While they were still speaking about this,
he stood in their midst and said to them,
—Peace be with you.—
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.

Do you have the ghost of Jesus in your life? Do you possess a sort of ephemeral, see-through, not really there Jesus?

The disciples who were gathered together on this day had that kind of Jesus, at least until he appeared to them. They had a Jesus of memory. They remembered His face, maybe a few of His words, and probably were pondering a few of His promises. They had ghost Jesus.

Is that the sort of Jesus you have? You might remember a few of His words now and then. You might think of His promises at times of tragedy. You might even recall some representation of Jesus, a cross, a picture, some distant memory from your days studying the catechism.

I prefer the real Jesus. The Jesus of the cross, tomb, and resurrection. I prefer the ‘fish fry’ Jesus. I love to picture myself sitting down with the Lord for some Dunkirk smoked whitefish. I think we’d have a great time.

Sure, it sounds funny, but that’s the reality. Jesus is real. He is not only real in the historical sense, but in the past, present, and future sense.

No, it is no ghost.

So, if He is not just a passing puff of smoke, but the real living God-man, what are we going to do about it? How are we going to react?

The only reaction that makes sense is to live our lives with His reality. To live our lives in a way that reflects the fact that He is standing right next to you and me. More than standing next to us, He lives within us. He has joined Himself to us through the everlasting gift of Himself in the Holy Eucharist. He joins with us to change us, convert us, and renew us.

It is a difficult burden. You would think that people would run from the Church knowing that they have to live with the reality of someone who places so many expectations on them. You would think that the reality of it all would be too much to bear, especially in light of our sinfulness.

St. John tells us:

But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous one.
He is expiation for our sins,
and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.

Peter put it even more plainly:

Now I know, brothers,
that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did;
but God has thus brought to fulfillment
what he had announced beforehand
through the mouth of all the prophets,
that his Christ would suffer.
Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.—

Yes, we continue to act out of ignorance. It is a self imposed ignorance. It is the way we cover over the uncomfortable fact that God would die on the cross for us. That He would sacrifice His only Son so that we could be with Him one day in heaven.

Remember that He told us that He came not to condemn us but to bring us salvation.

Therefore, we need to set aside the discomfort of living with the real Jesus, and we need to act. We need to repent of our ignorance. We need to throw open the shades, break out the fish fry, and live with the real Jesus.

Once we have done that we will truly be His disciples, ready to follow His command:

And he said to them,
—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.
You are witnesses of these things.

You are witnesses of these things —“ proclaim your witness. Our sins are forgiven. Jesus is alive and real. Life in union with Him is ultimate and everlasting joy. We are changed by His body and blood – and we need to act on that reality.

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Poor Thomas —“ always the subject of today’s homily.

We subconsciously shake our heads and say, how could he not have faith in the Lord? Didn’t he trust his fellow Apostles?

But it wasn’t about faith nor was it about trusting his colleagues; rather, it was about belief.

Belief is more than faith. Belief is factual. Belief is the solid rock Jesus required His followers to stand on.

Sure, Thomas probably had faith, he probably had hope, and he probably trusted his friends, but what he lacked was belief. Belief is the surety. Belief is the absolute knowledge that something is true.

So Jesus said:

—Have you come to believe because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.—

That is what we are called to do. To have absolute confidence that our Lord, Jesus Christ is God, was born, taught, suffered, died, was buried, rose from the dead, and established His Church.

My brothers and sisters,

You are called to be a know-it-all on this subject. You are called to arm yourself with the knowledge of Christ and a firm belief in His reality. You are called to believe even if it makes no sense. You are called to proclaim your belief even though it may be uncomfortable.

There are plenty of people in this world who hate a know-it-all. They especially hate people of faith, people who truly believe in the Lord, and proclaim that belief. There are even ministers, priests, and bishops in some Churches who do not believe in the reality of Jesus; they demure on the resurrection, on the Eucharist, and on basic morality. You would be in some pretty good ‘bad company’ if you didn’t believe.

