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Homilies,

Reflection for the Sixth Sunday of Easter and Mother’s Day

I can’t give you all the answers.
Some things you have to figure out for yourself.

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

We have all likely had that experience with our mom. We have a question, or need an answer, and suddenly we are confronted with her challenge – that we figure it out for ourselves. That’s one attribute of a mother’s love. After spending years nurturing us, helping us, she recognizes that moment when we must attempt to fly on our own.

If our moms didn’t live by Jesus’ instruction on sacrificial love, they would hold on to us, think only of their needs, hobble us and keep us dependent. But here we are, strong, faith filled, independent adults who are strong enough to discern answers, to figure things out.

Of course mom stands by in the background, for if we were to reach out in genuine need, perhaps for a kind, reassuring, and loving word, she would be ready to generously offer what we need.

As we face our tomorrows, even those dark and difficult tomorrows after we loose our moms to eternal life, we face them prepared because of her love.

We know mom has done her utmost, not to simply make us independent, strong, and faith filled but to give us the one gift that make our lives perfect.

In their love for us, our moms gave us the gift of eternal life in the joy of heaven. They did this by baptism, their prayer on our behalf, the instruction we need to know and love Jesus, and the way they modeled and encouraged life within His Holy Church. We saw her pray and worship, finding the calm and reassurance that she needed. She heard Jesus speaking directly to her – “No one has greater love than this…” This is the commitment she lived.

Now it is time for us to step up, to figure this one out for ourselves. This is what my mom means to me. This is what she did to make my life so very special.

.

We love you mom!!!

Homilies,

Fifth Sunday of Easter – 2012

First reading: 1 Acts 9:26-31
Psalm: Ps 22:26-28,30-32
Epistle: 1 John 3:18-24
Gospel: John 15:1-8

“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit”

“Ja jestem krzewem winnym, wy – latoroślami. Kto trwa we Mnie, a Ja w nim, ten przynosi owoc obfity”

Christ is risen, alleluia! He is truly risen, alleluia!
Chrystus zmartwychwsał! Prawdziwie zmartwychwsał!

Following Jesus or starting at Jesus

If we asked our children to follow us we would quickly find out a lot about how we follow Jesus. Sure, they would follow us for a bit, trailing close behind, but then they would see a friend, and there they go. After a bit they would come back, only to be distracted again, look at the pretty girl. Back again, the next distraction, yummy food in the kitchen, the TV.

As we wait for our children to come back and follow us, so Jesus waits for us. But, can we become something more than followers?

Ben:

Children believe in greatness. Ask the most impoverished kid what they will be when they grow up, and you will receive big answers. Some will be firemen, some professional athletes, others presidents, kings and princesses. Ben remembered being asked this question. Looking the lady who asked square in the eye he said,”I will be a cultural anthropologist.” She had no idea what he was talking about, so he quickly changed my answer to “football player” and she patted him on the head and walked away.

Somewhere along the way Ben’s dream of greatness died. Truthfully, the dream never died for Ben, it only became covered over by selfishness. Ben was on a very bad path, a road to nowhere, but God stepped in. When God entered his life Ben finally reconnected to the great possibilities he remembered from his childhood. Ben found the right starting point, he was able to see Jesus as his starting point.

Paul’s change:

Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus. This meeting brought him into the community of faith. It was his beginning. Like Ben, Paul reconnected to greatness. He went from Saul, a man filled with loathing for Christians, who stood by as Stephen was stoned, as someone judgmental, and found his starting point in Jesus. He went on from this new beginning to become an apostle. Paul then changed the world according to God’s will. With God as his starting point the message of Jesus would be preached to the gentiles and the Holy Church would grow to be open and inclusive of all.

Changes:

There are a lot of of songs, poetry, and stories about change. Reflecting on them two jumped to mind, “Changes” by David Bowie. Perhaps you recall the opening lyrics – “Turn and face the strange. Ch-ch-changes” and “Turn! Turn! Turn!” by The Byrds is the second.

Both Ben and Paul experienced profound change. They turned from following their own way to following Jesus. Then from following Jesus to making Jesus their starting point. They were changed at the very center and core of their lives.

