Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year C)

FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW  

A Christmas Parable

Micah 5: 1-4a; Hebrews 10: 5-10; Luke 1: 39-45 

In the past at this time of the year, I frequently would retell familiar Christmas stories as part of my homily. Today, I’d like to share with you a new story, one that I wrote myself. It’s called “Footprints in the Snow.” 

An oversized hand pushed back the panel of a lace window curtain and two eyes peered out from inside. The eyes bore the marks of age. Wrinkles were their bookends. But there was something else about those eyes. They were childlike, eyes that were beacons of innocence, goodness, awe and wonder. 

“A white Christmas!” he exclaimed in a tone that conveyed both giddiness and resignation. “I guess I won’t be making it to Midnight Mass this year; I doubt anyone will,” he said to no one but himself. It would be the first Midnight Mass he would miss since the years when “visions of sugarplums danced in his head.” But it had been snowing since early morning and it would be a fool’s mission to be out on the roads that night. 

He fell into the comfort of his armchair, a chair that knew every curve of his body, and he surveyed the room. It was a large living room in a large house which now possessed more memories than contents. And those memories all came rushing forth out of their usual hiding places that Christmas Eve. He smiled as his eyes became heavy and his head nodded as his memories became more real to him than the stark reality of being all alone. 

His brief sleep was startled, however, by the sound of tires spinning nowhere on the street outside his house. And sure enough, as his hand once again pulled back the curtain of the living room window, he made out, between the falling snowflakes, the image of a man kneeling almost in prayer beneath the street light as his hands dug into the cold snow to dig his car out of the snowdrift it had skidded into. 

“Damn Fool!” he mumbled as he let go of the curtain and moved as quickly as a man his age could toward his front door. “Hey! Hey you! You’re stuck! Come here! You’re never gonna to be able to dig yourself out until a plow comes and God knows when that will be. You might as well come in and wait.” And so, the man abandoned his car, and the snow, and the cold, and accepted the invitation. 

“Look at you! Not even a coat on! You’re going to catch your death of cold! Take your shoes off and let them the dry out a bit,” he said as he opened the door for his unexpected guest to enter. “The name’s Sam.” “Oh. Heard by God,” his guest smiled in response as he kicked off one shoe. “What? What’s that?” Sam squinted back. “Your name. Samuel. It means Heard by God.” “Oh . . . didn’t know that. Well if God’s heard me, all he’s heard lately is a lot of cussing and complaining,” Sam chuckled. “I’m Manny,” said his guest as he kicked off the second shoe. ‘Well, pleased to meet you Manny. Come on into the living room.” 

“Let me turn off the radio,” which had been playing Christmas carols nonstop all day. “No, please!” Manny protested. “I like it. I could listen to Christmas carols the whole year through.” “Well I bet you’re hungry and could use a nice hot cup of coffee. And I just made something that I think you’re gonna like – tomato soup cake – an old family recipe, treasured and passed down from generation to generation. . . from the back label of a Campbell’s Tomato Soup can,” chuckled Sam. “Sit here and let the fire warm you. I’ll be right back.” 

But when he emerged from the kitchen several minutes later, rather than sitting and warming himself, he found Manny standing at the mantle of the fireplace examining the photographs that were carefully arranged there. “That’s my family,” Sam offered. “This is my wife Kathleen, the prettiest and sweetest thing ever to come across the sea from Ireland. That one there is my daughter Sophia. And this . . . this is my son, Micah. Sophia lives in California now. She’s very successful. A lawyer! So, there’s really not much time for visits. And Micah . . . Micah was killed in the war. And picking up the picture of his wife and holding it to his chest as if to hug her, he said, “Kathleen was never the same after that. The doctors say she died of a heart attack. I say she died of a broken heart.” 

And as if not to give into the melancholy of the moment, he directed Manny's attention to another picture on the mantle. “And this one . . . this is my favorite! It’s of Kathleen and Micah and Sophia out in the front yard after the blizzard of ’74. Just look at the smiles on their faces. And look at the tracks they left, the snow angels and footprints in the snow! You know, all winter long I would look out and would see those footprints with such happiness, because even though my children or my wife might have been in school or shopping, the footprints were the telltale signs that they had been there. Those footprints, although vacant, to me were still filled with life and love and laughter. That’s why I cherish this picture. Because, although those footprints have been covered over with many seasons’ worth of grass and leaves and more snow, in this picture those footprints are preserved and frozen for all time.” 

“You know, Sam, not everyone who visits us leaves footprints in the snow.” “What? What’s that,” asked the uncomprehending Sam? “Angels leave no footprints. And neither does God. Yet without a doubt, they visit us, walk with us, stay with us. Some are unconvinced or despair when they don’t see the footprints. They believe God has abandoned them or worse – that he doesn’t exist at all. But the pure of heart don’t need to see footprints to know that God has been around, that God has visited them, that God is present and loves them.” Sam’s eyes widened, he scratched his head and then nodded at the truth of which Manny spoke, a truth Sam never thought about before but now understood. 

They spoke of many things that night. Of family and faith . . . of memories and hopes . . . of life and love. The hours past as if only minutes. Suddenly a pause came in their conversation and Sam glanced at his small Christmas tree which stood where grander trees stood tall in years past. “Oh! I have something for you! A Christmas present,” Sam exclaimed! “Every year I buy myself a present and wrap it, put it under the tree and open it on Christmas morning, trying to convince myself that I don’t know what’s inside. I want you to have it. Here . . .” Sam handed the crudely wrapped box to Manny who opened it and smiled. It was a grey cardigan sweater. “Sam, I can’t,” protested Manny. “Ah I’ve got a dozen of them. Try it on,” instructed Sam. And Manny obliged. “Well, it’s a little big but you’ll grown into it,” Sam said with a wink and a smile. “But take it off now so you feel the good of it outside later.” 

And just as Manny did, the sound of steel gliding across asphalt interrupted the beauty of the Christmas music on the radio and a stark reality suddenly hit Sam. “The plow,” he said without expression. He knew his Christmas guest would be leaving. 

“Yeah I guess I better go out and clear the snow off my car and hit the road,” responded Manny with a tone of somber reluctance. “Let me walk you to the door. Now don’t forget your shoes,” Sam joked and was amazed when he saw that they had left no puddle on the floor. Sam then gathered the courage to ask the question which had puzzled him with greater intensity all night long. “Say, do I know you. Have we ever met before? Your face seems awfully familiar to me.” “Maybe we’ve met before,” said Manny. “Or maybe I just have one of those faces that looks like everyone else,” he said. And Sam continued to stare intently, hoping to recall a time or a place of a previous encounter. “Well . . . Merry Christmas, Manny.” “Merry Christmas Sam.” And as his hand reached for the door knob, he looked back and looked deeply into Sam’s eyes. “Sam, today salvation has come to this house. You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And with that, he turned, opened the door, and was gone. 

And as the door closed, Sam returned to the living room to the comfort of his armchair and tried to make sense of Manny’s words and of that whole Christmas Eve night. Suddenly his eyes caught sight of the sweater that Manny had left draped on the arm of the chair where he had been sitting. “Hey! Wait a minute! You forgot! You forgot your sweater! Sam raced to the door and, as he opened it, his radio suddenly began to blare at an almost deafening volume with the most beautiful sounding choir he had ever heard:

Hark! the herald angels sing, 
Glory to the new-born King! 
Peace on earth, and mercy mild, 
God and sinners reconciled. 