P.T. Forsyth said:

The age, and much of the Church, believes in civilization and is interested in the Gospel, instead of believing in the Gospel and being interested in civilization.

We are called to be believers and to act on our belief, holding to the Gospel. We are blessed with the absolute knowledge of everlasting life, the way to live, the means to be separate from the world, to be in the world but not of it, and the world does not like that.

Jesus told us:

—Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.—

How true.

Now look at the Christian community in Jerusalem:

With great power the apostles bore witness
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus

They did, and they converted the face of the earth, all because they believed.

John wrote in his letter:

Who indeed is the victor over the world
but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

The one who believes is victorious.

My friends,

You may be rich or poor, healthy or sick. You may dance though life or carry a heavy cross. Regardless, you must take your simple faith and allow it, through the mercy and grace of God, to be transfigured into true belief.

At the beginning of the Gospel of John we read:

He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.

You, my brothers and sisters, are those people. You are those who were born of God in baptism and by the Spirit. You have the power; you have something special, because you believe. Therefore, put aside childish cares and believe.

Christ is risen, alleluia! Go and proclaim it.

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My brothers and sisters in Christ,

We all know where the narrative of the Passion is leading. We know because we are the beneficiaries of Jesus’ passion and death upon the cross. For us it is a historical and an ever present reality. Moreover, we are joined to Jesus’ passion and death by our baptism.

As St. Paul tells us, in baptism we died with Christ. We died and were buried with Him in the waters of baptism.

What we must do today, and in this Passiontide, the two weeks leading up to Easter, is to find our place within the passion. As the famous hymn asks: Were you there?

Were you there? Indeed! While you were there, what role did you play?

Three things stand out in the Passion, three things in relation to who we are as followers of Christ.

Are we Judas?

Listen again:

—The man I shall kiss is the one;
arrest him and lead him away securely.—

Do we stand ready to betray the Lord when the Lord’s will does not fit our own? Do we place our expectations of God before the reality of God?

Each week you kiss the Lord. You take Him upon your lips when you received the Holy Eucharist. Are you kissing Him in love or in betrayal?

During this Passiontide recommit yourselves to embracing the Lord’s will for your life. Set aside sinfulness and repent. Live your life at one with God.

Are we Peter?

Listen again:

He began to curse and to swear,

—I do not know this man about whom you are talking.—

You don’t have to have a rooster in your backyard to be Peter.

How often do you compromise your spiritual integrity?

Does it happen every time you walk through the doors at work, every time you enter the mall, every time you go along to get along? That rooster is crowing loud and clear.

During this Passiontide recommit yourselves to professing your faith in the Lord. Not the Lord the world wants to hear about, the Lord the world needs to hear about. Set aside weak faith and the tendency to compromise and justify. Live your life with God in the center and on the throne.

Are you the soldier beneath the cross?

Listen again:

—Truly this man was the Son of God!—

You have to listen carefully. —Truly this man WAS the Son of God!—

Well, to that soldier, and to many of us, He was. He’s dead now. He’s dead in the most real way possible, not just in terms of earthly existence, but in our hearts and minds.

We can believe that Jesus was a great guy, that He never caused anyone any problems, that He is all happy-happy, joy-joy. We can even believe that He was real. What we can’t get our minds around is that He is God. That what he taught is the truth. That as God he humiliated Himself, took on our form, and suffered and died for us. It is even harder to believe that what He said was true: That the temple would be destroyed and rebuilt in three days.

My friends,

Ask yourselves this important question this Passiontide. Who is Jesus? God or not God? Alive or dead? Awaken your faith and proclaim the truth. Jesus Christ, true God and true man. Jesus Christ, who suffered, died, and was buried. Jesus Christ who rose again on the third day. Jesus Christ who took away the sins of the world.

Then you will be ready to see the empty tomb. You will see it clearly this Easter Sunday morning and understand its meaning.

God puts up with us. Because of His mercy, he patiently awaits our conversion.

What He desires, while being patient with us, is that we all come to believe in Him and come to eternal life.