Where do I start?

We gather today as people of faith. We gather in confidence that our beloved members of holy memory have not been destroyed, have not passed out of existence or into memory alone, but live as we will one day, with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ as our one center. We should take a moment to consider where we are centered. Where is our starting point? So let’s take a moment to really dig down and answer that question.

Once we clear out all the noise around and within us, the obligations, our wants, needs, and desires, once we silence ourselves we will hear the voice of Jesus. We will feel the power of the Holy Spirit already in us, that lives within each of us as our starting point.

We all start:

We all start with God. St. Paul told the Colossians (Colossians 1:16) this:

For everything, absolutely everything,

above and below, visible and invisible, …

everything got started in Him and

finds its purpose in Him.

So if we listen, if we chose God as our starting point, His voice and His will will become a lot clearer. The noise will subside and will be replaced by the greatness we are called to achieve.

The vine:

Jesus tells us that we are intimately connected to Him, as much as branches are connected to the vine. As long as we stay connected to the source, the starting point of our strength and direction, we will have joy. We will be productive by defining everything we do based on our attachment to the vine — to Jesus. If Jesus is our starting point we will “bear much fruit and become His disciples.”

Our connection to Jesus, our starting point, feeds us, reassures us, gives us confidence, makes us part of something so much greater than ourselves. It connects us not only to our communities of faith, but to all who live in Christ in our world and in eternal rest. Our connection starts in our listening, in our dependence on Jesus as our starting point, and our clear decision to love one another, keep His gospel, and remain in Him.

Freedom in the vine:

Ben recognized Jesus call. He let Jesus assert Himself as the center of his life. Ben pointed out that the change in his starting point did not immediately fix all his ‘issues.’ But Ben did say that he found “a crack in the door to the greatness screaming to be released for within, and from the tiniest crack life will flow.” Life flowed into Ben. Marvelous work was begun in him.

Moving from mere followers to living with Christ as our starting point will fill us with life here and eternal life. It will move us to marvelous works. St. Paul prayed that this change would come upon the people of Ephesus saying: “May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.” Just as a tree draws nutrients from the soil, we draw nourishment from Jesus – We are His Church, His community, all joined together in one source, one vine, one starting point. Amen.

Homilies

Reflection for the Fifth Sunday of Easter

Hand me a shovel,
I’ve got to find the source of this vine.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit”

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? There are many versions of this question that we could propose, was it the tree or the seed, the ocean or the rain?

As we work through our week we are confronted with this question more often than we think. Consider the fact that we live in community, in a family, in a neighborhood, in an apartment building. If we work we face the community of our workplace. Whether we belong to a club, go out to a movie, go shopping, or prepare to vote later this year we are constantly confronted by differing versions of community.

Now consider where we are this morning, in church. Certainly the family of faith is a community, and our unity with God and each other is a shadow of the perfect community for which we are all destined. But is this community of faith somehow estranged from the rest of our communities? Is it an endpoint?

We need to ask ourselves that all-important question, what came first, all these other communities or the community of God? When we come to church do we extract ourselves – is church something we do at the “end” of the week, or do we see our church community as our place of beginnings?

Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus. This meeting brought him into the community of faith. It was his beginning, a beginning that would change the world; the character of the Church from one limited the near east and the Jewish people, to full inclusiveness for all.

We need to pick up our shovels and dig into what is for us the foundation of everything we do. In digging in do we see the Church, our baptism, our weekly worship, as our beginning, our starting point? Is this where we start or where we end?

Jesus tells us that we are intimately connected to Him, as much as branches are connected to the vine. As long as we stay connected to the source of our strength and direction, as long as we know our starting point, we will have joy. We will be most productive by defining everything from our attachment to the vine. If we do we will “bear much fruit and become His disciples.”

St. Paul told the Ephesians that the secret to loving is living loved. “May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.” Just as a tree draws nutrients from the soil, we draw nourishment from our starting point – God and His community, all joined in one source, one vine.

Homilies

Reflection for Good Shepherd Sunday

Baaaaaaaa!
I’ll be right there.

“I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me”

Some of us may remember that time where we cried out for our parents only to find that they didn’t come right away. Perhaps we heard them say ‘wait,’ or ‘I’ll be right there.’