And above the sound of the choir, was Manny’s voice, seemingly coming from both nowhere and everywhere: 

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me.” 

Sam squinted his eyes to see past the falling snow. But beneath the street lamp, he saw no plow. He saw no car. He saw no Manny. And then, suddenly, Sam gasped. Tears brimmed from those eyes which sometimes beamed with childlike innocence. And the cascading tears warmed his frozen cheeks as he looked down at the pathway to his door. For he realized . . . there were no footprints in the snow. 

Two thousand years ago, a babe was born in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, serenaded by angels, visited by shepherds and wisemen. He grew, and walked the dusty roads of Galilee and Judea, walked up a hill called Calvary, and walked out of a tomb that held his body for three days. And today, he walks whatever road life tales us. He is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He is Immanuel “GOD WITH US.” Blessed are the pure of heart who need no footprints in the snow to know that God has been in their midst.

Copyright 2018

Bruce Olsen  

The Solemnity of Christ the King (Year B)

THE TRUTH ABOUT TRUTH
Deuteronomy 7: 13-14; Revelation 1: 5-8; John 18: 33b-37 

I did some Google searches this week, for recent headlines featuring the word “truth.” Here are the lines that popped up most often: “The Death of Truth.” “The Assault on Truth.” “Notes on Falsehood.” “Our Post-Truth World.” 

Though the articles focused (unsurprisingly) on contemporary American politics, their concerns reached beyond the political to engage a more sinister and existential reality: we live in an Age of Untruth. Politics notwithstanding, we are steeped in a culture of blatant lies, sly exaggerations, doctored images, wild conspiracy theories, and fake news. Objective facts, for all intents and purposes, no longer exist or matter. The true is false, the false is true, and anything can mean anything. 

I didn’t just rely on Google to search for the word “truth” in the headlines this week. I also used it to research its use in Scripture. And I found the word “truth” is mentioned 164 times in the Bible, and that the notion of “truth” was a major theme for the evangelist John, the author of our Gospel this morning, where the word appears a whopping ninety-nine times. As a matter of fact, “truth” is the bookends of John’s Gospel. In the Prologue that begins his Gospel he tells us that “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and TRUTH . . . (and) grace and TRUTH came through Jesus Christ.” And then, towards the end of his Gospel, we hear the words Jesus spoke to Pontius Pilate that were recalled in today’s passage, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the TRUTH. Everyone who belongs to the TRUTH listens to my voice." 

What is truth? It’s defined as that which conforms with fact or reality. It is genuineness, veracity, or actuality. In a word, truth is reality. It is how things actually are. 

What’s true? Today, the answer to that question seems to depend upon the person you ask. One person says that it is absolutely true that God exists and all creation owes its existence to God, while another person says God is a human invention and creation is matter of chance. One person says that the true nature of marriage demands an exclusive relationship between one man and one woman, while another person says the truth is that marriage can be a committed relationship between any two people regardless of gender. One person defends the truth that human life begins at conception while another’s truth leads to the conclusion that life is worthy of protection only after birth. We live in world where truth tends to be regarded as relative. Truth depends upon the person you ask. It depends upon the consensus of society. 

That is certainly not what we believe as followers of Christ. What are the characteristics of truth? What are its distinguishing properties? What’s the truth about truth? 

First, truth is divine. Ultimately, all truth is God’s truth. Truth is from above. It is not of this world. It’s not determined by opinion polls, nor is it discovered by public surveys. God is the one Source and sole Author of truth. Sin is whatever God says it is. Judgment is whatever God says it is. Salvation is what God says it is. Heaven and hell are what God says they are. 

Second, truth is absolute. Many people say truth is whatever they want it to be. They claim that what you believe is “true for you” and what I believe is “true for me,” even when the two are worlds apart. Something cannot be both true and not true. Truth is absolute because it is derived from the one God. Absolute truth depends on God. 

Third, truth is singular. That is to say, truth is a single entity. It does not exist in bits and pieces of unrelated ideas or disconnected data. Because truth is one body of truth, it is always internally consistent. It never contradicts itself. Truth always speaks with one voice and is always in perfect agreement with itself. 

Fourth, truth is objective. Truth is black and white. It is definite, definitive, and conclusive. Truth is not abstract, vague, or nebulous. Because truth is objective, it is impartial, unbiased, unprejudiced, and non-partisan. It speaks to all people in all places the same. 

Fifth, truth is immutable. God does not change and neither does His truth, which cannot be true today but not true tomorrow. Truth is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Therefore, truth is always current, always contemporary, always relevant. It is never outdated, never obsolete, never expired. Truth never ceases to be true. 

Sixth, truth is authoritative. Truth does not stammer or stutter. It speaks with the supreme authority of God Himself. It always makes demands upon us and never offers mere suggestions. Truth is commanding, arresting, and directional. It summons us and mandates our complete compliance. Truth is binding upon our lives. Truth demands our response. 

For us as Christians truth has been revealed in Jesus Christ. We’ve heard that truth proclaimed in the Scriptures during this liturgical year of 2018 and we’ve seen that truth lived out and embodied in the actions of Jesus. Today, Jesus tells Pilate he is not a king with armies and territories. “My kingdom is not here.” Rather Jesus is the king who reigns in the hearts of all those who see life as he saw life and who live life according to his Gospel. Truth is not relative, truth is found in Jesus Christ. 

As I reflected on today’s Gospel passage this past week in preparation of today’s Solemnity of Christ the King, it occurred to me that if Jesus came to testify to the truth, if he is the truth, if he is the King of truth, then what do we, his subjects, owe our king? What does loyalty to truth look like, here and now? Well, if Truth is king, then “fake news” is not. If Truth is king, then self-deception is not. If Truth is king, then lazy relativism is not. If Truth is king, then distorting inconvenient facts for our own political, racial, social, cultural, religious, or economic comfort, is not. 

Not only was Jesus born to testify to the truth, so were you. Truth needs a voice. God wants to use you to speak truth. But how many times do I hold back because I don’t think it will make a difference. How many conversations have I not had, letters to the editor not written because I don’t think it will make a difference. Because I don’t think it will produce those results, I don’t speak. But there is power in the truth. Can we stand for the truth as Jesus does? Can we belong to the truth as he does? Can we tell and keep telling the beautiful, hard, cutting, joy-filled, pain-filled, powerfully undeniable stories we know to be true about this Jesus, this Gospel Jesus whose very identity is Truth, and whose best expression of power is surrender? This is what it means to be a subject of Christ the King. This is what it means to be a citizen of the kingdom not of this world. To live in any other way is treason!

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU? 

Jeremiah 31: 7-9; Hebrews 5: 1-6; Mark 10: 46-85 

If you think about it, there are two really challenging questions that every Christian must wrestle with. Well, there’s probably a lot more than just two, but there’s two primary ones that I’m thinking about today: “Who do you say that I am?” And “What do you want me to do for you?” 

