Strengthen the hands that are feeble,
make firm the knees that are weak,
say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!

Brothers and sisters,

If we believe the new age mystics and the statistics, Christianity is dying.

Look around you. Even here, we are not packing ’em in.

What we are experiencing in the United States is something that occurred in Western Europe around thirty years ago.

Barbara Pym’s book, Quartet in Autumn, pegged the phenomenon back in 1978. She wrote of Edwin, loyally faithful, almost obsessed with the Church of England. Edwin attends on Sundays and Holy Days. He knows all the parishes in his locale and their forms of worship. He knows all the pastors. He knows every bit of clerical and liturgical ephemera.

Edwin comments on how empty the churches are, sometimes its only the vicar and Edwin at services.

At one point in the book Edwin works with one parish’s ladies guild, seeking to help one of his co-workers. The ladies are well into their golden years, the oldest well into her eighties. There’s no young blood.

Depressing, because Edwin remembers the good days, the packed churches, the grand worship of God. He has a Christianity of memory.

Most Americans consider themselves to be believers. That has to be good, right?

Unfortunately that really equates to very little.

People define themselves as spiritual, but not religious. They don’t go to church. In another generation their children will have no concept of church other than it being an odd looking building they run across from time-to-time.

Their concept of God, if they should even have one, will be one in which God is kind, loving, and forgiving. God who really doesn’t bother much with what a person does. As a matter of fact, that particular god has no requirements at all. You can do as you please as long as you are —nice.— You can even forget him.

Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John,

—What did you go out to the desert to see?
A reed swayed by the wind?—¨

The people went to see John because he was a rock. He proclaimed God’s word and didn’t soften it for anyone. Remember last week when John called out to the Pharisees and Sadducees saying to them, —You brood of vipers!”

John told of repentance and he spoke of a faith that was grounded in the eternal truth of God; truth that does not bend to the will and desires of man, but truth that requires us to bend and to be humble. It is that truth that supersedes all we see, all we think we know.

My friends,

The call must be made.

I opened by restating Isaiah

Strengthen the hands that are feeble,
make firm the knees that are weak,
say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!

That is our job. Your job and my job.

We need to fill these pews, and not just these. We need to fill the pews of the churches in every village, town, and city. We need to get God’s people in attendance at this banquet. We need to make them strong because their faith is weak or non-existent. Their course is frightening.

Its the Holiday season. Cards are being sent, calls are being made, little gifts are being prepared for co-workers, neighbors, the postman, teachers, bus drivers, delivery men, and pretty much anyone of those special folks you run across all year.

When you make that call, send that card, or drop off that gift, issue the invitation.

If you are a little taken aback at verbal communication then write it.

Dear Jane,

Thank you for all you have done this year.

I would be very happy to have you join me at my church on Christmas Eve. We have a Christmas concert at 9pm on Christmas Eve and Holy Mass follows at 9:30pm. We are located at 250 Maxwell Road in Latham, next to the Times Union Building off Wolf Road. If you cannot make it I will keep you in my prayers.

Brothers and sisters,

Think of what you do when you arrange for those all important events in your life. Your children’s wedding, graduations, birthdays and anniversaries. Think of the expense and the work.

For all the expense and work people only come because you ask. People come because you care enough to ask.

We need to ask. All the events, all the specials, all the press about the Good News of Jesus Christ is worthless unless you and I ask. Not someone else, not your husband or wife, or pastor, or deacon – but you. Not only on Christmas, but extend that invitation every week.

Call the kids on Thursday night. Tell them that you will pick them up. Ask the elderly neighbor who cannot get around so well, —Will you go with me?— Ask the family who’s so busy, harried, and stressed out. Ask the immigrant. Ask the rich. Ask them all.

Afraid that they might become a burden – and start asking you too often? The objective truth is this. People need this moment. People need this grace. People need this foundation – the Rock of Ages, Jesus Christ. You and I need to offer them an entryway to this moment.

John was not moved. He stood strong with God’s word as his assurance. We need to stand strong, give that assurance, and pass on the strength the world desperately needs.

Jesus said:

—Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.—

Every soul that hears the word of God and comes to believe will be greater than John the Baptist. He or she will be born into the Kingdom of God.

Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes to save you.

You have those words and work to do. Go and do it.

Amen.

On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.

