The Holy Family

 

Christmas Day has ended, and many of you spent it with family. Your own nuclear families and often extended family and those close friends we consider to be part of our families. I see many of them here today. The media often portray families this season as clean, happy, affluent, laughing and smiling around the tree or the table. And why not? That’s what we all long for, isn’t it? That’s what we all strive for. But families are messy, they are broken, and imperfect. They are often far from holy. Our families can be, at the same time, our greatest joy and our deepest sorrow.

 

Jesus’ family was also messy. Not his nuclear family but his extended family. On Christmas Eve we heard the beginning of Matthew’s gospel rolling out the genealogy of Jesus, and it was far from perfect. Liars and cheats, murderers and adulterers, faithful and unfaithful kings. And there was that crazy cousin John running around the desert yelling at people. But if we go through the scriptures and read about the lives of the people in that family tree, we find that the one thing that is constant is that even in the midst of their sinfulness and lack of faith in God, even at their worst, God was always faithful to them.

 

The ultimate sign of that faithfulness is that at the end of that long genealogy is Jesus. God incarnate on the earth in order to reconcile the world to himself. And God chose to begin that reconciliation within a family. It is through the family that we have the best chance for eternal life.

 

Our families exist to help us get to heaven. We are shown the way to do so in the first two readings today. Sirach lays out God’s plan for the structure of the family, with each person having their proper role. And while there is a hierarchy, there is no power struggle. Sirach uses words like honor, reverence, kindness, prayer, justice and comfort. It is in the home that these virtues are first and best nurtured and lived. And it is from the family that these virtues spread out into the world first through the extended family, then to the community.

 

Paul speaks today about how the community of faith is to live. He adds to Sirach’s list of virtues heartfelt compassion, humility, gentleness and patience, gratitude, and above all forgiveness. We are to put on love, which is the bond of perfection that holds all relationships together. We are to submit to one another out of love, because that’s what love is – diminishing ourselves for the benefit of others. The Church is called to serve, and not to be served. If we do these things, the peace of Christ will dwell in our hearts, and we will bring that peace to the world.

 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if each of our families lived these virtues and experienced that peace? What would the world be like if every family strived to live this way? But in reality, we are often the most unforgiving, cruel and judgmental to those closest to us. Many of us have experienced unhealthy, even violent relationships in our families, and it is sometimes difficult to relate to the images of father, mother and child we hear today. That might be the ideal, but reality is so often different.

 

The Holy Family lived those virtues. Mary and Joseph actually lived with Jesus at the center of their lives. Everything was focused on him. The Kingdom of God that Jesus preached began in their household. But that didn’t mean they had it easy, that they lived in a warm little bubble, unaffected by the world. On the contrary. Mary still heard the snickers of her neighbors behind her back, gossiping about the dubious circumstances of her son’s conception. Joseph had to deal with keeping Jesus safe from a king who wanted to kill him. And Jesus, well, his neighbors even tried to throw him off a cliff when he preached the gospel to them.

 

Just because Jesus, Mary and Joseph were holy does not mean they were not affected by sin and death. Their faithfulness to God did not preclude the threat of death against them. Mary’s soul was still pierced by the sword of sorrow. And Jesus, God himself, was tortured and killed. To be holy is to be like God, and if God allowed these things to happen to himself, why would things be different for us? We are each called to take up our cross and follow him.

 

What each member of the holy family had was hope. Just like us, they were given the choice to remain faithful to the promises God had made to them. Mary had the choice to accept her role as the angel had foretold for her. Joseph had the choice to believe the dreams he had and accept his role, even though of the three he probably understood it the least. And Jesus himself had a choice to submit his will to that of his Father’s. Father, if it is possible let this cup pass me by, but not my will but yours be done.

 

And they had each other to lean on as they faced the struggles and evil of the world that sought to destroy them. They had been given a promise by angels that if they trusted in God not only would they be blessed, but the world would be changed forever.

