,, today’s Gospel reading doesn’t come across real bright and cheery does it? What’s with all this talk about division, one against another, even within the same family? It all kind-a reminded me of a story my friend John once told me when he and his wife had gotten into a pretty serious argument. Now mind you, John and Janis have now been married for over 50 years and are still deeply in love but like any long relationship, there were bumps in the road along the way. They had been in the car traveling all day and had spent the last hour or so in complete silence because of a heated argument. They were not saying a word to each other as they passed a farm with a big barnyard full of pigs. At that point John attempted a little sarcastic humor when he should have just kept his mouth shut. He glanced at Janis and then motioned towards the barnyard and asked, “relatives of yours?” Now Janis is not only an intelligent lady, she’s also quite wise. Instead of responding in anger at John’s stupid attempt at humor, she calmly turned towards him and said, “you’re right John,,, I believe they’re some of my in-laws.” OK, sorry folks. I know, that story isn’t very spiritual but I couldn’t help it when I read the in-law against in-law part of today’s Gospel.

Seriously though, what is the spiritual message from today’s Gospel? How can Jesus say, “Do you think I have come to establish peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division” or, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing.” His words seem to be right out of the Old Testament, don’t they? Where is our merciful, gentle, and loving Jesus we’re so used to hearing? My friends, as hard as it is to accept sometimes, God didn’t change somewhere between Malachi and Matthew. Oh, just in case you didn’t know, Malachi is the last book of the OT and Matthew if the 1 ^st book in the NT. The God of the OT is the God of the NT and we must never forget, Jesus Christ is God, the second person of the Blessed Trinity.

Honestly today’s reading challenges me with what I personally consider one of the great mysteries of my own Christian Faith; it’s not the incarnation, the virgin birth, or even the Blessed Trinity. From my humble perspective I have difficulty reconciling a God who is perfectly merciful with a God who is perfectly just. When someone tells me, they don’t like the God of the OT I remind them, no one in the Bible talks more about Hell than Jesus Christ himself.

OK, so how do I reconcile a God who is fierce and judgmental with a God who is loving and merciful? Doesn’t the Bible tell us God is love? Well, yes it does – but unfortunately, our perceptions of God’s love are obscured by the fallen world we live in. Thomas Aquinas wrote volumes about our perception of God viewed through humanities’ lens of sin in a fallen world and I’ve only got about 7 more minutes but let’s try. Aquinas said; “Whatever is received is received according to the mode of the recipient.” OK Thomas. So, what does that mean? Well let’s think of God’s love as the sun. On a bright blue sunny morning like we had today the sun shines into our homes with radiant beauty. Now let’s add window shades to our simple little metaphor for God’s love. When the shades are wide open our home is full of light from the sun but as we start pulling those shades closed the sun’s light is diminished. The same sun is still shinning on the world outside but we’ve chosen to dim its’ light by pulling the shades. Friends, this simple image is sort of what sin does to our perception of God’s love. It becomes distorted.

If you’re living in a relatively good spiritual state, God’s love will be perceived as kind, gentle, and merciful but if you’re spiritual life is off the rails, God’s love will be perceived as fierce, threatening, and judgmental. You can see this story repeated over and over in the Bible. The great news is however, the sun itself hasn’t changed. God’s love is still shinning as brightly as ever but our perception of that love is distorted and, in many cases, we did it ourselves by closing the shades.

Another key variable in Aquinas’ formula for perception of God is his definition of love itself. Thomas says; love is willing the good of the other. Wow, now there’s something I better keep in mind for my own relationships. Love is willing the good of the other. When it comes to the Bible and our perception of God there is a flip side to this “love of God” coin. If love is willing the good of the other then God’s love for us must of necessity generate God’s own opposition to what works evil in us. And hence we have today’s Gospel. When Jesus says; “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” He is telling us all He wants to burn away in us all that is opposed to God’s loving desire for us, all that dims God’s love. He wants to burn up those shades we have pulled over the windows of our hearts blocking out the sun and distorting our perception of God’s love! Jesus came to shake things up and that’s why this reading can sound a little scary and can cause confusion. The bottom line really, really is; God is love.

In his Daily Gospel Reflections from June 1 ^st , Bishop Robert Barron kind of summarized why we tend to be divided, sadly sometimes even in our own household of Christianity. He said this; “The entire point of religion is to make us humble before God and to open us to the path of love. Everything else is more or less a footnote. Liturgy, prayer, the precepts of the Church, the commandments, sacraments, sacramentals – all of it – are finally meant to conform us to the way of love. When they instead turn us away from that path, they have been undermined.” Friends, if you believe anything in the Bible says God doesn’t love you, you’re misinterpreting the Bible and if anything in your own faith life is pulling you away from love of others open up those shades to your heart and let the sun shine in.

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Tue, 30 Jul 2019 12:20:00 GMT

The 17 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C

Peace be with you and greetings on this, our celebration of the 17 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Does everyone here know what the word “paradigm” means? Just in case you don’t know or have forgotten here it is; a paradigm is a widely accepted belief, example, or concept by a society or person. Honestly, paradigm is a relatively new word in the English vocabulary but I often like to say, one of the Jesus’ missions in the world 2000 years ago was to eliminate any paradigms hindering humanities’ relationship with God. And we have a perfect example of one of Jesus’ paradigm crushers today as he tells his disciples how to pray.