As we look about the world we see little more than the bad.

We see evil, poverty, despair, ruthlessness, greed, lust, envy, sloth. It looks like the seven deadly sins on steroids. Evil seems to be pumped up.

Then we look at our lowly Church.

It is small. A couple hundred congregants here, forty or fifty somewhere else.

We see fewer children in church, more elderly. Almost no one present on weekdays or Holy Days of obligation, fewer and fewer on Sundays.

We wonder, how can the Holy Church survive against the ways of the world? How can the Holy Church compete against basketball, baseball, football, soccer, late night partying, or exhaustion from work? How can the truth – which can only be found in the teaching of Jesus Christ as passed down through the Church – compete against a society where people would rather find their own way, their own truth, their own definitions?

Whenever we feel a bit glum, depressed, and whenever we feel our hope is fading, think of Jesse.

Brothers and sisters,

Literally, the stump of Jesse is Jesse’s inability to produce.

His line of descendants was dying off. Jesse’s line was dried up and had lain dormant for 600 years. There was no holy king descended from David on Israel’s throne, only a pawn of Rome.

The king was an Edomite, a convert to Judaism, and a Hellenist at heart. He was corrupt and cruel. He literally killed off the Hasmonean Dynasty and after Jesus’ birth tried to kill off the last shoot from Jesse, the heir to David’s throne.

The Jews of that day certainly could empathize with the way we feel.

They saw people working on their own terms. The Chief Priests and Pharisees laid burdens on people, and as Jesus said, they themselves will not move them with their finger. Holiness was in short supply, and truth – as Pilate said – Truth, what does that mean?

When John showed up and said:

—Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!—

Could anyone possibly have believed him? Would anyone jump up and say that they were going to be victorious. Wouldn’t your average normal Israelite, and especially their leaders, think John either insane or subversive?

Brothers and sisters,

What most people missed was that the shoot did sprout, and that shoot is the Lord, the promised Messiah and Son of God.

By lineage Jesus came as the son of David. In reality He came as true God and true man. He is the promised one who changes everything.

We get all warm and fuzzy when we hear about lions and lambs, children and vipers. Those phrases are symbolic of how Jesus’ coming changed the world.

So when we look at the world and feel hope slipping we must remember that the the world has been changed in Jesus’ coming and that the Holy Church lives. It lives even in the face of the world because it is holy. It is filled with the Holy Spirit and proclaims every truth necessary for salvation.

It lives in the promise Jesus gave:

—lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

Those who enter the doors of the Holy Church through baptism are made its sons and daughters and are grafted onto the vine, the Body of Christ.

As the Body of Christ the Holy Church lives, grows, and maintains hope. She is true to who she is.

The Holy Church lives as the beacon of the one, true, holy, and universal faith, taught without compromise or error.

Friends,

Our message is one and it is subversive.

The world does not want to hear that there is one truth, one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Those tied to the world would rather live in the lonely desperation of crafting their own system of belief, or adopting any one that might be convient at the moment. The world does not want to play by the rules of a God who would die for it. The world balks at saying:

`We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’

The world does not want to face the one who Isaiah described as follows:

Not by appearance shall he judge,—¨
nor by hearsay shall he decide,—¨
but he shall judge the poor with justice,—¨
and decide aright for the land’s afflicted.—¨
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,—¨
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.—¨
Justice shall be the band around his waist,—¨
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.—¨

Jesus has come!

In this Advent season we recall that the would is filled with hopelessness. We stand against that hopelessness. We are here to celebrate our hope and to prepare ourselves, members of His Holy Church, to carry out His mission.

Go out there today and every day going forward. Tell of our hope.

Tell everyone you meet, I am a Catholic, a child of the Holy Church, committed to be a servant of God, His adopted son, his adopted daughter. Regardless of looks, regardless of appearances, regardless of the world’s direction, the truth is simply this – Jesus has come and has given us the truth. The Church lives this and I intend to live it. Join me at St. Paul in saying:

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Amen.

Gospel: John 20:11-18

Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” —¨

You might very well ask yourselves, Jim, why are you here, dressed like that, providing a Catholic funeral service for a man who considered himself an atheist?

Seems a bit odd, don’t you think?

I will give you an answer a little later.

First, I want to reflect on *********’s life. On the remarkable traits ********* displayed.