 

In so many ways the Holy Family is just like ours. And just as they were like us, we can become like them. We too have choices to make. We can choose to love or to hate. We can choose bitterness or forgiveness. We can choose discord or reconciliation. We cut deepest those closest to us, and so the best place to begin healing is within the family.

 

Emmanuel, God with Us, they called him. God was truly and literally a part of the Holy Family, and his presence allowed them to withstand the onslaught of the forces of hell itself and yet experience his peace. God is present in your family and you too can live in His peace. When you pray to Him around your dinner table, at bedtime and throughout the day, He is the center of your life. When you live a life of charity and hospitality, you are modeling the savior. When you forgive one another you are showing the greatest love of all.

 

For Mary and Joseph, Jesus was right there, a constant reminder of the promise God had given them. Jesus is right here, in your family, and He has made the same promise to you.

 

 

 

Christmas is for Children

 

There’s a saying that Christmas is for children, and I guess in many ways it is. There’s something about children at Christmastime that makes it what it is. If we adults were in charge it would lose a lot. To us older folks Christmastime is often full of stress, with so many things to do and plan. We have parties to host and attend, presents – and not just any presents, but just the right ones – to buy, wrap and give. And we have so many responsibilities around Christmas that we have to weave in and around the whirlwind of our everyday lives. Many of us dread Christmas because of this. We have so many expectations of what the perfect Christmas should be that we get all wound up in the stuff of Christmas while forgetting what Christmas was for us when we were children.

For children, especially little children, Christmas is so much simpler, so much easier, so much more wonderful. Little children have not yet been spoiled with the expectation of presents. For them it’s not about what they expect to receive that is so wonderful. It is all the sights and sounds and smells, especially around the baby Jesus. There’s something about a newborn baby that captivates us all, but especially for the little children.

I love to see parents each year bringing their little ones up to see the holy family statues here. You see it at every creche. Moms and dads clutching little hands, bringing them up close to see the manger scene, pointing out the baby Jesus. Telling them the story of that first Christmas. When I was young my job was to set up the creche in our home. I would carefully unwrap each porcelain figurine and gently place it in its particular place in the creche.

After everything was just right we would then as a family read the story from the gospels of that Christmas night. Many of you have similar traditions, or I hope you do.  That is one of the first lessons in faith many children receive from their parents, the reality of the baby Jesus. Silent night, holy night. Calmness, heavenly peace, shepherds and angels on high. Peace on earth, goodwill towards men. Isn’t that what Christmas is all about? For one shining moment, the entire world is focused on one single event in history, on one single person, on one single baby.

 

Children understand what Christmas is really all about. That is, until we spoil it for them. They understand the reality of what a baby truly is. A baby is hope. A baby is the ultimate proof that God exists, with its perfect little fingers and toes, in its wonderful complexity and simplicity. We don’t remember what we were like as babies, we must see in our children what we once were.

 

Jesus was once like that. Have you ever stopped to think about just how radical the Christ child is? The very thought that this little baby, so vulnerable and innocent and perilous, is God himself? The most radical and cataclysmic event in all of human history, the incarnation, God becoming man, started out in such a simple way? God chose to become one of us in the same way he chooses to have each of us enter the world. And the result of that is peace on earth, goodwill towards men, glory to God in the highest. In a newborn baby we see the goodness of the world, the rightness of creation, even for a brief moment. That’s how we all started and how we should all view ourselves, as goodness and right. As persons of hope.

 

Jesus said that unless we become like little children we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Unless we become like the perfect child, Jesus Christ, we will not and cannot be one with him forever in heaven. Because that child, who started out so innocent and calm, shook the world to its core and set up a choice that has divided the world for 2000 years.

 

You see, the entrance of God into history as man demands a choice for every human being. We have no choice in how and when and why we are born. But we are all ultimately confronted with a choice. Will we follow that perfect child? Will we model our lives after His? Will we submit to the will of the Father has he did, and can we live with the consequences of that choice?