Today in Luke’s Gospel we hear Jesus tell us to say, “Father” in Matthew we hear him say “Our Father” and in Mark he says “Abba Father”. “Abba Father” is also a phrase used by Paul in Galatians and Romans. And since the whole New Testament was originally written in Greek the word used would have been “Pater” where “Abba” is actually the Hebrew or Aramaic word Jesus probably spoke 2000 years ago but our Biblical scholars translate both words simply as father. And for most of my life I never gave it a second thought as I mechanically recited the Our Father until something happened in about 1989. Now I’m going to tell a story I told the children on the last day of Vacation Bible School so for those parents who were there – too bad. You’re just going to have to hear it again.

I was on a business trip to Israel and my hosts took me up to Lake Tiberius in the North. It was called the Sea of Galilee in Jesus’ time. I was standing on a little beach watching kids and families playing in the water and sand when a little girl about 5 or 6 years old running full speed, fell face first in shallow water, and hit the sandy bottom. She came up sputtering, spiting sand and water and then, in a few seconds the crying started. She looked around frantically until she found her father and then went screaming across the beach with her arms flailing in the air crying loudly, “Abba, Abba, Abba!” Now, it didn’t take too long for the old wheels to start turning and translate this whole scene into one that probably happens everyday during the summer on the Gulf Coast and realize she was crying, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” in Hebrew. And from that day forward I’ve never said the Lord’s Prayer in that same old mechanical way again.

At the time of Jesus Christ, Yahweh, the formal Hebrew name for God, was considered so sacred it would only be spoken out loud by the High Priest when he was alone in the Holy of Holies of the Temple. No common Jew would ever dare speak the sacred name of God out loud. That was a paradigm. And now we have Jesus telling all Jews to start verbally calling God a completely intimate name used in the closest of family relationships. He told them; when you pray to God your creator and the creator of the universe, call God – Daddy. Really? As we sit here in Church some 2000 years later it’s almost impossible to appreciate the effect of what Jesus was saying to his 1 ^st Century audience. I’d suggest to you this however; my little story may merit a little prayerful meditation sometime, not only as you say the prayer Jesus gives us in today’s Gospel but the story really applies to all prayer.

There is one other image I’d suggest you think about as you recall the little story I just told about intimacy with God in prayer. The U.S. Catechism for Adults says this; “The point where God’s call and our response intersect is prayer. The event is always grace-filled and a gift.” Now of course we all know prayer takes many, many forms and reciting a formal prayer like the Our Father is just one of those forms but think about what I just quoted from the Catechism for a second. “The point where God’s call and our response intersect is prayer.” Consequently, the inverse must be true, no prayer, no intersection with His call – but remember, prayer takes many forms and that intersection with his call just may be nothing more than a simple “yes”.

OK, I’m sorry folks. As a technical engineering kind-a guy I tend to be very visual at times and when I read a sentence like; “The point where God’s call and our response intersect is prayer,” I visualized graph paper and intersecting lines. I can’t help it, but even out of this somewhat worldly technical visualization I suddenly saw something that actually helped my personal prayer life. A vertical line and a horizontal line intersecting in, you got it, the Cross! God’s call and my response represented by the Cross. And as a Catholic Christian I also visualize the suffering Jesus Christ at the center, forming a Crucifix as validation of God’s unimaginable love for us all.

So here’s your homework for today. Take a few minutes sometime soon to quietly meditate on that hurt and frightened little girl crying “Abba, Abba, Abba,” as she ran to her father and recall this is how Jesus told his disciples to speak to God in prayer. And always remember anytime you pray, even if it’s just a simple “yes” or “thank you” to God, it is an intersection with his call to you, it is always grace-filled, and it is a gift.

Corpus Christi, The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ: Year C

Wed, 26 Jun 2019 09:45:00 GMT

Peace be with you and greetings on this Feast of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ,,, Corpus Christi. You know I once heard a story about a man named George who had been shipwrecked on an unchartered island for almost 20 years. It was kind of a good news, bad news story though. The good news was it was a lush little island with all of the necessities for staying alive: drinking water, food, and shelter. The bad new was the island was not near any normal shipping routes so there George was, all by himself, for almost 20 years. When he finally was found and rescued it’s understandable his joy was completely indescribable. As he jumped around there on the beach hugging the captain of the ship that found him, he couldn’t stop talking. Can you imagine? In the excitement the captain noticed three well-built huts just off the beach and asked George about them. George said, “Well, the one on the left is my home and since I’m a man of faith, the one on the right is my church where I worship.” “So, what’s the one in the middle,” the captain asked? “Oh,” George said, “that’s where I used to go to church but I didn’t like it there anymore and left.”