********* lived a life of note, and he lived it as a man. He stood for what he believed in, Country, family, hard work, brotherhood. A real man’s man.

When I remember *********, I remember a man of remarkable dignity and elegance.

He was well read, a dashing figure. He loved history, the news, sports, his community, and the things of the earth like his garden and nature.

Certain events illustrate the kind of man ********* was.

Think of family dinners, especially dinner on Easter Sunday. ********* would come to the dinning room table, well dressed. He sat at the end of the table. He never needed to speak loudly. He never demanded anything. He was perfectly polite, calm, and dignified.

More than that he watched his family around him. He took pleasure in their interaction, especially that of the children. He watched them eat the steak he had grilled, with his own special blend of marinade. He watched his family as it blossomed and grew. He didn’t interject himself into the process of seating arrangements, or getting grandma to sit down.

A lot of men would try to control the events going on around them. ********* never needed to, because he was in control of himself.

In the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 21 we read:

When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

I recall too the look on *********’s face as his grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and assorted nieces and nephews would sit around him in the sun porch, in the living room, or out at a restaurant.

They would ask questions or tell stories. He would listen attentively, providing little glimpses into his life; the things that would interest a child.

He told them of his childhood, his love for his family, a love he lived in looking after family members. He told them about the one room school house he attended, and about the farm where he was raised.

If you had a chance to look at his face during these times with children you would see a smile, a smile of pure joy.

In the Gospel of St. Luke, Chapter 18 we read:

Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

In these passages we hear of Jesus the teacher, Jesus the fisherman, and in the Gospel passage, I read of Mary Magdalene seeing Jesus as the gardener.

All traits that ********* possessed. All the things he loved in his life. All these things were images of God, and ********* carried them well.

So that is why I am here. I am here to attest to the fact that ********* carried the image of Jesus Christ within himself.

Now of course he was not perfect. He had weaknesses like any man. But isn’t that our hope.

It is the hope in which we all share. That even in our imperfection, even with our foibles and mistakes, we still carry the hope of everlasting life.

The Christian religion, regardless of the brand of Christianity, gives us the opportunity to put into practice the things we know we believe. It connects us in a regular pattern of practice to the figure upon which our humanity is modeled, Jesus Christ.

Brothers and sisters, family,

********* has been called home.

He will stand before Jesus and he will see Jesus the fisherman, Jesus the carpenter, Jesus the teacher, Jesus the gardener.

********* will recognize in Jesus all the things he was. Most assuredly, he will recognize in Jesus the hope to which he has always been called. When he sees that hope in Jesus he will enter the heavenly kingdom.

When Mary met Jesus in the garden beside His tomb she was not meeting a ghost. She met the resurrected Jesus. She met Jesus in whose image she, *********, and all of us will be resurrected.

Jesus told her:

—go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

********* has gone up to God. He has gone up to his God and our God, to his Father and our Father.

So I am here to tell you that news. To reassure you, in the Christian faith we all share. To let you know that you carry *********’s legacy within you just as you carry Jesus’ image within you.

Remember our brother *********, and remember to develop the image of God that is within you; to practice the faith that assures us of our hope.

*********’s life has not ended, it has been perfected. By our hope our lives will not end, they will be perfected. Amen.

For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed;
the night is advanced, the day is at hand.

It is tough being a Catholic. I have to hand it to each of you.

You sit here year after year. You listen to the readings and the Gospel.

After Easter you hear readings from the book of Revelation. Before Advent we read from Daniel. This First Sunday of Advent we hear that the day of the Lord is neigh, He is coming, be prepared.

These readings, these books, and these words all point to the last things. So we wonder, when are they coming?

With the growth in Evangelical Churches in the United States, and with their economic power, we find the religion section at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Borders, as well as our local library shelves filled with all sorts of books that want to give us clues about the last days.

We hear about Millenialists in all their shades, premillennialist and postmillennialist, the folks who like the Left Behind series. These are the folks who talk about the rapture and the time of tribulation.

We hear about dispensationalism, and Evangelical Christian support of Israel, not for any political reason, but for the sole fact that by their support of Israel they will cause a cataclysmic Middle Eastern war, the war of Armageddon. They tell us that that war will bring about the second coming of Christ.

And here we sit, Catholics, not all so sure about such things.