The Father desires that we know in our heart of hearts that Jesus is His Son, come to earth, raised up on the cross, who suffered, died, was buried, and Who rose again from the dead. Not only this, but to know that we have life through Him.

Moses was directed to raise a figure of a serpent on a stick so that those who had been poisoned might be cured by looking at it. So God sent His Son to be raised on the cross so that all of us, poisoned by sin, might have life in His light.

My brothers and sisters,

When the chosen people disobeyed God, and not only disobeyed but mocked Him too, God’s righteous anger was raised.

The Second book of Chronicles tells us:

the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed
that there was no remedy.
Their enemies burnt the house of God,
tore down the walls of Jerusalem,
set all its palaces afire,
and destroyed all its precious objects.

God allowed the land to go fallow. There was no life in Israel. Life there ceased and all the people were carried off as was their livestock.

For a reality check, picture the State of New York. A beautiful place. Trees, hills and valleys, magnificent cities and farms. Picture it all gone, empty. The farms have gone wild. No person or animal can be found. The cities are empty and burned. No one dares set foot there. All is emptiness and lifelessness.

The time of fallow and exile brought home the reality of life to the Jewish people. Life, and the fullness of life, is in God alone. Life is in doing His will, in living His commandments. God is life and light.

The words of today’s psalm are poignant. The people of Israel cry and bemoan their loss. They sit in Babylon and long for the joy of the Lord in Jerusalem. They long to sing to the Lord once again. But they could only cry and long.

By this process they were formed. They redeemed the fallow land by their penance, and the Lord God relented of His anger.

—Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths,
during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest
while seventy years are fulfilled.—

And after seventy years, Cyrus, the King of Persia said at God’s command:

Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of His people,
let him go up, and may his God be with him!—

Can you imagine the joy? It should be the kind of joy you feel when you go to sleep Saturday night. Tomorrow we go to the House of the Lord.

God has given us nothing but His ultimate gift of love, His Son. He also gives us His infinite patience.

St.Paul tells us:

God, who is rich in mercy,
because of the great love he had for us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions,
brought us to life with Christ

Yes, we are alive in Christ Jesus. Alive and preparing ourselves to meet Him. This tremendous gift is not of our doing. For God loves us so much that He allows us an eternity of preparation. He puts up with our transgressions, allowing us to seek His forgiveness. He gives us the grace we need to seek His mercy and to live up to His expectations. This is salvation. The real, living, font of salvation.

Paul tells us here:

For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;

Oh, what a tremendous gift. A gift what we can never be worthy of, a gift for which we can never be thankful enough.

Therefore, let us look upon Him who has been pierced for our offenses. Jesus, who has been sacrificed so that we might be sanctified. Jesus, who has died so that the doors of heaven might be opened to us. Through these open doors flows the bounty of God’s grace, flowing clean and pure into our lives.

Each day and each week, every hour of the day, we must move forward to better live in the light.

Jesus said:

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

Work then in the light of God, and in cooperation with His grace which strengthens you, bringing you out of darkness. God will put up with us and gives us every opportunity. He has given His Son and His grace for our journey home. Now is the time to accept this gift. In faith say yes to Jesus Christ and choose to live in the light of God.

Amen.

The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.
They are more precious than gold,
than a heap of purest gold;
sweeter also than syrup
or honey from the comb.

This is beautiful poetry summarizing beautiful truth, but how worldly we are. We are worldly because we will not trust the law, decree, precepts, command, or ordinances of the Lord. We are tied to this world because we have forgotten fear of the Lord.

The Lord is perfect, trustworthy, right, clear, pure, and true. His Word is Jesus and Jesus is the truth. Yet, we analyze and engage in hermeneutics. Some buy into Dan Brown’s fantasies and hatred for Christianity, his hatred for the very Word of God. Some will take any path as long as it is the path or questioning. Many take the path that allows their answers to be self serving. —What, did that commandment apply to me?— —Since when!?!—

In this Church the Word of God is a sacrament.