So, as we come together today to celebrate “The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ” let me ask a simple question; have you ever heard anyone say, “the Mass is boring” or “I just don’t get anything out of the Mass?” Well, I happen to personally know the pastor up at that huge non-denominational church that recently out-grew their big building on the North Parkway and now use the whole Butler High School campus. He just loves to brag about how many “ex-Catholics” he has in his congregation. And when you ask those Catholics, who now chose to go there on Sunday instead of Mass, you’ll often hear something like; “I just get sooo much more out of the service,” or “It just makes me feel so good,” or even “I just feel closer to Jesus.” Of course the all-important words in their answers are “I” and “me.” My friends stated very simply; if you sincerely want to worship God exactly the way Jesus Christ teaches us to worship God in the Bible, you go to a Catholic Mass. If, on the other hand, worshiping God is not your priority and you’re willing to walk away from Jesus’ own body and blood, drive out there to the old Butler High School campus, sing along with the joyful songs, projected on their big jumbo TV screens, be happy, and have fun. As I think about it myself however, somehow I believe giving an hour or so worshiping the unlimited creator of the universe, exactly the same way Jesus instructed his Apostles to do, on the night before his Passion, may not be all about “me” and my personal entertainment.

OK, I can’t help myself; I’ve got to teach a short Bible Lesson right now. Before you go home today pickup a Missalette in your pew and write down the source of today’s second reading, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, then go home and mark it in your own personal Bibles. While you’re at it mark verses 27, 28, and 29 also. Why do I think this particular scriptural passage is so important that it should be marked in every single Catholic’s Bible? First of all please remember, just about every Biblical scholar agrees, the letters of Paul constitute the oldest written documents in the New Testament. Paul did not have the four Gospels as he wrote 1 ^st Corinthians in the mid 50’s, some 20 years before the first Gospel was written. Consequently, what we heard today in our second reading is the oldest Biblical instruction to celebrate Eucharist basically just like we celebrate it today.

And what does Paul emphasize first? “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.” Paul’s first emphasis for this Eucharistic sacrifice is Jesus own sacrificial death on the Cross. Remember though I also told you to mark verses 27, 28, and 29. Those verses constitute Paul’s second emphasis with his instruction to the Corinthians. Listen to this; “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.” Gosh, sounds like Paul is telling his congregation in Corinth this “body and blood of the Lord” sacrificial rite is serious and vital for their spiritual lives don’t you think?

I think to a certain degree we’ve kind of lost the sacrificial dimension 2000 years later when we talk about the Mass, however. Perhaps it’s because the whole Biblical concept of a bloody animal sacrifice is just so alien to our modern “feel good” culture. Paul’s audience would have understood it completely however. And then when Paul put Jesus’ own Passion and bloody death on the Cross into that sacrificial narrative for all of humanity, those 1 ^st Century Christians embraced it with sincerity and enthusiasm.

There is one other Biblical nuance that brings the Mass into even clearer focus as we read 1 ^st Corinthians, when Paul tells us Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” Paul’s audience would have understood these words in context of the Passover Meal. Jesus used the same words God used when he directed Moses to establish that night as a memorial remembrance for the night the angel of death passed over the Jews in Egypt. And for them this was not simply like remembering a birthday or the 4 ^th of July. They believed spiritually they were made present again with their ancestors on that fateful night. And this is the same night Jesus chose to give us the His body and blood literally in the Eucharist, a definitive unification of God and God’s people. Likewise, during the Consecration of Mass we are present again with Jesus when bread and wine become His body and blood. Obviously, with his vivid words, Paul wanted the Corinthians to understand what was happening.

So, thank you Father Phil for Sacramentally giving us the indescribable privilege of participating with you in this sacrificial worship service Jesus Christ himself gave us and thank you to the Holy Spirit for inspiring the Biblical writers who articulated it all so clearly in God’s own book of instructions – the Bible.

Now, welcome everyone to the Sacred Sacrifice of the Mass as we celebrate Corpus Cristi, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. One scholar goes so far as to say this, “The words pronounced by the Priest at the Consecration are more essential for our salvation than God’s own words from Genesis when he said, ‘Let there be light.’” Wow, I sincerely hope no one is bored.

Pentecost Sunday, June 9, 2019 (Season C)

Wed, 26 Jun 2019 09:39:00 GMT

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of one of the greatest Feast Days of the Church, Pentecost Sunday. In fact, there are some theologians who believe Pentecost is THE greatest feast day because it actually can be considered the Birthday of the Church.

OK, so let me ask you a question. Have you ever tried to prove the existence of God to an atheist or an agnostic? Certainly one thing you don’t want to try to do is use the Bible. Remember, the Bible is a book of faith, given to us by God for our salvation but without faith unfortunately, it is just another big book on the shelf and of little or no use in discussions with an atheist. And personally I’m not qualified to go toe-to-toe with a well-educated atheist or agnostic in the area of science to argue the existence of God either. I believe in my own heart the universe is far too perfect to be a big cosmic accident but I don’t have the education to argue the point with an atheistic scientist. There are a couple of events in human history however, that are pretty hard to explain without believing in the divine and they are both tied directly to Pentecost.