Its tough being Catholic, you know, leaving things like that to God. Always being prepared, thinking that we will never be sure about what the next moment will bring.

Evangelical Christianity draws people because it is so self assured, so right on, and inerrant about things. People like certainty.

Of course none of that is true. Within Protestant Christianity there are “over 33,000 denominations” and every year there is a net increase of around 270 to 300 denominations. No one among them can agree on what the Holy Scripture teaches, so all that biblical certainty isn’t so certain.

Even among some Catholics you have tales of visionaries and apparitions foretelling the end of things; the sun spinning out of the sky right toward earth.

As Polish National Catholics we teach Scripture as enlightened by the Fathers, Holy Tradition, and the Unified Councils of the Church. Still in all, that leads to the next honest question: For all the Fathers, Tradition, and Councils, why are we so unsure about the last things?

It is tough to admit, that we do not know, but remember, Jesus admitted the same:

In Matthew 24:36 He is recounted as saying:

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.

St. Mark records this statement in Chapter 13, Verse 32

—But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.—

My friends,

As Catholics we know no certainty other than the certainty of our hope.

Our hope lies in this alone: We will live with God forever in the Kingdom of heaven. We will rise as Jesus did, and we will be transfigured. We will worship the Lord forever in His eternal kingdom.

Certainty is not a story about Armageddon, fantasies of rapture, scary books, or the fear of getting left behind. Certainty is knowing one thing only.

Brothers and Sisters,

Here is the secret.

Our Holy Church, the Polish National Catholic Church, teaches hope. The Holy Catholic Church teaches hope.

Jesus Christ opened the door for us. He crushed Satan under His feet. We are His children, by our baptism and by our adult acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

We need only this, to accept our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Based on our acceptance our life is changed. We live in accord and unity with the One we have accepted as our hope.

With Jesus there is no fear of the end. That is why we pray so universally Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus.

We have prayed it since we were children: Thy Kingdom come; Przyjdz Krolestwo Twoje; venga a nosotros tu reino.

The prophet Isaiah saw this hope when he proclaimed:

many peoples shall come and say:
—Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths.—

So I tell you. You are here, in the house of the Lord. Listen to His teachings and walk in His paths. Do not be unsure, never loose hope, the Lord will not be long in coming.

Amen.

“Amen, I say to you,—¨today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Behold the power of the impossible.

There was a criminal hanging on a cross. He was naked, with nails driven through His hands and feet. He was alone, abandoned by those who were His friends.

This criminal was charged with undermining governmental authority.

—Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”

A criminal, crucified along side other criminals, seditionists, thieves, murderers.

This criminal to whom another criminal, a thief turned and said:

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”—¨

Jesus the criminal who told Pilate:

“My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants (would) be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”

Pilate questioned Jesus, looking for an answer in his questions. The answer was given, Pilate ignored it.

The Chief Priests and elders, the soldiers, and the other thief reviled Jesus. They verbally abused Him while he was dying, all looking for a sign, for proof that He was the Messiah, the Christ. Only the cross was given, they looked right at the sign and missed it.

St. Dismas, the —good thief— wasn’t looking for a sign. He didn’t have any questions. He simply asked:

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

The cross is the sign of the impossible.

That God would join His immortality to humanity and offer Himself as a sacrifice, a sacrifice offered in the most horrific way, is impossible. That God who has and is all would deign to love us that much is impossible. That this criminal dying on a cross is our immortal, eternal King and God is impossible.

Yet, we are here.

Yet we kneel and pray in the manner He taught.

Yet we build churches and spread His Gospel.

My friends, brothers and sisters,

We are impossible. Our mere existence as a people of faith and our acceptance of all this is impossible.

But St. Paul tells us:

Let us give thanks to the Father,—¨who has made you fit to share—¨in the inheritance of the holy ones in light. —¨He delivered us from the power of darkness—¨and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,—¨in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Today we celebrate this Solemnity. We look into the eyes of our public servants, our government, our employers, our families and say, this criminal, on the cross, is our King.

We say that what is impossible has been made possible. The Father has done this.

We say that Jesus is the Everlasting of Ages, the One through Whom and by Whom everything came into being. He is the one in Whose image we are fashioned. He is our beginning and our destiny.

Brothers and sisters,

If you wear a cross, if you have one on the lapel of your jacket, look at it in the mirror tonight. Look at the cross on the wall of your kitchen, or living room, or bedroom and say out loud, You are my King and my God.