The first is almost a given. It’s THE question. The primary proclamation of faith. It also happens to be the question that we’re actually given the answer to. Peter says it in scripture, “you are the Messiah.” It’s the question we answer each week when we join in saying those difficult, mysterious, poetic, and ancient words of the Creed. That Jesus is the Son of God: True God from True God, yet also somehow truly and fully human: the Son of Man, the messiah, the Promised One, the anointed one, the Christ, our savior.

This formulaic answer is reiterated in all of our Eucharistic prayers, occasionally using slightly different metaphors and images, but all pointing to one reality - that Jesus is The One, and one with The One.

We all still have to wrestle with that question and answer - with what it means to us personally. We still have to fill those words - “Messiah,” “Son of God,” “Christ,” “Savior,” - we still have to fill those with meaning for ourselves. But at least we have the containers . . . we know the words. 

This other question, the one we heard last week and then again today is different. “What do you want me to do for you?” There’s no single answer for that. Every answer to that question will necessarily be unique, and keyed to the individual responding. And, for each of us, I imagine, the answer might even be different at different points of our lives. 

For those of us who are genuinely hurting, who are really desperate, for Bartimaeus, for example, the answer is simple. Heal me. Save me. Help me.

Most of us have been in a similarly desperate place, and if you haven’t been there yet, well, I hate to say it, but you will, at some point.

In those periods of real anguish the response to “what do you want me to do for you?” is often clear and simple. It’s when we’re living with more stability, when we’re higher up the ladder of privilege, further up the hierarchy of needs, that’s when the answers get harder. Because, like those whose need is desperate, what we cry out for is to be transformed, to become who we have been created to be, to be made whole, complete, but on a much deeper lever - at the core of what makes us who we are, at the depths of our soul. And so the response to this question then becomes a different kind of faith proclamation. It requires a different level of understanding. Not who is Jesus? But who am I? And who is God calling me to be? 

Take a moment and imagine Jesus standing in front of you. Imagine his eyes filled with love for you. Looking at you the way a dear friend might look at you after not seeing you for a very long time. Now, imagine him asking, “What do you want me to do for you? What needs to be healed, fixed, transformed in your life, what can I do for you for you to become optimal; for you to become the person you’re dying to be, the person God gave you life to be.” 

I’ve been struggling to find a response to that question in my own life lately, and I still think that, for me, answering that question requires a level of self-awareness that I’m not sure I have yet. Oh, sure, there are things I want, questions I’d like answers to, situations I’d like changed, people whom I know are suffering, and I’d like them not to be suffering But this isn’t a genie-in-the-bottle-you-get-three-wishes type of question. And if I turn it into that, I end up sounding like James and John last week, asking for something completely wrong or outrageous, something that will make Jesus respond, “you don’t know what you’re asking for.” 

The question, “What do you want me to do for you?” requires that we dig deep. It asks us to grow up, to grow more and more into the full stature of Christ. To become more and more the person God has created us to be. And that, in my experience, is much harder than affirming that Jesus is the Messiah.

Most Christians (especially really smart ones) can get caught up in trying to figure out the first question - Who is Jesus? How is he both fully human and fully divine? Trying to parse and understand and intellectually wrestle with that question, we can do it so much that we don’t ever get to the second question, which, for many of us, might actually be more important. 

And maybe it’s when Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” when everything seems right in our lives and in our world, the answer becomes more difficult because it requires soul-searching and it requires honesty, it requires us to admit that just maybe things aren’t as good as I’d like them to be because maybe I’m not as good as I’d like to be. THINGS are great; maybe I’m not. 

As difficult as it might be to respond with integrity that Jesus is the Son of God, it’s maybe even more difficult to respond with integrity to this second question. Because it requires us to know ourselves as we are known. To see ourselves as Christ sees us. As beloved and broken. As flawed and forgiven. And to clearly, and bravely, ask for that deep transformation.

What do you want me to do for you? is essentially Jesus offering us the gift of our true self. 

God wants us to be who God created us to be. God needs us to be the people God created us to be. But daring to look for that person, to ask Jesus to show you that person, to ask him to help you become that person, that’s a daring thing to do. Because that person you are, the person you were created to be, is the image of God within you. 

This week, take some time and let yourself get quiet, let yourself be in God’s presence and consider how you would answer that question. What would you like God to do for you? What inside you is longing to be revealed? What do you desire to see brought to life in you. What do you need healed, transformed, renewed? What do you want me to do for you? Jesus still stands before you, ready to respond. What will you ask for? 

And after you do respond, maybe you will then have a question for Jesus: “What do you want ME to do for YOU?”

The Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

Today's homily is dedicated to all of you who have shaken your head as you have watched the evening news the past several weeks, yet still come with head bowed to church every Sunday.  

THE CHILD IN OUR MIDST 

Numbers 11: 25-29; James 5: 1-6; Mark 9: 38-43, 45, 47-48 

When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child* will not enter it.” Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them. (Mark 9: 13-16) 

“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.” (Matthew 18: 3-4) 

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.” (Matthew 18: 10) 

Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.” (Mark 9: 36-37) 

“In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.” (Matthew 18:14) 

From these passages gleaned from the gospels, it’s clearly evident the love that our Lord has for children and the special place he has for them in his heart. In addition, many of his miracles involved children: the nobleman's little son, the demonized son of the man at the Mount of Transfiguration, and restoring the life of the son of the widow on Nain and the daughter of Jairus. Jesus truly, as man and God, loves children! 

In addition to the passages I just cited, in our gospel today, Jesus says this: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” A literal translation of Jesus’ words is whoever scandalizes one of these little ones who believe in me . . . To scandalize someone is to cause them to stumble—to shake the faith that they have in something or someone. We may have come to know the word scandal in our culture to be nothing more than juicy gossip that gives newspapers their cover story day after day — usually about a famous person’s private life. But in the biblical sense, the concept of a scandal is much more sinister. Jesus doesn’t leave any room for his people to be flippant about their behavior toward others, the little ones in particular. 

Our Gospel passage today follows the events of the reading from last Sunday, in which Jesus took up a child in his arms and declared that whoever receives such a little one in his name receives him. This child is still in their midst today when Jesus warns against causing such a little one to sin. 

We begin to understand the danger of scandalizing a little one when we come to realize the nature of a child’s faith. It is a faith that has not yet been subjected to the temptations of the world. A child is sinful by nature but doesn’t yet receive reinforcement of sinful behavior from others. 

A little child receives God’s Word and trusts in him. He or she may not yet be able to understand the full meaning of all the words of the Lord’s Prayer or the Creed, but the faith of that child’s heart isn’t contingent on the ability of the mind to process it because that faith is of the heart and not of the mind. The faith of a little child is focused on Jesus and isn’t divided between him and other things. The little child believes and has not yet been taught to doubt. Thus, the faith of a little child is the strongest and purest of all. 

Woe, therefore, to anyone who would damage the faith of these little ones! Jesus isn’t being dramatic when he speaks of a millstone being hung around one’s neck, mob-style, and being thrown into the sea. It truly would be better for such a scandalous person to have that happen, because at least in the bottom of the sea one would never be able to scandalize a child again. 

Perhaps at this point, your thoughts might be focusing on the recent scandals involving individuals in the Church, priests and bishops, who sexually abused children and others or who orchestrated a coverup of these crimes against God and crimes against the innocent. 