For the Jews, Pentecost was both the festival of First Fruits and more importantly, it also represented Moses receiving the Law from God on Mt. Sinai 50 days after Passover and their escape from Egypt. So here is question number one for that nonbeliever. Given the belief systems and cultures in existence during the 13 ^th Century BC, explain to me how this dusty worn out tribe of runaway-slaves stumbled out of the Sinai Desert with a set of moral and ethical principles most civilized cultures still use today? Gosh, you think perhaps they may have encountered God out there in the desert?

And today as Catholic Christians, we celebrate Pentecost where the Holy Spirit infused the followers of Jesus Christ with something both mysterious and remarkable. We know, that not only were Jesus’ Apostles generally simple, unsophisticated, working class guys, with little education, but they were also a bunch of cowards who abandoned and denied Jesus during his Passion. Now suddenly, they’re standing on a balcony in Jerusalem bravely proclaiming Jesus’ Resurrection in every major foreign language used in that part of the world. Of course the atheist’s argument is; it was all a big lie or hoax perpetrated by Jesus’ followers.

So now we have question number two. Why would those Apostles stand up there and bravely lie? There was absolutely nothing to gain. History tells us all but one Apostle died a martyr’s death and none of them ever obtained worldly wealth or power. Does anyone seriously think crucifixion, being eaten by wild animals, or burning at the steak are great motivations for inventing and than perpetuating a lie? Really?

The big question revolves around Jesus himself, however. If you take away his Resurrection and measure his success by the world’s secular standards, Jesus Christ died an absolute failure. He was executed a criminal, in a backwater Roman province, and abandoned by his own followers. He had no social, political, military, or even religious status,,, beyond that of an itinerate preacher. He never even wrote anything down other than a lost message in the dust. So here is the biggest question; there are about 2.2 billion Christians in the world today, given these earthly facts, exactly how did that happen? Now certainly, as people of faith we’re perfectly comfortable talking about miracles and we know the miracle of Christian fire really started burning at that first Pentecost but – is it still burning as brightly today? The answer my friends is an undeniable, yes!

Let’s look back at last week’s Feast of Jesus’ Ascension for just a minute because those readings sometimes create a trap many of us Christians occasionally fall into. Too often we view heaven and earth the same way Plato, the Greeks, and the Gnostics did. We sometimes think of Jesus, the Father, and they Holy Spirit in some spiritual place or existence completely separated from our own physical world. Not only is this viewpoint non-Biblical but also, it is exactly what Pentecost proved completely wrong 2000 years ago and still proves wrong today, tomorrow, and forever. Biblically, from Genesis through Revelation, the spiritual and the material are completely intertwined.

We should always remind ourselves of two very distinct and basic Christian facts. First, the historical Jesus had two distinct natures, one human and one divine and two; our God is one God existing in a Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The historical human Jesus had a three-year public ministry while he directly influenced maybe a few thousand people, within 60 miles or so of Jerusalem, and ascended into heaven somewhere around 30 AD. Pentecost is the marrying of heaven and earth allowing the ascended and Divine Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to touch anyone, anywhere in the whole world who believes and turns to him in faith.

As Catholic Christians, this touch of Jesus Christ initiated at Pentecost is certainly no more personal and intimate than in reception of Him in Eucharist but here sadly, lack of faith sometimes slips in. Listen to what Jesus told Saint Faustina in one of her many mystical encounters with him; “It delights me to come to hearts in Holy Communion. But if there is anyone else in such a heart, I cannot bear it and quickly leave that heart, taking with Me all the gifts and graces I have prepared for the soul. And the soul does not even notice My going.”

Pentecost was, is, and always will be a marriage between heaven and earth but with any strong Christian marriage comes faith and love. God gave us free wills. That is what makes us all uniquely human. Without our free wills we cannot choose to love. In a few minutes heaven will touch earth here on this altar. As you receive Communion today choose to accept and return His love.

The Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C

Wed, 26 Jun 2019 09:38:00 GMT

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of the Mass for the 5 ^th Sunday of Easter. I sincerely hope everyone is still experiencing a holy, joyful, and spiritual Easter Season. And remember, it is still OK to be wishing everyone a Happy Easter. People may look at you a bit strangely if you do and respond with something like, “What in the heck are you talking about, Easter was last month?” If that’s what you get it provides a wonderful opportunity to evangelize however, and remind them what the Bible says. The Risen Christ spent 40 days with his disciples before ascending into Heaven and the Holy Spirit came upon them at Pentecost 50 days after His physical Resurrection thus, giving birth to the Christianity we still practice today. That’s what we call the Easter Season and the Bible is the reason why! Wow just think, a Bible lesson coming from a Catholic living in the Bible Belt, what a novel idea that is?

So, today we just heard three separate Bible readings that talk about the spiritual journey all of us are on. In the first reading from Acts Paul tells us it is not going to be an easy trip when he says, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” The second reading from Revelation tells us where we’re going on our journey when we hear, “I John, saw a new heaven and a new earth. I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” And finally, in the Gospel reading, we hear Jesus tell us what is most important as we make the journey, “I give you a new commandment: love one another.” Then the Lord takes it one step further and tells us all how to preach his Gospel message without even using words, “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Oh my, oh my, love one another? Lord Jesus those are such easy word to say and so very hard to do, especially when people can be so ugly, violent, and nasty.