It will be hard at first, saying it out loud. But persist. Saying it out loud is the first step to proclaiming it out loud.

Doing good works and acts of charity is perfectly in keeping with our character as Christians. More than this however, we must engage in active proclamation, the preaching and teaching of Jesus Christ through our words.

Tell all that you meet: He is our King. His Kingdom is not of this world. Rather it is eternal and perfect. Beautiful and magnificent. God came to us, died for us; all so we could live with Him forever. Come join us.

Jesus answered Pilate:

“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.”

We proclaim Him our King.

If we believe what we say then listen to His voice, proclaim His truth, tell of Him, teach others about Him, and follow Him.

Amen.

“What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”

My brothers and sisters from Sacred Heart and St. Mary Our Lady of Czestochowa and Sacred Heart of Jesus – Holy Cross:

What is your concept of doing the works of God?

I imagine that our being here, in church, quickly jumps to mind. Being in church is certainly a work of God. Praying to Him, worshiping Him, thanking Him, receiving Him, are our duty and most certainly a work of God.

I also imagine that our reason for being here tonight is right in the forefront of our minds.

After all, tomorrow we will gather around tables big and small, some holding twenty-six pound turkeys and some holding only a small turkey breast.

Somewhere near the beginning of our feast we will calm the children, get grandma out of the kitchen, bow our heads, and in some special way say thank you to God.

Our thanks may be focused on some recent event, a promotion, recovery from an illness, reconciliation with a loved one, or it may be more long term, a thanksgiving for love, family, friends, success. Some might even go so far as to give thanks for a lesson learned from suffering.

Whatever the reason, we can say yes, being thankful, that’s doing the work of God.

When we come to church, especially around this time of year, we may contribute a few extra dollars to help the needy, or for disaster relief. We may bring a bag of canned goods for the food pantry, or for those lovingly prepared Thanksgiving baskets that will suddenly appear on the doorstep of those who may be loosing hope.

Certainly our charity is the work of God.

The young among us will be anxiously awaiting Santa in tomorrow’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Seeing him their minds will turn toward their Christmas list.

Drawing an analogy, perhaps we should turn our minds to our Christian list. How have I done the works of God?

Giving thanks, check; In church, check; Beatitudes, check; Ten Commandments, check; Charitable, check. It goes on.

When they asked:

“What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”

—¨Jesus told them:

“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

When we ask, Jesus says the same:

“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

In response both they and we are left to ask this question:

“Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you perform? —¨

My brothers and sisters,

Those asking in that day, and we, have received only one sign.

The cross.

Hmmm, not something for Thanksgiving eve. A little tough before the turkey. Something a little more Good Friday-ish. But that’s it. The cross.

We are here to give thanks on the eve of a national holiday. We gather ecumenically, brothers and sisters, similar in certain ways yet distinct in others; gathered to attest to this: we share in the cross.

We are changed, transformed, because of that cross. We are changed, transformed, because we believe in Him whom He has sent.

All the dross of the world, the things big and small that we will mark with thanks are quite secondary to the fact that the thankfulness of Christians is completely centered on Jesus Christ. Him whom He has sent.

The very fact that God came down among us to give us this sign is enough for us. Because of this cross we believe in Him.

Believing in Him we are transformed, and one day we will be transfigured.

Jesus told us:

Every one who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:—¨he is like a man building a house, who dug deep, and laid the foundation upon rock; and when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

What must we do? Today we must pause to give thanks. I am thankful for Jesus Christ in whom I believe. I am thankful for the sign of the cross which I received in baptism. I am thankful that I have been transformed and regenerated in the cross. I am thankful for the foundation that has been set for me in the Holy Church. I am thankful that the sign given to me holds the promise of eternal life with God in heaven.

My friends,

—[T]he bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.—

Doing the work of God is simple, believe in Jesus Christ. Carrying out that belief, living it is much harder.

So first, let us say: Thank you God for this bread, the bread that is Jesus Christ. The bread that is His Holy Church, The bread that gives us eternal life.

Then let us say: Lord, give us the strength to live in complete unity with You and Your cross.

“Lord, give us this bread always.” —¨

Amen.

Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you,—¨
so that you might imitate us.