The media has reported all the intimate, scandalous and criminal details. You don’t need to hear a rehashing of them from me. I certainly offer you no justification or explanation for these acts, both the sinful crimes themselves, nor the all too frequent coverup by the hierarchy of the Church.  Except to say this . . . Although the Church is a divine institution, founded by Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit, the problem is that this divine institution was left by our Lord to mere flawed mortals as its members and as its leaders. 

In the creed that we will profess in a few minutes, we will declare that we believe in the ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC and APOSTOLIC Church. By saying the Church is catholic, we mean that the Church is universal. There are no pre-requisites to Church membership – you don’t have to be of a certain gender, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status to be a member of the Church. But also, you don’t have to be a saint either. And so, despite the Church being a divine institution, it is a Church of sinners – sinners seeking to become saints. 

And the sinners in the church aren’t just those sitting starting with first pew in the front of the church and ending with the last pew in the back. Those that sit and stand before you three steps higher in a sanctuary of green marble are also sinners. Sanctity was never a prerequisite for acceptance into the seminary or diaconate studies, and not for ordination either. And so today, those of us up here, your priests and deacons, also acknowledge what we all did at the beginning of the mass in the penitential rite: “We confess to almighty God and to you, our brothers and sisters, that we have greatly sinned, in our thoughts and in our words, in what we have done and in what we have failed to do.” 

And so, as you in the past have come to us in with contrite hearts to confess your frailty and sin, in the name 0f the bishops, priests and deacons of your Church, I too now come before you to acknowledge our personal sins, as well as the sins of the Church - past and present - and humbly ask your understanding and your forgiveness. 

Unfortunately, as I look out from my lofty position here in the sanctuary, I notice a lot of empty seats, seats that used to be filled. And my fear is that they have become vacant over the last several weeks because good and faithful people have had enough and have given up on the church. To do so is a tragedy, because we are all more than our sins, and despite the embarrassing reports that make the evening news, there are many wonderful reasons to be proud of your Church. 

For me, I could list its theology, its sacraments, its liturgy and its law. Our priests and religious have been with us tirelessly 24/7 to share with us our deepest joys and our most profound tragedies. In addition, I could mention that the Catholic Church, more than any other institution, has tried to make sure that the sins of the past never happen again, and so we require all those who minister in any way to children to participate in the program “Protecting God’s Children,” to be fingerprinted and have a criminal background check conducted on them. 

Did you know that the Catholic Church educates 2.6 million students every day at the cost to your Church of 10 billion dollars, and a savings on the other hand to the American taxpayer of 18 billion dollars. Our graduates go on to graduate studies at the rate of 92%, all at a cost to you. To the rest of the Americans it's free. The Church has 230 colleges and universities in the U.S. with an enrollment of 700,000 students. Did you also know that the Catholic Church has a non-profit hospital system of 637 hospitals, which account for hospital treatment of 1 out of every 5 people - not just Catholics - in the United States today. 

The Catholic Church is certainly bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. But let’s walk with our shoulders high and our head higher. Let’s remember what Jeremiah the prophet said: "Stand by the roads, and look and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is and walk in it, and find rest for your souls." Let’s be proud to speak up for our faith with pride and reverence. Be proud that you're a Catholic! And let’s pray that those millstones that Jesus talked about in today’s gospel can be cut, shaped and repurposed to become “living stones,” stones that lay the pathway toward becoming the Church, the People of God, that Jesus always intended us to be.

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

VELVET GLOVES & SPIT 

Isaiah 35: 4-7a; James 2: 1-5; Mark 7: 31-37 

I know what at least some of you are thinking in hearing today’s gospel: “That’s kind of gross!” 

We’d rather just focus on yet another encounter where Jesus does something incredibly remarkable - something miraculous, beyond explanation. So much so, that even on my end of things, I tend to skip over the means Jesus employs - putting his fingers in the guys ears; touching his tongue, spitting on it . . . It seems so - no offense Lord – disgusting, doesn’t it? And it’s not like it’s necessary. How many other times does Jesus simply perform miraculous deeds by his word? When he’s on the boat with the apostles asleep and the storms are about to sink them, with simply the words Be Still, they’re still. When he stands in front of the tomb of his friend Lazarus who’s been dead three days He cries out "Lazarus come out" and He does. 

But this one is done with a touch, giving something from within himself –saliva - it’s always been some details that I tried to ignore in light of the bigger miracle that a deaf man with a speech impediment is now freed and able to hear and able to speak. 

Yet, if we know that God can do amazing feats without these actions, perhaps there’s an important lesson in that or something for us to reflect on. Namely that: He doesn’t have to use those means but He does. Just like he chooses to use things other than spit, namely you and I to work miraculous things. And he does... EVERYDAY. 

Jesus’ touch, and his spit are details that shouldn’t be dismissed. But rather they are there to remind us that the creator of the Universe likes to use the things of this earth - the everyday, the ordinary - you and I more often than he does the inexplicable, outer-worldly to perform miracles on a regular basis. Real, bonafide miracles that make the deaf hear and speak; that can bring sight to the blind, that can bring the dead back to life. It’s just that maybe, just maybe, those experiences become too common, too ordinary and sometimes we can become too forgetful of the gifts, the talents, the abilities, the potentials, the opportunities that the Lord blesses us with that make them happen.

Pope Francis a few years ago said that often times "...miracles are performed with what little we have, with what we are, with what is at hand… and many times, it is not ideal, it is not what we dreamt of, nor what "should have been". (Mass for the Families - Ecuador - July 6, 2015) May you and I be attentive to the miracles that do happen in our life every day - to see how God doesn’t have to, but so often does choose to use you and I to complete them. Quite simply because He believes there’s no better way to unleash His Love, His care to a wounded, waiting world in desperate need of His attention then to utilize some his most precious, prized, handiwork - the special miracles he has already fashioned: you.

The Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

TRADITION!

Deuteronomy 4: 1-2, 6-8; James 1: 17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23

“A fiddler on the roof ... Sounds crazy, no? But here, in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof. Trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck. It isn't easy. You may ask, why do we stay up there if it's so dangerous? Well, we stay because Anatevka is our home. And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word! Tradition! Because of our traditions, we've kept our balance for many, many years. Here in Anatevka, we have traditions for everything. How to sleep. How to eat. How to work. How to wear clothes. For instance, we always keep our heads covered, and always wear a little prayer shawl. This shows our constant devotion to God. You may ask, how did this tradition get started? I'll tell you. I don't know. But it's a tradition. And because of our traditions, every one of us knows who he is and what God expects him to do.” 

So begins the 1964 Tony Award winning musical, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Set at the turn of the Twentieth Century in an impoverished Jewish Russian village called Anatevka at the onset of the Bolshevik Revolution, the story focuses on Tevye the dairyman and his family and neighbors who live their lives governed strictly by their age-old traditions. 