You know, Mahatma Gandhi was not only a great political leader, who arguably, successfully led the greatest non-violent revolution in history. Many also considered him a great philosopher and theologian. And admittedly, many of his most memorable quotes were directed at that powerful British Empire as unwelcomed occupiers in India but see if his words don’t still ring true today. I have to examine my own conscience and ask, “Lord, do Gandhi’s words apply to me?” He said, “Jesus is ideal and wonderful, but you Christians – you are not like him.” And good old Gandhi went on to say, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Ouch! Anybody else feel a twinge of guilt? There good news however, as wise as Mahatma Gandhi may have been, he was not quoting the Bible. If he’d been a Christian he would have known there was more to the Jesus story than hypocritical sinful followers.

One more time, let’s look at this journey we’re all on together as imperfect sinful human beings. As Paul said it is not going to be easy but if you read the whole message of Scripture, as the Catholic Church teaches to do, Jesus made it clear; if we are to understand anything at all about God then we must understand that God’s driving force is nothing else other than love. Love is what God is all about and there could be no greater sign of this than the fact that Christ gave his life on the Cross of Calvary for our salvation. Yes, Jesus did tell his disciples to love one another because He knew living lives of love was the best way to fulfillment, satisfaction, and greater knowledge of God but Jesus also taught repentance and forgiveness. There can be no greater lessons of repentance and forgiveness than those of Peter and Judas. Basically both were really guilty of the same sin in their separate denials of Jesus. One repented and was forgiven while the other died in despair never asking for forgiveness. The message for us all is pretty clear and it is full of hope and love. Come before God with a contrite heart, ask for forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, continue on our journey towards the heavenly Jerusalem, and then repeat as necessary.

OK so far, we’ve thrown the word love around quite a bit but really what does it mean? How do we put love into action? One of my favorite definitions of love but perhaps the most challenging to put into action comes from Saint Thomas Aquinas. “Love is willing the good of the other.” Wow, willing the good of the other. Lord, I’ve certainly tried to love like that with my wife and children through the years but you know well, I’ve even failed there sometimes. How am I ever supposed to do that with the guy who is cursing at me because I’m in his way in the isle at Lowes? My friends, the best way to express and deepen our love for God and our neighbor is prayer. And as hard as it may be at a moment like that, just move my cart out of the way, and whisper a prayer for the guy. Basically, prayer takes various forms and probably the best one for the impatient shopper would be one of petition. “Lord grant this man the grace of patience and fill his heart with your love. I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.” There may be times when prayer isn’t the solution however; you may have to get your hands dirty, do some heavy lifting, dig into your pockets, or humbly demonstrate love to actually will the good of the other.

My sisters and brothers prayer still remains an open line of communication between us and God and we should use it always and often on our journeys. In fact every form of prayer is used in the Mass. At the Penitential Rite we say sorry, at the Readings we listen, at the Intercessions we request, at the Offertory we present gifts, in the Eucharistic Prayer we offer praise and thanks, and the Communion becomes a consummation of all that went before. We can think of the Mass as a microcosm of our entire relationship with God. It is the best place therefore to express our love for God and, of course, also the best place to deepen our relationship with God.

Let me close with one more quote from our old philosophical friend Gandhi because I think it goes a long way in helping us love God and neighbor, especially when that neighbor seems unlovable, “A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative only of the brave.”

2nd Sunday of Easter

Tue, 30 Apr 2019 09:39:00 GMT

The Second Sunday of Easter, Year C

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of the Mass for the 1 ^st Sunday after Easter also called Divine Mercy Sunday. You know, I was at Publics last Monday afternoon and wished a passerby a Happy Easter and got a somewhat grumpy, “Easter is over” response. I’ve thought about her response since then and I think it is just one more sign defining our modern secular culture, “Easter is over.” I certainly hope no one here at Mass today feels that way. We’ve all been given a beautiful gift to celebrate this preeminent event defining our Christian Faith with an Easter Season that will take us to Pentecost. It would be a shame not to rejoice in the gift. In fact as believing Christians, we’re supposed to have a “Happy Easter” attitude 365 days a year.

One scholar I’ve studied describes the Evangelist John as an artist who, in this Easter evening scene, has captured the whole of Christianity if only we have the eyes to see it. Let’s listen to the Gospel reading bit-by-bit. Here is the opening phrase, “on the evening of that first day of the week.” Almost sounds a little like Genesis doesn’t it? For us as Christians and really for all of mankind, Jesus’ resurrection on that first day of the week inaugurates a completely new creation. Everything changed. The one called “the light of the world” has risen from the dead. Considering what it means for humanity it’s as though God has said again, “Let there be light” – and my friends, if you’re not getting it, you’re not getting the Easter message.