 

That child grew up and lived an unconventional life, a radical life. He cured the sick, raised the dead, admonished sinners, set the existing religious order upside down, challenged the status quo in every individual heart, and had a simple message. Come, follow me. He demanded of us no less than what he himself did. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and the prisoners, care for the poor and the marginalized, go out and make disciples of all the nations, spread the good news that God himself has become one of us so that we can become one with Him.

 

Do you see that man in the creche before you? Do you see the choice before you tonight? Can you see that beyond all the sentimentality of the scene and the season is the awesome reality that that child was born to die? His very reason for living was to die…for you. The quiet and peace and innocence of the baby’s nativity was to end in the horrible violence of the cross. Do you see that just as we enter into the remembrance of his birth we must also enter into the reality of his death and what that means for each of us? The hope that began with Jesus’ birth continues in the hope of his resurrection and his promise of eternal life.

 

It is good that we become like little children at Christmas. It is good that we enter into the sights and sounds of the season in order to reconnect ourselves with the simplicity and innocence of the manger scene. It is good that we, for one brief moment every year, look upon the baby Jesus and see ourselves, what we can become, what we are called to become.

 

The message of Christmas is one of renewal. Our children are our hope for the future and each newborn baby is a sign that things will continue. Each newborn baby is a regeneration, a renewal for our families and for our world. I think that is one reason we are all drawn to them, wonder at them, and make such a fuss about them. And I think that is why Christmas is for the children. Because it is about the children. It’s about the children we once were, and about the children we can become again.

 

It’s all about the children.  It’s all about the child.

 

 

Bet Your Life on It

24^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle B

 

Why did Jesus ask his disciples this question? It’s pretty important since it appears in all three synoptic gospels, and so we hear it every year at Mass. I can imagine the situation. This scene takes place early on in Mark’s gospel, and Jesus and his disciples have been traveling around the local towns spreading the message to repent and accept the gospel. He has been healing the sick and performing miracles, and now they have stopped to rest a bit. He asks them who the people say that he is. Sort of, “It’s been a little while. Is my message getting across? How effective am I being?” The first Christian focus group.

 

And the people really don’t get the message yet. They think he’s one of the dead prophets like John the Baptist or Jeremiah. Others are a bit closer when they claim he is Elijiah, the prophet what was supposed to come just before the Messiah. But none of them hit the mark and realize that he is the messiah himself. It’s easier to see the human Jesus at first than the divine.

 

It was important for the people to understand so they could believe. Jesus wanted them to get it right. Jesus spent his entire life trying to get them to believe. And then he left his disciples, the Church, to continue to proclaim who he is to the world. The first pope made the first ever dogmatic statement that day. He proclaimed to the world for the first time that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the promised Messiah, the Son of God. And he proclaimed it first to the church, those 12 gathered around Jesus. And that same Peter later on went on to say that there is no other name by which we are saved. That is the core message of Christianity. That is the good news. And it is vital that the Church always understand, get it right, and then spread the gospel faithfully. If we don’t get it right there is no hope for the world.

 

Who does the world think Jesus is even today, after 2000 years? A great philosopher and teacher, just like so many? A guru? Maybe a prophet, like the Muslims think, but not the prophet. A myth or an ideal to strive for? I figure we have moved beyond in our modern sensibilities? That it doesn’t really matter what anyone believes because there is no one truth, no one best way to live your life. It doesn’t matter what God you believe in or if you even believe in a god at all. If that’s the case then Jesus is easy to follow or ignore.  That Jesus requires nothing of us. And therefore is worthless.

 

What the world thinks starts with what you think. It’s important that you get it right. The people are always going to get it wrong because the truth is so fantastic and unique it’s hard to wrap our heads around it and even harder to accept what we will be called to do with that truth. CS Lewis said it so clearly in Mere Christianity. Either Jesus was crazy, he was a liar, or he is who he says he is. There are no other options. If he is one of the first two then no one should follow him…but if he is who he says he is then everyone must follow him. It’s important that you believe that if you are to live your life as you were intended to. I won’t lay down my life for a crazy person or a liar, but I will for the promise of eternal life. I have to.