Let’s focus today on imitating Christ and his Apostles. Let’s focus on doing what St. Paul asks, that we follow his model.

St. Paul, writing to the Thessalonians holds himself out as a model for their lives.

Paul took Jesus’ words seriously and wanted his readers to do so as well.

By the time Paul had written these letters he had already faced some stiff opposition.

The Jewish communities were out to get him. The secular authorities were watchful.

Paul wrote to the Thessalonians during his second missionary journey, sometime around the year 50. He would have one more missionary journey before his final return to Jerusalem in 58. From that point onward he would be subjected to trial and remanded to Rome for a final trial, being martyred in 67.

Facing all that, Paul didn’t prepare his defense. Rather he listened to Jesus:

I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking—¨
that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.

Even on his journey to Rome as a prisoner, Paul brought people to the faith. Paul stayed focused on his mission.

Brothers and sisters,

In the span of thirty-four years Jesus’ work and words, the Christian faith, had spread from Jerusalem, throughout Asia Minor and to Europe. Rome and Athens had heard the name of Jesus.

Stephen and James had been martyred.

While all this was occurring, everything Jesus said would occur happened as well: wars and insurrections, earthquakes, famines, plagues, and awesome sights and mighty signs from the sky.

So thinking of Paul’s behavior, his model, and his instruction to the Churches we should ask ourselves: Was Paul and the Church concerned about the things that were going on in the world? The things Jesus said would happen around and to His followers?

The simple answer is no.

Of course there were those in the Churches who looked to the skies, at governments, at the signs and thought – as well as preached – that the end was at hand. They tried to lead people astray by focusing on the signs rather than on their job. Their job – bringing all to heaven through Jesus Christ.

Paul had to do a lot of letter writing to correct those false prophets; to take the focus off the signs and put it back on Jesus.

The Church, and all those in union with Her ignored the signs, the blowing of the winds which change each day. Instead, the Church kept its sole focus on getting its eternal work done.

This is key for us as Christians.

Jesus told us to render onto Caesar. He did not instruct us to care about which Caesar was in charge.

We know that taxes will come and go. Wars will come and go. Terrorists will come and go. Presidents and town councils will come and go. We could live in an Islamic state, a secular state, a communist state, or under a dictator. Regardless of the government, of the policy, or of the —threat level—, it is incumbent upon us to witness one message. Salvation is through Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ message is not one of travail or of pain. In mentioning the things that would occur Jesus was not acting as a soothsayer. His key message is this:

—You will be hated by all because of my name,—¨
but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.—¨
By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”

The facts and circumstance of the world are quite secondary to the state of our eternal soul, and the accomplishment of our mission. Our lives are secured in the promise of heaven.

By imitating Jesus and His apostles, by following the lesson Paul teaches we clearly recognize that fact.

My friends,

In his letter to the Ephesians Paul clearly states:

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all.

We worship, adore and proclaim God, and by our baptism we are joined to proclaiming our hope. Paul further tells us:

And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
some pastors and teachers,
to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ

Therefore, I tell you, do not look to the skies in wonder, with worry or trepidation. Do not look to politicians, the government, or soothsayers for salvation. Do not worry. God is with us. Instead get to work. We have been equipped. Build up the Body of Christ.

Amen.

They can no longer die,—¨
for they are like angels;—¨
and they are the children of God—¨
because they are the ones who will rise.

If we had a choice, a choice between denying something and affirming it, which would we take? Which choice is easier?

Now I suppose it comes down to what we are asked to affirm.

If someone asks me about my car or house, my computer or what I had for dinner I can affirm those things. I can categorize and describe them. I can name the color of my car or house. I can describe the make and model of my car, or the architectural style of my house.

As we get further away from the objective reality of things we get a little more uncertain. Were those pierogis I had last night made with sweet or savory cheese? Were they salty? Was the spice in that roast tarragon?

What today’s readings and Gospel describe is the necessity of making an affirmation, an affirmation in something the world deems subjective and quite unreal.

The Maccabees describes the torture and martyrdom of seven brothers and their mother. Each took courage, not because they were all that courageous, but because of their faith in God and their faithfulness to His Laws.

The death of three is described in todays reading, but if you read Chapter 7 you will read of each of their deaths, and their mother’s as well.

The mother was especially admirable and worthy of honorable memory. Though she saw her seven sons perish within a single day, she bore it with good courage because of her hope in the Lord.