Whether we can actively recall that moment or not, just the mention of it makes us uncomfortable. We realized that there would be those times where we will be utterly alone.

Or, so we thought…

Today we are reminded that we are never alone and without assistance. We also become acutely aware that the One who stands with us has done everything possible to heal any brokenness that exists in our lives, curing us of every sin. Today, Jesus comes to us in the form of the Good Shepherd.

Peter and the Apostles standing before the Sanhedrin (the same one that had brought Jesus to Pilate to be crucified) strongly proclaim that the cripple was healed through the power and proclamation of Jesus. They go on to say that no one may be saved except through Jesus’ name. Were they a little afraid? Perhaps, not knowing everything that might happen to them. Yet they acted and spoke with absolute confidence that their Shepherd was at their side, protecting, feeding, supporting, and strengthening them. Their confidence was not their own, but from the One who comes every time we call on Him. The One who listens to us and speaks to us.

So here we are. Perhaps our parents don’t come running every time we cry out. Perhaps we don’t even talk to them about our little (and sometimes larger) hurts. Perhaps they are no longer with us in bodily form. But we do have someone we can always turn to. Someone we should speak to about our joys and hurts, our thoughts and questions. That is Jesus.

Having laid down His life for us, we must know that we are totally valuable to Jesus; that the smallest thing in our lives is of concern to Him.

Jesus promises us that He knows us and that we will know His voice. Listen as He says: “I know mine, and mine know me.” To make this true requires some effort on our part. We have to reach out and talk to Jesus. Then we have to listen. Jesus does speak to us, to our conscience, to our needs, and He does come to render assistance, to give that hug, and to guide us back to the straight and narrow path when we stray. Finally, we need to live like the Apostles we are, with a spirit of confidence. Live with confidence because Jesus hears us and comes to us every time, right away.

Homilies

Reflection for the Third Sunday of Easter

I am soooooo confused!
Let me explain.

“Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”

Incredulous – a fancy word. It is one of those words we use when we don’t want to clearly say that a person is disbelieving.

The disciples were incredulous for joy – still disbelieving even though they had already touched Jesus. The two disciples just returned from Emmaus had walked and talked with Jesus, broken bread with Him. Yet they were still incredulous…

Here we are – the disciples still skeptical, disbelieving, unable or unwilling to believe that Jesus was standing with them and that they weren’t just seeing things. They needed to admit and accept that Jesus did rise; that He was standing there, that this was all very real and true. They needed help.

Perhaps the disciples were feeling like we do. Someone has taken the time to explain something, yet we just don’t get it. They can see it on our face even as we nod along saying, ‘Sure, I understand, I get it.’

Jesus had spent three years with His disciples. He revealed so much. He prayed with them. He talked about His Father. He revealed that He is the Son of God and son of man. They heard the Father’s voice; they saw the Spirit descend on Him in the form of a dove. They saw Him raise the dead – three times – something only God can do.

They nodded along the whole time, ‘Yes Jesus, I understand, I get it.’ They loved Him, perhaps they didn’t want to make Him mad by making Him have to explain the same thing over and over? Of course, He knew, He saw the confusion, the incredulity on their faces.

So, Jesus asked for a fish fry and proceeded to eat and teach them – to reveal everything so that they could connect the dots.

The Messiah had to offer sacrificial atonement for our sins. The sacrifice to be offered was the Messiah’s death. Based on His faithfulness, the Father raised the Messiah – and made a promise that all of us would rise too because God reigns over all opposition, even death. Finally, that the Messiah would call a group of faithful and dedicated followers to spread the news – that God came among us, was born, suffered, died, was buried, rose again, and ascended into heaven – all out of love for us.

The disbelief among the disciples was ended. It wasn’t just the fish dinner. They “got it.” They understood and received empowerment in the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The world is full of disbelief – but we have the ultimate power to make things clear and understandable. Go out and end the confusion. Connect the dots. End the incredulity!

Homilies

Reflection for Low Sunday

Where’s heaven?
I know, it doesn’t look like it, but right here.