So, what did change on that very first Easter? Just listen to the next phrase from John’s Gospel, “when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear.” Well, I guess it’s pretty easy to imagine the primary cause for their hiding behind locked doors with very real gut wrenching fear of physical death, just like Jesus’ horrible death on the Cross. It’s been said, one could actually argue, the primordial human problem has always been fear of death. Some philosophers actually say the opposite of love is not hate but the opposite of love is actually fear and its fear that gives birth to hatred. In the 1 ^st Letter of John, 4:18 we’re given a Christian formula however, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear.” And that is exactly what happened on Easter! Jesus’ Resurrection proves that God’s perfect love is more powerful than death itself and humanities’ primordial fear of death can now end forever.

Now as Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst the Apostle’s may have actually had a another reason to fear however. After all they had run away, abandoned him, and denied him during his dreadful Passion. They may have thought something like, “Oh, Oh, now He’s really mad and He’s going to call down lightening and turn us all into charcoal.” What does Jesus say though? “Peace be with you.” Now here’s kind of a sad note when it comes to Bible translations. The word Jesus used here would have actually been “Shalom” or possibly “Shalom Yahweh” and we really don’t have a textbook English word that can fully embrace the Hebrew concept of Shalom. A clearer tranalation in this circumstance might be something like; “What God wants for God’s people.” John explains what Jesus means by “peace” or shalom in 14:27 where he says; “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”

Next John tells us Jesus showed them his hands and his feet and the disciples rejoiced but Jesus wasn’t looking for a party. He immediately sends them on mission, breaths on them, and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” So, about this mission thing, Bishop Robert Barron says, “The Church doesn’t have a mission; the Church is a mission.” He says, “A passionate Catholicism brings people to Christ.” Now folks, that’s not just meant for ordained clergy, that’s meant for every Catholic. We are all the Church. Fortunately, God also gives every single one of us the Holy Spirit in Baptism and every Sacrament to follow helping us on mission just like those original disciples. And the Holy Spirit is divine life on earth. In fact, we can view the whole life of the church as this, receive the divine life in the Holy Spirit then – give it to others.

A word about forgiveness of sins, certainly an aspect of this statement is reserved specifically for our Priests but the word forgiveness itself should never be viewed exclusively for the ordained. There is a direct link between sending on mission, the Holy Spirit, and forgiveness. Sin can be the thought of as a self-imposed interruption of divine love, a path that can lead to a loss of the divine life. Our own personal willingness to forgive others may not only bring fellow Catholics back from lives of sin and interrupted love but it may also serve an attraction for non-Catholics. When the great G.K. Chesterton was asked why he became Catholic he responded, “So I could have my sins forgiven.” Therefore, know with confidence, when the Holy Spirit is breathed out by any of us, it can include an invitation for Sacramental Reconciliation within the Church itself but regardless, a personal willingness to forgive should always be offered.

OK, so what about good old Doubting Thomas? He wasn’t with the others on that first Easter evening. We’re never told where he was but have you ever wondered, why Jesus simply didn’t go to him wherever he might have been instead of waiting until the disciples were all together again in one place? Friends, all of the dynamics of God’s new creation; Christ’s new resurrected life, overcoming fear, gifting of the Holy Spirit, forgiveness of sins, giving himself in Eucharist were all on display in community – and that community is what we now call Church. Don’t try to do it by yourself. Don’t try to find your way on your own. There is a message from the Doubting Thomas story you may have never thought about. Stay within the Church because this is exactly where you will find God’s new creation.

Easter Sunday

Tue, 30 Apr 2019 09:38:00 GMT

Easter Morning Mass, Year C

Peace be with you on this, our celebration of The Mass for Easter Morning and on behalf of Good Shepherd Catholic Church, I’d like to wish all of you a Happy and Holy Easter. In my short time as a Permanent Deacon this particular holy weekend has become an even more rewarding spiritual experience because this is the time we welcome our newest adult Catholics into full Communion with our Church family. Last night at the Easter Vigil Mass I assisted Father as he baptized one adult woman and then confirmed her and four others. And then all five received Eucharist for the first time in their lives. There is something especially spiritual about handing the cup to an adult in our current culture and watching her cry as I said, “the Blood of Christ.” An old door closed for those five women last night and a completely new one opened – opened to graces and Sacramental gifts many of us “cradle Catholics” sometimes take for granted. Their excitement in receiving those spiritual gifts for the very first time should really touch and thrill all of us. In fact, I often tell “old time Catholics” who feel their faith lives are becoming a little stale, to consider joining the RCIA Team for at least one season and maybe even consider sponsoring one of the candidates. The experience can be totally spiritually invigorating.

So, here we are this morning, celebrating the Easter Mass. The Mass where we formally step from the Lenten Season into the Easter Season, where we move from the Passion and Crucifixion of Jesus to his Resurrection. The image of the crucified Jesus was taken down from above our altar and replaced with the image of the resurrected Jesus.

I’m not sure how many of you were here at our Stations of the Cross service Good Friday afternoon? As I moved around the Church from Station to Station myself however, from Jesus’ trial to his burial, I looked up at an empty Cross hanging above the altar, representing a physically absent Jesus lying in the tomb. And I was struck by an awesome feeling of God’s great love for what must be his greatest creation made in his own image and likeness,,,, humanity,,,, us.