Throughout the musical, three of Tevye’s daughters marry in turn, but each match poses a challenge to Tevye’s sense of tradition and how things are meant to be done. His oldest daughter, Tzeitel, asks her father to be let out of the arranged match for her, so that she can marry the man she truly loves, Motel, the tailor. Tevye groans and complains, but finally agrees that they can marry for love. Then his second daughter, Hodel, wants to marry revolutionary Perchik. When they approach Tevye, they tell him they are not asking for permission, only for his blessing. Again, Tevye refuses at first, but finally gives in. And then finally his youngest daughter Chava falls in love with a Christian man, Fyedka. She, too, seeks to change her father’s heart about her match, but Tevye says “enough” – he has bent enough and let go of too much tradition. Near the end of the story, he does, at least, pray God’s blessing on Chava and Fyedka, even if he cannot fully come to terms with the marriage. 

As enjoyable as Fiddler is as a musical, as lighthearted as it is at times, the questions asked are serious ones, important ones. How far should you change traditions to meet the demands of an ever-changing world? How far is too far to bend? When do the traditions hold us to what is good and important, and when do they keep us from moving forward, from growing and changing in healthy ways? What traditions are based on simple habits that have extended over generations, and when to they represent the unchanging truth? 

Like Tevye, the Pharisees in ancient Israel were concerned with tradition. Like Tevye, the Pharisees knew that without Israel’s traditions life would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof. Like Tevye, they knew the importance of knowing who they were and what God expected of them. And so in today’s our gospel, we hear a confrontation between Jesus and a group of scribes and Pharisees. The Pharisees, as you know, were the religious leaders of Israel, devout Jews, who tried very hard to follow the law of Moses carefully and interpret it for daily living. They emphasized upholding the rituals, the traditions. They insisted on using oral tradition as well as written tradition, and in that way were viewed as quite liberal by other Jewish sects. For example, they added qualifications to laws like "an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" so that executions were less frequent. On the other hand, however, their additions to the law through oral code sometimes added many new requirements for people to follow, like around issues of observing the Sabbath, for instance. And their learning and education began to set them apart from the rest of the people, making them a kind of aristocracy. These kinds of practices, all these additional rules and looking down on those who didn’t follow them all, these were the practices of the scribes and Pharisees that Jesus most often criticized. 

So, from their perspective then, you understand why the scribes and the Pharisees were wondering why Jesus' disciples didn't wash in the prescribed manner. But Jesus in one sentence, in one breath does away with all these oral laws, for he saw in them that they were not worshiping God but the law itself. He says: "You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition.” Jesus saw that the law was being used to turn people away from God by being so exact, instead of it being used to bring people to God to see his love and mercy. Jesus goes on to say that it’s not what is outside of a person that makes that person unclean, but itis what is in his/her heart that matters. Jesus saw that religious tradition was being used to escape the true religion, the worship of God. The religious leaders were using the law of men to gain respect, position and wealth over the people instead of showing the people how the law can help them to find God in their lives. Jesus was freeing the people from the tyranny of the externals and giving them a freedom to live with the law of love in their hearts. 

You know that there are only two laws in the entire New Testament that Jesus tells us commands us to follow? They go together: "You should love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself." Notice Jesus doesn't go beyond the broad principle of the laws, he doesn't define in exact detail how one should love God and how one should love a neighbor. But in the rest of his teachings, in the way he lives, in how he acted, he showed us how one is to love God and one's neighbor. 

But he gives us the freedom to express our love for God and our love for our neighbor in our own way, in our own unique God given way. The religious leaders of Jesus day had lost the concept of the uniqueness of the human race. God has created each of us different, and in that difference, in that uniqueness we all have different talents, different ways, different abilities to worship God and to love our neighbor. We have been given the freedom to express our uniqueness as we live our Christian life. But notice the broad principle still stands: The command is to love God with our whole being, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. That is a command. There is no freedom not to follow or live by that command. 

That is God's command to those of us who want to be his followers. It is God's command for those of us who have been called by him in love and mercy. That command is not something we might say: "Well God, today I will worship you because I don't have anything better to do, or today God l will be good to my neighbor because I feel good." NO, that command transcends all of life. That command is not something we can turn on and off, but it is a reality that the people of God must live with. But how I worship God, how I love my neighbor, is up to my own uniqueness. 

Now you see how radical Jesus' words are in our gospel lesson. 

He puts each person in an unique position to be of special importance to God. For God enjoys, I think, the way each of us use the resources he has given us to worship him and to serve him through our neighbor. In some ways, this freedom to live in the principle of the law is more difficult that living by the letter of the law. Living by the letter of the law is easier because it is all spelled out in black and white. I don't have to take any responsibility for my own actions, if I follow the law I can say it is good law, if I cannot follow the law I can say it is a bad law. 

But when I am given the freedom to express the principle of the law in my own way, then I have to take the full responsibility for my actions. I stand alone before God. I cannot blame anyone or anything for my failure to act, or for my failure for acting wrong. I have a greater responsibility, but I think it is in that very freedom to act and to fail that I am more confident of the grace of God in my life. For when I fail, I know his forgiveness is there for me, and when I succeed, I know it is by the grace of God, the love that God has for me that has seen me through. I stand alone and naked by myself in the freedom of the law to worship God in my uniqueness and the serve him by serving my neighbor. It is literary God and I in the world together.

The Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

MARK TAKES A VACATION:

WEEK TWO 

Exodus 16: 2-4, 12-15; Ephesians 4:17, 20-24; John 6: 24-35 

Do you ever watch soap operas? My mom did. And although she would occasionally tune in to watch such soaps as “Days of Our Lives” and “The Guiding Light,” there was one that was her favorite that she would never miss – “As the World Turns.” As you know, soap operas air five days a week so, at least back then, if an actor was ill or off shooting a movie, and the storyline needed to go on without them, another actor would be hired to temporarily replace them. The announcer for “As the World Turns” was named Dan Region, and I remember his smooth calming voice informing the viewers that “Today the role of Lisa Miller, Hughes, Eldridge, Shea, Colman, McColl, Mitchell, Chedwyn, Grimaldi” (that’s how many times she was married) “usually portrayed by Eileen Fulton will be played by Betty von Furstenberg.” 

I thought of “As the World Turns” this week as I was preparing my homily. And I imagined the silky voice of Dan Region emanating from our speakers this morning announcing, “The role of the evangelist, usually performed this year by Mark will today be played by John.” Yes, Mark has been given a five-week vacation by the liturgists of the Church, and in his place, the Apostle John has been brought in to share with us a key portion of his Gospel called the “Bread of Life Discourse.” It began last week with the miracle of the loaves and fish, and continues today with Jesus telling those that were fed and searched him out the next day, “You think multiplying loaves and fish to satisfy your hunger pains was great? You know what? I’m going to give a bread that if you eat it, you’ll never die.” Next week he’ll reveal that HE himself is this BREAD of LIFE, the bread that has come down from heaven that gives life to the world. The following week he’ll push the envelope even further and tell them that UNLESS they eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, they CANNOT have life within them. And then finally, the week after, we see the result of such talk – the crowd, who the day before wanted to carry him off and crown him king, will desert him; they just cannot accept what he’s saying. Can we? 

Recent reports from the medical profession tell us that we’re a society that likes to over-indulge. We’ve gotten fat. An estimated 160 million Americans are either obese or overweight. Nearly three-quarters of American men and more than 60% of women are obese or overweight. But on the other hand, we’re also warned that there exists a “hidden hunger” in our country. That we’re consuming the wrong types of foods – foods that are calorie dense, but nutritionally poor. And as a result, some 85% of Americans lack essential vitamins. 