In a few weeks I will be explaining this sacrament to my First Communion Catechism class. The children here can tell you that the Catechism is a study of religion using questions and answers. And in a few weeks they will learn that the sacrament of the Word is important to us because it:

• Brings us closer to God through Jesus Christ;
• Teaches us the Divine Will of God;
• Makes our faith stronger, and
• Tells us how we can enter the Kingdom of God

In other words everything we need to achieve the fullness of life and eternal joy is contained in the Word of God. The Word gives us sacramental grace which is sanctifying grace —“ the grace that changes us —“ makes us holy and pleasing to God.

But, you have to listen and believe! We must put the Word into action. The action that makes us constant converts to the way of Christ.

Paul tells us that, “Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified.”

Jesus Himself told us that no sign will be given:

The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.

Signs and wisdom will not be given. You have to look at what is right in front of you and recognize it. The words are simple, follow them.

In every Holy Mass you are forgiven your sins, you hear the Word of God and are taught, and you receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Three times you receive sacramental grace. Three times you are sanctified. Three times you are made holy and pleasing to God.

Yet doubt persists. Disbelief persists. Questioning persists.

Paul told us:

We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. We are fools for Christ… [T]his very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

Yes, we must be fools. We must be foolish enough to set aside our questioning disbelief. We must be foolish enough to accept the real truth —“ the truth of Jesus Christ crucified, Who died and Who rose again. Foolish enough to follow the Commandments in the way Jesus taught; in spirit and in truth.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,
and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

During this third week of Lent contemplate Jesus’ actions in the temple. Contemplate, as His disciples did, the words of Scripture fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ

His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,
Zeal for your house will consume me.

Let zeal for God’s house consume you, break you down, make you foolish and hungry.

Let us be foolish, not worldly, so that God’s Word will refresh the soul, give us wisdom, allow our hearts to rejoice, enlighten our eyes. Let us be foolish so that the fear of the Lord will endure in us forever, so that we may know justice. The Word of the Lord is more precious than gold, than a heap of purest gold; sweeter also than syrup or honey from the comb.

Amen.

As we reflect on this 109th anniversary of the institution of the Polish National Catholic Church let us reflect on the meaning of Church, and let our reflection begin in scripture. The words from 1st Timothy ring true, do they not?

Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the last times some will turn away from the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and demonic instructions

So what is the Church? Is our Church solely defined by the man and bishop, Francis Hodur? Is it defined by any one person?

To this we must say no. We must be careful not to turn from faith in Christ to the glorification of any one man. Instead, we are defined by God and His incarnate revelation to all mankind, His Son Jesus Christ.

No, it is not man who defines us. We must be careful lest we slip into the errors of some of the catholic faithful who engage in the worship of a man, an idolatry of man over God, man over faith.

Again, what is the Church? Our name, the Polish National Catholic Church would lead you to believe that we worship everything Polish. That culture trumps faith.

To this we must say no. We must be careful lest our faith be overcome by the deceit of popular culture or cultural mores. We are catholic —“ universal, calling all mankind to Christ Jesus who is our salvation. No, it is not Polish culture or being Polish, it is rather being Catholic, being Christian.

This Solemnity is a day of celebration in the midst of Lent. On this day we take a moment to offer up our Lenten penance and our mortification for the increase of the one, holy, Catholic Church. Today we offer our temporal struggles so that none will turn away, so that all will be brought to Christ Jesus.

Wisdom teaches us that evil men will come to realize the error of their ways when the Just One shall confront His oppressors. They will say:

“This is he whom once we held as a laughingstock and as a type for mockery, fools that we were! His life we accounted madness, and his death dishonored. See how he is accounted among the sons of God; how his lot is with the saints!

Remember that it is He Himself that the world laughs at, now more than ever. And we, joined to Him, in this Holy Catholic Church, some since their baptism as children, others who have come here as adults to be renewed in the Catholic faith, are mocked as well.

We are one with Him, mocked and scorned with Him. As members of His Body then we are called to confront His oppressors.

You are the branches of the one true vine. Bear your fruit for the increase of the faith in the world. Stand up for the Christ even in the face of derision.