I’m thankful that when we take down the image of the crucified Jesus here at Good Shepherd we don’t put it away in a closest somewhere until next Lent however, we display it prominently in the narthex, that common meeting space we pass through, before we enter the sacred space of this sanctuary. There can be no greater image that better describes that most quoted and translated verse in the entire Bible, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,” than that image of Jesus Christ Crucified. And if a crucified Jesus expresses God’s great love for humanity, what can we say this image of a risen Jesus expresses? My friends, this image of a resurrected Jesus Christ tells us clearly, physical death is not the end and it anticipates an eternity beyond description. Because of his great love for us demonstrated in the crucifixion, the resurrection prefigures God’s plan and promise for us all – in eternity.

In context of the Prologue from John’s Great Gospel these two images of the crucified Jesus and the resurrected Jesus can be said to encompass the entire Biblical message from Genesis to Revelation. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, validates both God’s love and God’s plan for us all in eternity.

As we gaze at this image of a resurrected Jesus above the altar and think about the image of the crucified Jesus out in the narthex and realize what they represent in reality, we should discern three important supernatural facts. First, this world is not it; it is not all there is. The most frightening feature of a purely physical and secular world is death. Everything comes into being and then everything ends. Whether we’re talking about a mountain, an entire universe, or a single person; in a purely physical sense, everything comes to an end. Jesus’ resurrection proves that God has planned something much greater than we can ever imagine however. Death is not the final reality. In fact, we can almost think of our physical lives and physical deaths as time in the womb before our rebirth into the eternal presence of God.

The second supernatural fact we should all glean from Jesus’ Passion, Death, and Resurrection is this; those who rule or exercise power through fear of violence, pain, and death should know their day is done. The martyrs down through history are proof of this. Those very first Christians who embraced the Gospel message preached by the Apostles knew Caesar’s real power over them had ended. Many bravely died in the name of Jesus Christ because they knew Paradise awaited them forever and ever.

And finally we must all know with confidence, Jesus opened the path of salvation to everyone. As we gaze upon the image of the crucified Jesus, know that he went all of the way down into the lowest human condition possible. He not only suffered physical pain by his passion and crucifixion, he suffered psychological pain when he was abandoned, betrayed, and denied, and as he cried, “God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” he must have even felt spiritual pain. Remember this however, the one who hung upon that terrible cross was not just a man; he was God as well. Therefore, God, as only God can, has taken upon himself all of the pain and sin that bedevils the human condition: physical, psychological, and spiritual. God, as only God can, goes into the darkest places that we inhabit. This means that sin, pain, and death do not have the final word! This means that sin and death have been enveloped into the divine mercy of God. And this implies, finally, that sin has been dealt with. Once we understand and accept that God’s love is more powerful than sin and suffering, we have lost, at least in principle, the motivation to sin.

So, as we go out today look up at the risen Jesus image and know that it represents God’s plan and God’s promise for us all and as we pass out into the narthex turn and look at the crucified Jesus image and know it represents God’s love for us all and that defines the reason for God’s divine plan.

Again, have a Happy and Holy Easter from all of us here at Good Shepherd.

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Tue, 09 Oct 2018 11:34:00 GMT

Peace be with you and greetings on this our celebration of the Mass for the 27 ^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. You know, I was talking to a friend the other day who works at Kroger and he told me an interesting story. One Sunday afternoon he was working the checkout line and he had just finished ringing up a lady’s groceries and asked her if she wanted to pay with cash, check, or charge. As she was digging through her purse for her wallet he happened to notice a TV remote control and couldn’t help asking, “Do you always carry your TV remote in your purse?” “No” she said with a big smile. “I asked my husband to come with me to help with the shopping but he said he had to stay home and watch a football game so I figured this was the most wicked thing I could do that was still legal.” So – here we are today, having just listened to that beautiful story from Genesis 2 about the creation of the first man and the first woman and the story continues, doesn’t it?

You know, I heard another homily in the not too distant past, where the Priest suggested this very Creation Story from Genesis 2 we just heard, actually lays out the fundamentals for human anthropology. Specifically, from the very beginning the Bible tells us we are all created to be social creatures. Now I know that may not track with what our Western society teaches today about how important our personal individualism is, but like it or not fellow Christians, the Bible tells us we are all created to be social by nature. Listen one more time to what we just heard from God in Genesis, “It is not good for the man to be alone I will make him a suitable partner.” With his uniquely human rationality and capacity to love, Adam needs someone coequal, a soul mate, someone to share his life. That good old heathen Aristotle even said, “We can only be friends with someone who is our equal.” “A friend” he said, “is a second self.” And this relationship between man and woman presented in Genesis is meant to be the deepest form of friendship. The Bible tells us, “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh.”