The truth is, many are suffering from a spiritual malnutrition as well. We live in a world that has become obese with insatiable desires, and the things we feed on to try to satisfy those desires are harming us spiritually. I’m talking about a spiritual malnutrition that’s caused by people over-indulging on a diet of power, prestige and possessions, things that offer the quick fix to our hunger, but always fail to satisfy. I’m talking about those who exist on a regular junk food diet of drugs and alcohol, sexual promiscuity and false religions and ideologies - things that only deliver easy solutions to all of life’s complexities, but in the end, they fall short. And I’m talking about those who have a steady intake of the bread of hatred and envy and whose only drink is the drink of bitterness and cynicism, and they become what they eat. But what about us? Might we who come here faithfully every Sunday also be suffering from spiritual malnutrition? It could very well be. 

In our Gospel today, Jesus invites the crowds to recognize the hungers beneath their hungers. He asks the crowds to probe the deeper soul hungers that only the “bread that has come down from heaven” can satisfy. And he asks us to do the same. What are your hidden hungers? A hunger for meaning and purpose? A longing for acceptance, intimacy, and love? A desire to be recognized and appreciated? A hunger for delight and joy? A need for healing, wholeness, and steady courage in the face of fear? That’s my list. What’s yours? 

Of course, it’s one thing to name our hungers, but quite another to trust that Jesus will satisfy them. After all, we’re so good at finding substitutes for the soul food that Jesus offers - things like perpetual busyness, social media, books, movies, the 24-hour-news-cycle, exercise, chocolate, and other people. Do we really trust that Jesus is our bread . . . our essential sustenance? Very often, the answer is no. Very often, Jesus is only an abstraction. A creed. A set of Sunday rituals we consider pleasant but optional. We don’t come to him ravenous because we seek satisfaction elsewhere. We don’t recognize our daily, hourly, dependence on his generosity. We partake of the Bread of Life through both Word and Sacrament every Sunday, but we fail to chew on it and digest it. We keep our relationship with Jesus on a superficial level and fail to grow and mature in our faith, which absolutely, positively requires a total purging of ourselves of everything and anything that’s not him. 

There’s only one cure for the condition of spiritual malnutrition. Jesus offers us the one thing that will satisfy all our cravings and keep us healthy – HIMSELF! He is the Wonder Bread, who not only helps to build strong bodies in twelve ways but is the spiritual food that feeds the heart, nourishes soul and gives life to the spirit. There’s no substitution. Through Him comes life . . . life now and life eternally . . . a full and abundant and rich life in which sin and suffering, despair and death are conquered. 

So watch your diet! Be careful of the calories of excess. Stay away from the fatty lusts and appetites that the world offers. Avoid the spicy prejudices and hatreds that could give your spirit heartburn. Stay away from the junk food of materialism that will clog your spiritual arteries and damage the health of your heart and soul. Instead, try a diet high in the fiber of Jesus. Let Jesus into your heart and soul. Allow him to clean out the plaque of self-complacency and self-satisfaction. And begin an exercise program that includes prayer and ministering to the needy. I know this is a difficult diet. Many won’t stick to it. But the rewards are great for those who do: health of the mind and heart, fitness of the soul, strength to deal with all the difficulties which we face in life, and the greatest benefit of all . . . eternal life. 

Jesus – the living bread that has come down from heaven. May we absorb it. May we share it. May we desire it above all things. May its nourishment permeate us through and through until we become what we have eaten, life-saving bread for the whole world.

The Mysterious Stranger

THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER

Did I ever tell you . . . On the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker (May 1st) a few years ago I asked St. Joseph to give me a sign. Not necessarily to grant, through his intercession, what I had been praying for, but just a sign that he had heard my prayers, that he was with me, that he hadn't abandoned me. As I left for work that morning, I felt embarrassed about my request. And as I drove to In The Spirit Gifts, where I was working, I prayed, "I'm sorry, St. Joseph. You don't have to do that. I shouldn't have asked you for a sign. I know you've heard, haven't abandoned, and are with me. 

The month of May is a very busy season at the store as First Communions near. In the midst of a store full of shoppers that morning, in came a man. He was not a regular customer - I had never seen him before and never saw him after. He stood staring at me and engaged me in brief moments of conversation as I helped other customers. What I was immediately struck with, however, was that this stranger was a faith-filled man, who seemed to know his theology. 

Somehow the busy store emptied out and I was alone with this man - just him, just me. He never told me why he was there . . . never told me what he wanted. But in the midst of our conversation, having nothing at all to do with anything we were talking about, he announced to me, "I'm married to a virgin." I ignored what he said, but remember thinking to myself, "What a strange thing to say! Why would this man reveal to a total stranger that his wife was a virgin when he married her?" As if he read my thoughts, he added, "My wife and I love each other very much, but we've decided to live our married life as virgins." 

Soon after, as mysteriously as he came into the store, he left, never buying anything, never even browsing at the merchandise. Minutes after he left, alone in the store, as I tried to make sense of this strange encounter, I was filled with wonder! What other man, I thought, had married a virgin? What other couple had decided to live their married love virginally? Suddenly I was filled with awe, and joy, and peace. Although I told St. Joseph that I wasn't looking for it, anticipating it or expecting it, I realized I had received my sign.

2018 Mission Trip Cross

THE HEART OF A SERVANT

The 2018 Mission Trip Cross

His feet moved throughout Galilee and Judea 

Seeking the poor and the sick, 

The outcast and the forgotten, 

The saint and the sinner. 

His eyes looked compassion on the world 

And conveyed things that mere words lacked. 

Things like gentleness and grace 

Love and mercy, 

Respect and self-worth. 

His ears were attuned 

To cries and to laughter, 

To prayers and to pleas 

To praise and to rejection. 

His voice spoke 

Against oppression and for inclusion, 

Against self-righteousness and for Godliness, 

Against the arrogant and for the meek. 

His hands reached out 

To feed and to forgive, 

To heal and to bless, 

To wash feet and to wipe away tears. 

But . . . 

His feet were able to journey, 

His eyes were able to see, 

His ears were able to hear, 

His voice was able to speak 

And his hands were able to touch, 

Because within this carpenter, 

Within this wanderer, 

Within this teacher, 

Within this healer 

Was a heart. 

The heart of a servant. 

Today we bless and commission the twenty-five teenagers and fourteen adults who will leave tomorrow morning and minister in our name to the people of Dunlow, West Virginia. Each year at this mass, we bestow upon them their mission trip cross, a symbol of who they are, of why they minister, and in whose name they minister. Each year I try to choose a cross which will symbolize a theme, a thought, which I hope each of those going on the mission trip will be reminded of each time they see the cross, touch the cross, wear the cross. 