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

It is a typical question children may ask, where is heaven? Truthfully, we all wonder too, where is heaven?

Scripture tells us that God created the universe in six days. Of course, the universe is what we can see and perceive. As human beings, and people who live in a culture where science has helped us so much, we may think that we could somehow analyze how things work and find that place, that part of matter and energy where we might find God and His dwelling.

If we believe, and we should, that God created the heavens and the earth we know that God’s dwelling exists apart from what we can perceive with senses and science. Heaven exists outside the dimensions of both space and time.

God’s revelation in scripture gives us glimpses into what heaven will be like. Jesus told us that He will prepare a place for us. He tells us that it will be like a great banquet. In heaven there will be no sadness, only joy, and it will be a place of light. We also know, that based on what Thomas and the other apostles and disciples experienced in meeting Jesus after the resurrection that our bodies will be imperishable, we will be glorious, powerful, and spiritual.

The problem, of course, is that we tend to perceive heaven as a different and separate place we have to get to. This can be dangerous since we may focus all our energy on getting there to the detriment of building God’s kingdom here as we are asked to do.

God and His heavenly kingdom permeate time and space. God’s kingdom – heaven – is all around us and in us. One day, and we pray soon, they will come together. We will be joined to God, the dead will be raised, and we will live together in an entirely new place, as told in the Book of Revelation 21:1: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared.

How do we get there? Through repentance from sin and being regenerated in Him. We must accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Then, by doing the things necessary to build the kingdom of God.

Heaven is here, all around us. To see it, to best get there, we must work to bring people to faith in Jesus. Then, working together, we must do our all to show what the kingdom will be like – by our charity, by love for all.

Like the apostles, that’s how we must bear witness to the resurrection.

Homilies

Easter Reflection

Yippie!!!!!!!!!
Did our team score?

“Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here.”

Yippie, alleluia, celebrate, rejoice, dance, sing, shout out, jubilate, glorify, praise, laud, revel, feast, exalt, delight, smile, rise up, laugh, cheer, make merry!

Our team has scored, we have won, and we didn’t even have to play.

One person – the God-man Jesus Christ stuck with it the entire time, He sacrificed, fought hard, laid out our strategy for success, and gave His all, His very life so that our team would win.

Jesus’ victory is the reason we celebrate today. On Good Friday He completed the course. His sacrificial death washed us in His blood. We are no longer bound to sin and death, but freed. When the Father looks at us, His children, He sees His Son Jesus in us. He loves us so much – in the very same way He loves His Son.

Today, Jesus has shown us the promise – what we will be like forever. Since we are in Him and He is in us, we know that we will be exactly like Him in the resurrection.

The VICTORY? – The power of death has been overcome. Death is no more. The devil has been crushed and he holds no power over us.

What does this victory, nearly 2,000 years ago mean for me today?

Christ’s victory means all of the following and much more:

  • We will live forever.
  • The world cannot tell us that this is it; there is nothing else.
  • We have nothing to fear.
  • We have true power and freedom.
  • We are beautiful in God’s eyes.
  • We have a path and a plan that makes our lives wonderful here on earth.
  • We have reason to celebrate.
  • We are all family – as God’s children, Jesus’ brother and sisters, and as community to each other for we have one faith and hope.

We have reason to proclaim this message: God came to save us and did redeem us. We have won because Jesus won the ultimate victory. He has risen, death is no more for us, GUARANTEED!

Christian Witness, Homilies, ,

Reflection for Palm Sunday

Our Brother did this for us.
No words can express our gratitude.

“Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.”

How would we thank a brother or a sister who gave their all for us, who sacrificed everything? How would we recognize their gift, a gift so wonderful and remarkable that it gave us complete happiness, fulfillment, and a great life that lasts forever?

Our Lenten theme has focused on family. Now we are at the pinnacle of that Lenten journey. We enter Holy Week recognizing already that at the end we will walk away with a tremendous gift – a gift that our brother gave us.

Jesus said many times, “this is what I have come to do.” He came to sacrifice His life so that we would have life. He came to bear our sins in the form of a heavy cross, scourging, nails, mockery, and abandonment. This was NO ACCIDENT.