Wow, now that’s a very sensual sounding verse from the Bible isn’t it? Well again interestingly, in our modern American society, we Catholics are often criticized for being overly puritanical or actually opposed to human sensuality as though it is something evil. My sisters and brothers, there certainly couldn’t be anything further from the truth. Follow me here for a minute. I once read an article by Dr. Scott Hahn where he says Satan is probably a greater theologian than anyone alive. He says Satan could probably quote the Bible or any other religious text better than any human on earth. Dr. Hahn points out that every single demon Jesus ever drove out in the Bible knew exactly who Jesus was, the Holy One, the Son of God. Now how did they know that – because those nasty old demons had faith? Oh come on Scott, how can that be, demons with faith? You see faith in and of itself, without love, collapses in on itself and of course; Satan and his demons have no love. Everything in the Christian world must be related to love and just like faith, that includes human sexuality. God is love and as Thomas Aquinas said, “love is willing the good of the other.” So, the casual Playboy philosophy where sensuality is good in and of itself, as pleasure or simply recreation, independent of love and commitment, will eventually collapse in on itself and create pain, hurt, and suffering. Remember, love is willing the good of the other and it must be elemental in every Christian’s life. With love human sexuality is a beautiful gift from God.

Why is love elemental for our human existence, the Bible emphasizes it, especially in the New Testament; all people are called to holiness and if God is love holiness and love must be codependent. With this specific emphasis that all people are called to holiness, Vatican II articulated this about marriage, marriage is every bit as much a vocation or spiritual calling as the Priesthood or religious life. My friends, marriage is a vocation from God. When two people are married they are actually mirroring what God is, because God is a loving relationship. The Father and the Son are equal and their love of each other as the Holy Spirit is also equal. The Biblical image is clear. Marriage is not simply some secular or social arrangement. It is part of God’s plan for God’s purposes. Marriage is a symbolic sign of God’s very way of being. Now meditate on that for a while folks. Marriage is a symbolic sign of God’s very way of being.

Now we have the Gospel reading for today and along with it, we have an elephant in the room no one wants to talk about, divorce. Because of everything going on in our national and local governing systems now a days concerning marriage, I’ve stopped referring to what we do here in the Church during a wedding as simply marriage, I now call it Sacramental Marriage. You can have a marriage in a courthouse, on the beach, or on a mountaintop, performed by your best friend if you want, as long as he or she goes on line and orders the right certificate for ten bucks or so. If you want a Catholic Sacramental Marriage however, a Priest or a Deacon must do it in the Church. Now I certainly don’t want to correct the Evangelist Mark but I would like to qualify for the purposes of this homily, we are talking about Sacramental Marriage in the Gospel reading.

Jesus himself quoted Genesis 2 before he said, “Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” Friends, God doesn’t make mistakes. If God caused you to say yes He cannot cause you later to say no and that’s what Sacramental Marriage is all about. Consequently, in the Catholic Church we have this process, which very few understand called Annulment. That’s Catholic divorce right? Wrong!!! It is a process that proves, a Sacramental Marriage did or did not take place and there are many, many reasons why the authentic truth might say it did not.

In our Church Marriage is and always will be sacred and sacramental but wherever you may be in your life remember God is love. And remember what Paul says at the end of Romans 8; “Neither height, nor depth, nor anything in all of creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Good Shepherd Catholic Parish | Paul's Homily

The 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time ﻿

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 27, 2025

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 27, 2025

Memorial Day Weekend, May 25, 2025-Season C

3rd Sunday of Easter May 4, 2025: Season C

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 13, 2024 (Season B)

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time - September 15, 2024 (Season B)

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 18, 2024 (Season B)

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 21, 2024 (Season B)

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time June 23, 2024 (Season B)

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time June 16, 2024 (Season B)

April 14, 2024 - Third Sunday of Easter: Season B

March 29, 2024 - Good Friday (Season A)

March 3, 2024 3rd Sunday of Lent (year A)

February 11: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

January 7: The Epiphany of the Lord: Year B

December 24: 4th Sunday of Advent: Season B

October 7/8 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Season A

September 10, 2023 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year A

May 28, 2023 - Pentecost Sunday Year A

April 16, 2023 The Second Sunday of Easter, Year A

February 26, 2023 - First Sunday of Lent, Year A

February 22, 2023 - Ash Wednesday

February 12,2023 Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 29/30 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

October 8/9, 2022, 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

September 17/18, 2022 - The 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

August 27/28 The 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C

August 20/21, 2022 - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C

July 23/24, 2022 - 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 10, 2022 (Season C)

The Ascension of the Lord, Year C May 28-29, 2022

The Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C

Third Sunday of Easter: Season C

Fifth Sunday of Lent April 3, 2022

Second Sunday of Lent March 13, 2022

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time February 20, 2022

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Jan 23, 2022

3rd Sunday of Advent, Year C

34th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Christ the King, Year C

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year B

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, (Year B)

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

12 Sunday in Ordinary Time June 20, 2021

Pentecost Sunday (May 23, 2021)

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Third Sunday of Easter (April 18, 2021)

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1st Sunday of Advent: Season B

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Season A

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Season A

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 10-13-19, Year C

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, (Year C)

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, (Year C)

The 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year C

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Corpus Christi, The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ: Year C

Pentecost Sunday, June 9, 2019 (Season C)

The Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C

2nd Sunday of Easter

Easter Sunday

Easter Morning Mass, Year C

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22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time