And so, missionaries of St. Therese, in the middle of this year’s cross is a heart with four rays pointing outward from it. Through this cross and throughout the next week may you, like Jesus, possess the heart of a servant - a heart which opens itself without hesitation, gives of itself without reserve, and loves without condition. And along with tools like hammers and saws, drills and screwdrivers, may you use your feet and your eyes, your ears and your voice, your hands and your heart to serve the people in Dunlow. May you take as your model and inspiration he who said:

“If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” (Mark 9:35) 

He who said: 

“The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) 

And he who said: 

“I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” (John 13:15)

Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B)

JUST A BOY FROM NAZARETH 

Ezekiel 2: 2-5; 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10; Mark 6: 1-6 

He'd grown up there. And now he goes back home again. He goes back to Nazareth . . . and it is just as important an event for him as it would be for you and me. We see it at homecomings every year. And we see it at family reunions - the folks who come back to share . . . not just in the food . . . and not just to sit in the shade and catch up, though that might be part of the sharing . . . but the ones who come back to share a portion of their hearts . . . a part of their lives with the people they love. This is why he goes back home. To give back something to those people in Nazareth who had given him so very much. 

There’s the rabbi who first taught him the Torah. There are the boys - the friends of his childhood - the ones he had run with through the streets, dust splaying between their toes, laughing and playing. There are the older men and women who remember how he had started at age 12 to learn his father's trade, and how there was hardly a home in Nazareth that didn't have baskets, chests, or some kind of furniture that Joseph or Jesus had made, or maybe ceiling beams that they had installed. And there too, his mother and his family. They’re all here in Nazareth. These are the people who shaped him. These are the people who taught him. These are the people who made his ministry possible. They are the people he loves most in the world. And he comes back to give them the gift closest to his heart - the only gift of real value he can give. He comes back home to share the Word of God with them. He comes back to bring them salvation and eternal life. 

Oh, they listen politely enough. No one gets up and walks out. There isn't even very much shifting around on the benches . . . or coughing . . . or nodding off while he's speaking. They hear the beauty of his words, but that's all they hear - and words that in Cana or Capernaum would have brought folks to their knees and changed lives on the spot . . . well, here those words just seemed to fall flat. Where was this coming from? This kind of wisdom couldn't come from a man they were acquainted with, a boy who had grown up right here and whose family they all knew. It just wasn't possible! When all was said and done, he was just a boy from Nazareth. 

That day in the synagogue, the people of Nazareth had quite an opportunity. They could open their minds and hearts. They could accept that God was at work, right there in Nazareth, in the person of this man, Jesus, whom they knew so well. But they “took offense at him." Who did he think he was? After all, when all was said and done, he was just a boy from Nazareth? . . . But “a prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” 

Most of us think of prophets as sort of religious soothsayers. But prophesy isn’t about predicting the future. It more has to do with the here and now. . . and then maybe how the here and now might affect the future. Prophets are messengers of God, sent to announce God’s will for a particular person or community at a particular time. More simply, a prophet is one who speaks on behalf of God. 

We often assume God ‘speaking’ means hearing an audible voice thundering down from heaven in a boisterous, “Thus sayeth the Lord!” kind of way. Though a few people have claimed to have heard God audibly, he usually speaks through other ‘modes’ of communication. Just like learning a new language, when one has to train their ear to hear certain sounds and syllables of the foreign words, so it is with hearing God’s voice. We have to train ourselves to know and discern the distinct sounds and syllables of God’s voice in order to hear him clearly. Don’t forget, God is a mystery and so the way he communicates with us is going to be mysterious. Don’t forget too, that God is a pure Spirit. And so, we have to learn how and to accept how a spirit communicates. And that’s necessarily going to be different than human to human, face to face communication. So, if God physically appears to you and speaks to you, either call the pope or call Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital, because normally that’s not the way it works. And if that’s what you’re waiting for, you’re going to have a long and disappointing wait. 

So who or what are the prophets in your life? How does God visit you, inspire you, motivate you, challenge you, change you, speak to you? Here are five ways, some of which may surprise you.  And probably none of which you ever thought of as prophetic:

1. Through the Bible: The Bible is the living Word of God. Everything in it, though written by humans, is inspired by him in some way. If we rely on God’s Word and believe the words we read are directly from God’s mouth, we will hear him speaking directly to us through them. 
2. Through the ‘Still Small Voice’: When we accept Christ into our hearts, we are immediately given a gift from God in the form of the Holy Spirit. While Jesus was still living among the disciples, he told them, “…when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.” ( John 16:13). Indeed, the Spirit of the Lord that resides within us, will tell us the truth. The question is, are we listening? 
3. Through Life Circumstances: Never take life’s circumstances at face value. No matter how bad or confusing or hopeless they may look, God often uses the ordinary to communicate the extraordinary. Lose a job? Flight get delayed? A project fail to get the results you hoped for? Don’t fret. God is at work through every circumstance in our lives, even when we don’t fully understand. We need to try to discern what He might be saying through it all. 
4. Through Dreams: If God spoke through to King Abimelech, Jacob, Laban, Joseph, Pharaoh, King Solomon, King Nebuchadnezzar, and the prophet Daniel in the Old Testament and St. Joseph in the New Testament through dreams, why not also us? Pay attention to your dreams; they might mean more than you realize. 
5. Through Other People: Have you ever been talking to someone and they suddenly say the exact thing you needed to hear? Or you’re sitting in church and the sermon tackles an exact struggle you have been facing? It’s likely that God was speaking to you through other people–even without them even knowing it. It can come through books, songs on the radio, TV programs, or complete strangers on the street, but when it comes, with its uncanny precision and accuracy, you know when you hear it, it's not coincidence, it's a "God-instance."  

The problem is, often times we dismiss all of these as fantasy, wishful thinking, coincidence or reading into something the way we want it to be and not the way it actually is. And we, like the people of Nazareth, take offense: “This isn’t the way God acts! This isn’t the way I want God to act! For me, God is complex and dramatic, and this is all too simple!” But in reality, if you’re listening for the voice of God in your life, this is where you’re going to find it. 

How can we know when we’ve received the prophetic word of God? Five ways, all of which must be present. We need to ask ourselves:

• Is it Important? Is it meaningful to my life? Remember, God doesn’t deal in trivia. 
• Is it Good? Is what is revealed good in itself and good in what it asks of me? 
• Is it Loving? Does it make me a better person? Does it respect and promote what is good, holy, true and beneficial for myself and for others? 
• Does it work? Does what is revealed answer my question or lead to a resolution of my situation? Remember, God is perfect. He doesn’t make mistakes. Therefore, he doesn’t offer bad advice. But be prepared, God reveals to us what is true, not necessarily what we want. 
• Does it Conform to Other Traditional Forms of Revelation? In other words, is it in sync with Scripture and the teaching of the Church? God NEVER contradicts himself! 

That day, in Nazareth, the hometown crowd couldn’t accept that God’s prophetic voice could come through one of their own. Can we accept the voice of God when it comes through one of our own: inspirations, intuitions, circumstances, dreams, family members and friends? The people of Nazareth lost a great opportunity by not listening more carefully to their neighbor and relative -- who they knew only as Jesus, the boy from Nazareth. But we know differently. We know him as Jesus the Christ, our Lord and Savior. Let’s pray that we know not to reject the God that might often seem all too familiar to us.