The book tells us of the mother:

She encouraged each of them in the language of their fathers. Filled with a noble spirit, she fired her woman’s reasoning with a man’s courage

Later, when Antiochus urged her to persuade her youngest son to accept riches and power in exchange for breaking God’s Laws she told her son:

—I beseech you, my child, to look at the heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed. Thus also mankind comes into being.
Do not fear this butcher, but prove worthy of your brothers. Accept death, so that in God’s mercy I may get you back again with your brothers.”

The long line of Christian martyrs attests to the fact that affirmation of something the world considers subjective and foolish, silly magic and totems, is something much more. It is an objective reality. It is more than faith or belief, it is real. God is real.

St. Paul encourages the people of Thessalonica in these words:

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,—¨
who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement
and good hope through his grace,
encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed
and word.

Important words, and said with absolute objective assurance. He has loved us, given us everlasting encouragement, and good hope through His grace.—¨—¨St. Paul, in the midst of his tormentors says:

But the Lord is faithful;—¨
he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.

Brothers and sisters,

God strengthens and guards us against the evil that is doubt in His reality.

Evil is exactly the loss of faith, the loss of hope and courage, in what we know objectively.

God is not a construct built out of myth and happy feelings. He is not some mysterious ghost rising out of ancient mist.

The fact is, and I can affirm, that the reality of God met us face to face. He meets us face to face today.

Jesus Christ who is true God and true man lived among us, taught us, shed His blood for us, died, was buried, and rose again.

He was seen by the guards who had to be bribed to keep quiet, by the women, by the apostles, by five hundred others.

They preached and proclaimed Him. They suffered and died because of Him, they traveled to the four corners of the world with His word, and thanks be to God that the Holy Church, imbued with the Holy Spirit, lives on in this mission.

To this day we baptize all who come, all willing to join in proclaiming the reality of God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

We exist here and now to proclaim this objective reality, this objective good.

We fight and struggle against that which does not pass muster as being in keeping with God’s word, and most especially against the evils of death and hopelessness.

Ours is a message of real joy for all the world. Christ has come, alleluia.

The psalmist said it best when he sang:

Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

My friends,

That is the promise. Death is not the end. When God’s glory appears our joy will be full. We will live forever in heaven with Jesus. We will worship and praise God forever in the company of the angels and the saints.

When the Sadducees came to Jesus they came with certainty. They were certain in their false knowledge.

The Sadducees held that only the first five books of the Old Testament were authoritative. They couldn’t find mention of life after death in these books, therefore they rejected its existence. They couldn’t read it, they couldn’t believe it, they couldn’t affirm it.

They sought to trap Jesus. Jesus simply responds that those first five books include Moses encounter with God in the burning bush.

In the story of the burning bush God tells Moses: —I am the God of Abraham …—. Because God says I am the God of Abraham, rather that I was the God of Abraham, Abraham lives. God is truly —God … of the living.—

After refuting the argument of the Sadducees Jesus gives us this assurance:

those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age
and to the resurrection of the dead
can no longer die,—¨
for they are like angels;
and they are the children of God
because they are the ones who will rise.

This we know, this we believe, this we proclaim, this we affirm.

Amen.

“Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.—

Depending upon who got to us first, we carry differing perceptions of God. These range from visions of God as a punishing strict arbitrar of justice, to God as the laissez-faire overseer who doesn’t get much involved in the day-to-day affairs of men, to God as an all loving pappy who doesn’t much care what we do, as long as we don’t really hurt anyone.

We live with preconceived notions, the beliefs and feelings that come out of our experiences, out of our earliest memories, the picture painted by those who taught and trained us.

Those notions, beliefs, and feelings require the occasional adult reality check.

Brothers and sisters,

Let’s take that reality check.

Our first reading, from the appropriately named Book of Wisdom tells us that God has mercy on all, because He can do all things. Wisdom also tells us that God overlook[s] people’s sins that they may repent.

The reality is that God is merciful to us. He is merciful, not so we can do as we please, but so we can become what is our destiny, the perfection of humanity.

Humanity perfected is what Christ came to call us to be. It is humanity that takes up His name, humanity that repents of its sin.

Wisdom further tells us that God love[s] all things that are, and loathe[s] nothing that [He has] made.