Jesus came with a plan – to show us that we have a heavenly Father who loves us so deeply that He would offer up His Son for us. He didn’t do this for show, but to create a real relationship, to break down the barriers we create to separate ourselves from Him.

St. Paul worked hard to convince the Romans of the power of what Christ had done. He said:

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Our Brother came at the right time. He came to a family that either didn’t recognize their Father, or thought they were smarter than their Father. He came to a family that didn’t recognize Him. He came to a family that bickered with their Brother, and eventually killed Him. That’s all of us. And in return…?

In return we know we will live forever, are saved, washed clean. We know we are members of God’s family.

Let’s take time this Holy Week to sit with our Brother, to keep Him company in His time of suffering, abandonment, and need. Let’s take this time to whisper a thank you next to His grave so that on Easter morning we can greet the new day – the day we received our Brother’s gift.

Homilies,

Reflection for Passion Sunday

Mom, Dad, tell him to stop bugging me!
Can’t you get along?

“He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”

On Monday morning, October 2, 2006, a gunman entered a one-room Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. In front of twenty-five horrified pupils, thirty-two-year-old Charles Roberts ordered the boys and the teacher to leave. After tying the legs of the ten remaining girls, Roberts opened fire on all of them, killing five and leaving the others critically wounded. He then shot himself as police stormed the building. His motivation? “I’m angry at God for taking my little daughter,” he told the children before the massacre.

The story captured the attention of broadcast and print media in the United States and around the world. By Tuesday morning some fifty-television crews had clogged the small village of Nickel Mines, staying for five days until the killer and the killed were buried.

The blood was barely dry on the schoolhouse floor when Amish parents brought words of forgiveness to the family of the one who had slain their children. The outside world was incredulous that such forgiveness could be offered so quickly for such a heinous crime.

Three weeks after the shooting, “Amish forgiveness” had appeared in 2,900 news stories worldwide and on 534,000 web sites.

Fresh from the funerals where they had buried their own children, grieving Amish families accounted for half of the seventy-five people who attended the killer’s burial. Roberts’ widow was deeply moved by their presence as Amish families greeted her and her three children. The forgiveness went beyond talk and graveside presence: the Amish also supported a fund for the shooter’s family.

Today we are presented with the gift of forgiveness. As the family of God we are offered this wonderful gift, this chance, and not just once, but over and over. Jesus did become the source of salvation to all who obey Him, and the words we must obey, as the family of God, are to forgive. We are to forgive as the Amish did.

Next week the crowds will greet Jesus with adulation, and we will strike the cross with our sins. We will then hear Jesus say clearly: “Father forgive them…” for no sin is so great that it cannot be overcome by His love. Let us stand in awe – and always remember that regardless the burden, God’s heart is open to us.

Homilies,

Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Lent

Are we there yet?
its only 5,615 miles…

Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people, let him go up, and may his God be with him!”

We’ve all heard or seen those instances on a trip where someone in the car or airplane asks: “Are we there yet?” It is usually a small child who is impatient with the trip.
Our Lenten journey can be like that. By the time we close in on Easter we might ask ourselves (or others), “Are we there yet?”

If we were saying that now, it wouldn’t be uncommon because from a time perspective we are more than half way there. Yet we may still be at the bottom of the hill.
The Jewish people had been exiled from Jerusalem for 70 years.

They longed to return. They lost their music, their joy, and in their penance found reconciliation with God.

We must continue on our journey to find reconciliation with God. We may need to refresh and renew our Lenten sacrifice. We may need to reconnect to where we should be, and get back on the road.

The days ahead will be an uphill struggle. Penance will increase. We will find it harder to comply with the Church’s requirements and with our best intentions.

This is where family becomes essential to our journey. We do not need to travel 5,615 miles to get to Jerusalem the city or to family. The city is of no matter because it is only a place. Where we’re headed is the new and heavenly Jerusalem. This is our family dwelling, the house that belongs to us because we are His children.

We can be assured that our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, in faith, has put us on the road. Our membership in the family of faith, the Church, gives us the love and support we need to get there.

“Are we there yet?” Yes. “Are we still on the road?” Yes, that too. We have both a home and a family to support us as we journey there.

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