Graduation Homily for the Class of 2018

LIVE JESUS IN OUR HEARTS 

FOREVER 

A Graduation Homily for the Class of 2018 

St. Therese School, Succasunna, NJ 

June 13, 2018 

Isaiah 44: 6-8, 24; Philippians 1: 3-11; 4: 8-9; Matthew 7: 24-29 

There once was a man who had a dream. He was often criticized for having this dream. People thought his dream was unrealistic, and that he didn’t have what it would take to accomplish it. But he wouldn’t give up. Those in authority often found fault with him because his ways were unconventional, but he refused to go with the flow, to be like everyone else, to live up to their expectations. Eventually, he met a group of young people, and although they were intelligent and talented, they lacked direction and purpose in their lives. But slowly, he impacts their lives. Although they are reluctant at first, his dream becomes their dream. And in the process of ultimately fulfilling the dream for himself and for them, he instills meaning, self-confidence, and a sense of direction into their lives. 

Graduates, does this story sound familiar? It should. Because if you add, music, dancing and an electric guitar to it, it’s the plot of the Broadway musical that you saw two weeks ago on your class trip to New York: it’s the story of Dewey Finn and how he formed “The School of Rock.” 

But his story might also remind you of another dreamer, one who lived 2,000 years ago and the impact he had on a group of twelve students, and the sense of purpose and meaning he instilled into their lives and all lives ever since. In a real sense, he too established a School of Rock, and that is the school from which you graduate today. 

In our gospel this morning, Jesus tells us that a foolish man builds his house on sand, but a wise one builds it on ROCK. And in our first reading, we heard God speak through the prophet Isaiah, and he tells us that HE is the ROCK, that there is no other. And so, St. Therese’s School is the true School of Rock because it’s built on Jesus Christ. He is the reason why St. Therese’s School exists. He is the unseen but ever-present teacher in all its classes. He is the model of its faculty. He has been the inspiration for you, its students. 

Graduates, each of you is built on a strong, sturdy foundation – the ROCK that is Jesus Christ. The evidence that you are isn’t found in the awards you’ll receive in a few minutes or the diploma you’ll get this evening. The proof is found in who you are, how you live your life, the virtues you possess, and the positive impact you bring to the world around you. Things like this: 

• Riley: You always demonstrate sensitivity, compassion and concern for everyone – your friends, but also anyone who might be in need. You’re a true and loyal friend who can always be counted on in the good times and in the bad. 
• Clay: You have an incredible sense of humor. And your humor is never caustic or hurtful to anyone, but is self-deprecating, always making yourself the butt of your jokes, never anyone else. Through your sense of humor, you dedicate so much of yourself to making other people happy, to lifting their spirits when they’re low, to bringing joy to their hearts. 
• Jillian: You have the biggest heart that anyone could possibly have. You love constantly, completely, unselfishly and without reserve and make everyone’s life better just from you being a part of it. 
• Marco: You constantly give one hundred percent of yourself and are completely dedicated and devoted to everything and everyone in your life, whether that be school, or basketball, or your friends. You possess an amazing degree of leadership and self-assuredness that gives everyone peace of mind and the sense that all is well, because you’ve got everything under control; you’ve got everybody’s back. 
• Alyssa: You have such incredible inner beauty. You possess some of the greatest virtues that a person can possibly have - grace, integrity, honesty and trustworthiness. 
• Alex: To know you is to know a person of deep faith, profound love of God and unwavering respect for every man, woman and child. You are precisely what Jesus praised in the Beatitudes when he said, “Blessed are the pure of heart.” 
• Peter: You have a quiet strength that everyone depends upon. You’re steadfast, loyal, dependable. Just by your personality, and probably unknowingly, you provide in every situation a sense of peace and calm that everyone needs and on which everyone relies. 
• Christina: Your sense of joy just radiates from you. Your kindness, courtesy and ability to see the beauty in life is unwavering and uplifting to all. 
• Megna: You possess one of the greatest virtues, and one that is sorely lacking in our world today – humility. You never show off, never seek to be the center of attention, but simply, quietly and humbly excel in every area of your life. 
• Connor: You are the most sensitive, thoughtful and kind person I think I’ve ever met in my entire life. Your eyes are constantly focused outward on other people to anticipate their needs. And you unselfishly respond immediately to them without even being asked. 
• Kevin: You are truly an honorable person – generous, positive and always the epitome of what it means to be both gentle and a gentleman. 
• Dominic: Warmth, sensitivity, innocence and inquisitiveness are the hallmarks of your personality which make you immediately likeable and loveable to everyone who meets you. 
• Andrew: You care so much for people and are so warm and charitable. I’ve never heard you say one unkind word about anyone because you always see the good in people and never the bad. Your smile and your optimism just makes everyone’s day. 
• Diego: You possess the virtue that is considered the greatest virtue in the Bible, one credited to very few in Scripture and one that few people demonstrate today – righteousness, pure goodness. Your personal goodness, coupled with the enthusiasm with which you live your life, is like an aura that surrounds you which is evident the moment anyone meets you and every time you just simply walk into a room. 

But graduates, all these are not the things that the world recognizes, much less gives awards for. They won’t bring you a medal, a plaque, a certificate or a check. But they are the things that God sees and rewards. And the award for them is called Heaven. 

The past few weeks, I’ve had a difficult task. I’ve been trying to figure out what my final words to you as a class would be. I wanted them to be something that would hopefully inspire you and something that you would remember. But ultimately, I came to realize that the most important thing I want to leave with you on this most important day is something you’ve already heard from me twice a week, for ten months out of the year, for two years; it’s the way we would end our prayers every morning at the beginning of class: “Live Jesus in our hearts – Forever!” Since the heart is the center of your being, these words express your desire that Jesus be the center of your life, that his words be your words, his thoughts be your thoughts, his heart be your heart. FOREVER. 

Graduates, live Jesus in YOUR hearts forever. It’s not enough to know Jesus, nor even to love Jesus. You must live Jesus. How do you do that? It all has to do with the cross I gave you on your retreat last Friday. If you look at it, you’ll see on the left and on the right of the cross are two Greek letters –the Alpha and the Omega. They’re the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet and are symbolic of the eternity of God, the One who is the beginning and end of all things. Intertwined at the center of the cross are two more Greek letters: The Chi and the Rho. These are the first two letters of the Greek word CHRIST and is one of the earliest Christian symbols. And so, by this cross, may you be reminded daily that Christ must be the center of your lives. From the time you wake up each morning, until you close your eyes at night: CHRIST! From the beginning of the week every Sunday morning, to its close every Saturday night: CHRIST! From the first day of high school to the day you again graduate: CHRIST! And from the beginning of your life to the end of your life: CHRIST! 

Class of 2018, please stand, take off your cross and look at it. Make this the most sincere prayer you’ve ever said. Repeat after me: 

Christ with me, 

Christ before me, 

Christ behind me, 

Christ in me, 

Christ beneath me, 

Christ above me, 

Christ on my right, 

Christ on my left, 

Christ when I lie down, 

Christ when I sit down, 

Christ when I arise, 

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, 

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, 

Christ in every eye that sees me, 

Christ in every ear that hears me. 

Live Jesus in my heart. 

Live Jesus in my heart. 

Live Jesus in my heart forever. 

You may be seated and put the cross back on. 

Dear hearts, Class of 2018, congratulations on all you have accomplished. And thank you. Thank you for who you are and thank you for loving me. I wish I had the words that could adequately let you know how much you mean to me, how much I will miss you, and how much I love you. I can only hope you already know. 

Live Jesus in our hearts . . . FOREVER!