The world has it wrong. To the world Christ is either just another nice guy or as Wisdom explains, one seen as a madman who died a death of dishonor.

But Jesus tells us the truth:

Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned.

Apart from Him we can do nothing.

Therefore we must, as members of His Body, and as branches pruned to bear much fruit, proclaim the truth. And the truth is this: Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. There is no other. Not Mohammed’s way, not Buddha’s way, not Hindu or Shinto, or Tao. Jesus alone is the way, the truth and the life —“ and all must come to Him.

The Church founded by Christ, of which we are its members, is this:

It is us praying to God, through Christ ever present in the Eucharist before us. It is us proclaiming His name above every other name. It is us bowing and kneeling before His majesty and humility. It is us remaining in Him, grafted onto Him at baptism. It is us mocked and scorned for our faith because they mock and scorn Him. It is a faith from which Bishop Hodur and so many others would not run. It is the faith of the saints and martyrs. It is the faith given to us in Christ and kept alive in us by the Holy Spirit.

So today we rejoice. I rejoice. You and I are here. We have come up to the house of the Lord. Not the Jerusalem of stone, but the new and eternal Jerusalem. We have come to the city of light standing on a hill.

Let all the tribes come here, let the world come, for all are welcome in the house of the Lord. Welcome to wash away sinfulness and pride, welcome to repent, welcome to put on clean robes washed in the Blood of the Lamb. Welcome in His Church.

I’m sure all of you have seen movies where a beautiful couple, meant to be together, break-up.

It is unusually heart breaking. We know they should be together. We know that they are destined for each other. The one left behind stands there as the other closes the door behind them, or goes down into the subway, or drives away.

The one left behind —“ almost always the guilty party —“ has a moment to think. Is there still a chance? Can I get him or her back?

If it’s a good movie the person left behind finally acts. They run after the other. They chase them down and in an instant confess their sorrow and undying love.

God said to Noah and to his sons with him:
—See, I am now establishing my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
and with every living creature that was with you:
all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals
that were with you and came out of the ark.

The action of God is a historical reality. The action of God is the historical reality of love. God is the consummate lover.

Throughout the Old Testament, God kept chasing after His people. They were the people who kept running away, the people who took on false lovers and other gods. Unlike the movies where the innocent one leaves, here the guilty parties kept running away. And here comes God, the true lover chasing after the ones who have run away; the ones who are guilty and sinful.

If you were here for Ash Wednesday you heard the prophet Joel telling us what God asks:

Come back to me with all your heart,
Turn to the Lord your God again,
for he is all tenderness and compassion,
slow to anger, rich in graciousness,
and ready to relent.

God made agreements —“ covenants with His people. He gave an eternal promise to Noah. Throughout the Old Testament God’s covenants and actions prepared His people for what was to come. He made covenants with Abraham, Moses, and David. He acted through the judges and prophets. He sang poetry to His people and chastised them when they were unfaithful.

Finally, in the fullness of time, God spoke His Word to us in the incarnation of His Son, Jesus, the Christ. Jesus who came to earth to reveal to us, in an instant, the fullness of God’s love for His people. Jesus, one with the Father and Holy Spirit revealed the fullness of God’s love for us.

St. Peter tells us how this was done:

Beloved:
Christ suffered for sins once,
the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous,
that he might lead you to God.
Put to death in the flesh,
he was brought to life in the Spirit.

Jesus, crucified, who died, was buried and is risen, has shown us the Father. Jesus even told us: —Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.—

So it is today. We have seen Him. We receive Him each week. We see the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in His Holy Church. God is still chasing after us.

The miracle is that God created us. An even greater miracle is the fact that no matter how many times we run away, fall, or chase other gods, God calls us back. He comes after us. He sent His only Son into the world to connect us forever.

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert,
and he remained in the desert for forty days,
tempted by Satan.
He was among wild beasts,
and the angels ministered to him.

So go into the desert of this Lent. Go back to Christ, you are meant to be together forever.

Remember why He came. Remember what he said:

Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
—This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.—