In other words, God made us, fashioned us, and we remain simply for this reason, because God wills it so. Wisdom asks:

how could a thing remain, unless you willed it;—¨
or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you?

Listening to that we know that we have the assurance, by our very being, that we are willed to being by God. God has called us forth and He preserves us. He spares us because we are His. And, He loves us.

The most beautiful thought is this:

O LORD and lover of souls,
…your imperishable spirit is in all things!

God is in us.

The reality is that we bear likeness to Him. Our likeness to Him is in our ability to be more and more like Him, in every decision we make for Him, and in our doing every good and holy thing He taught.

My friends,

In our likeness to God is the promise that we will be reunited to Him one day.

We draw closer and closer to Him each day, when we pray, when His grace enters us in the sacraments, when we meet our brothers and sisters and see in them the likeness of Christ.

When we stumble on the way to God we are not doomed. Rather we are called to repent, to come back and reclaim our place in His family. In that we draw ever closer to Him.

Brothers and sisters,

Our reality check continues with St. Paul as he tells the people of Thessalonica, and us:

We always pray for you,—¨
that our God may make you worthy of his calling—¨
and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose
and every effort of faith,—¨
that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,—¨
and you in him.

The apostles, the saints, the entire Church prays each day. They and we pray that God bring us to fulfillment.

Fulfillment is this, that the imperishable spirit of God that is in us continues to perfect us, continues to draw us closer and closer, transforming us to perfection in Him.

That is the joy of the Church. That in Jesus Christ we become perfect.

In Jesus Christ we are fulfilled and perfected, not by magic or hocus-pocus, but by the reality of God among us. God as he came to Zacchaeus saying:

“Today salvation has come to this house—¨
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.—

It is no less for us. We too are descendants of Abraham, grafted onto the chosen people, adopted and born of the Spirit of God. Salvation has come to us.

That is the adult reality of faith. That is the truth of the sacraments.

By baptism we are grated onto the Church, onto the new Israel. By penance we are strengthened to avoidance of sin and to a spirit of true repentance. By the Eucharist we are transformed into the very likeness of Jesus.

These graces, and the others available to us, transform us as Zacchaeus’ encounter with Jesus transformed him.

Zacchaeus was once again able to sing along with the psalmist this song of praise and thanksgiving:

The LORD is gracious and merciful,—¨
slow to anger and of great kindness.—¨
The LORD is good to all—¨
and compassionate toward all his works.

Zacchaeus, and all of us have this reality check stated in Jesus’ own words.

—For the Son of Man has come
to seek—¨and to save what was lost.”

That is God, that is who He is.

Amen.

For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day.—

The poet John Guzlowski wrote the following:

What My Father Believed

He didn’t know about the Rock of Ages
or bringing in the sheaves or Jacob’s ladder
or gathering at the beautiful river
that flows beneath the throne of God.
He’d never heard of the Baltimore Catechism
either, and didn’t know the purpose of life
was to love and honor and serve God.

He’d been to the village church as a boy
in Poland, and knew he was Catholic
because his mother and father were buried
in a cemetery under wooden crosses.
His sister Catherine was buried there too.

The day their mother died Catherine took
to the kitchen corner where the stove sat,
and cried. She wouldn’t eat or drink, just cried
until she died there, died of a broken heart.
She was three or four years old, he was five.

What he knew about the nature of God
and religion came from the sermons
the priests told at mass, and this got mixed up
with his own life. He knew living was hard,
and that even children are meant to suffer.
Sometimes, when he was drinking he’d ask,
—Didn’t God send his own son here to suffer?—

My father believed we are here to lift logs
that can’t be lifted, to hammer steel nails
so bent they crack when we hit them.
In the slave labor camps in Germany,
He’d seen men try the impossible and fail.

He believed life is hard, and we should
help each other. If you see someone
on a cross, his weight pulling him down
and breaking his muscles, you should try
to lift him, even if only for a minute,
even though you know lifting won’t save him.

Reflect on those words.

Death is as certain as life, and suffering is equally as certain.

God Himself took on our suffering and our death so to save us, to bring us home to heaven.

How we respond, how we react, to the extent we lift others in their suffering, if even for a moment, is the testimony we give to our faith in Jesus Christ, our faith in His promise of heaven. His promise that He will raise us on the last day.

Amen.