 

Do you know who Jonathan Roumie is? He’s the actor who portrays Jesus in the series, The Chosen. Jonathan spoke at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in July, and he wore a bit of a controversial t-shirt during his talk that had the famous quote from Flannery O’Connor, “If it’s a just symbol, to heck with it.” O’Connor was a bit more colorful in her language and she was often sarcastic and flippant, but the message was clear. If the Eucharist is just a symbol, then it’s worthless and not worth my time, let alone my devotion and dedication. But what if it’s what Jesus claims it is?

 

I think the same could be said of Jesus. If he’s not who he says he is, then to heck with it. If he’s just all those things the world thinks he is then why should I bother? If He is not unique then why be Christian? If Christianity is not unique, if it is not the fullest expression of truth then why is it worth my effort? Why do I do all this stuff? Why do all those good works St. James talks about today? If all religions are the same, then what will I need to give my life for? I can just choose my religion to fit my life view, or my values, or my politics, or whatever I feel like doing today. Or choose no religion at all. There is nothing to live for or sacrifice for outside ourselves. And there are no consequences to my actions no matter how I choose to live. But then there is also no meaning and purpose, and there is therefore no hope.

 

No other religion has the cross, and the cross is the means of our salvation. No Jesus, no cross, no salvation, no hope.  

 

Who does Jesus claim to be? He never comes right out and explicitly says he is God. He uses euphemisms like the Son of Man and the Son of God, but never really defines what that means. He says things like, the Father and I am one. When you see me, you see the Father.  I am the way, the truth and the life. Not a way, a truth, and a life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And he leaves the door open for faith to fill in the gaps for us. It took the Church over 300 years to put some words around who this person Jesus was and is. It takes our entire lives for we ourselves to define and accept who he is for us. For it is around that question that our entire understanding of God, of His Church, and our very selves revolves.

 

But that question is the most important one we will ever answer. It is the only one that really matters, and it is the only one worth giving our lives for. Who we believe Jesus to be is the center of everything, even the eucharist. If Jesus isn’t who he says he is then the eucharist and all the sacraments are just empty rituals, meant to either make us feel good or even worse to deceive us.

 

This person Jesus who we believe to be God left us with some promises. Our hope is the belief in the fulfillment of those promises. He promises that the world will hate us just as it hates Him. He promises that the road to salvation is narrow. He promises that He will not leave us orphans. Jesus promises that he has gone to prepare a place for us so that where is he we also can be. He promises that his yoke is easy and burden light. He promises that if we proclaim him to the world, he will proclaim us to his Father. He promises that he will forgive us our sins to the degree we forgive others. He promises that we are his disciples when we follow his commandments. He says that we are one with the father when we are one with him. He promises that he is trustworthy and will remain so even if everyone else leaves us. He calls us his friends.

 

I don’t know about you, but I need to trust in those promises. I need to have that hope. I need to know that what I believe is true and good and of God. I need to trust that he is who he says he is. I need to believe in the truth of the Church as being Jesus present here on earth. I need to know that it is worth it. I need to know that it is worth dying for. I need to know that it is worth living for.

 

Who is Jesus to you?

 

What does that mean for you? What does that mean for your family, your community, your nation, for the world?

 

Do you trust him?

 

Do you trust his promises?

 

Are you willing to bet your life on it?

 

 

  

The Joy of Hunger

 

21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle B

I am diabetic. To help control it I take one of those medications that has the happy side effect of causing me to lose weight. It does that by suppressing my appetite, and so I eat less. Makes sense. You thought I’ve been working out. Nah. It took a couple of months but one day I just realized that I was no longer hungry. I don’t think about food much. In fact, I even keep forgetting to eat. I can get by on one meal a day now and never miss it. I eat because I have to but really don’t enjoy it much anymore. The law of unintended consequences.

 

It’s easy to lose weight when you’re not hungry. That’s why these drugs are so popular for non-diabetics to use to lose weight. They remove the pain and the discipline that is usually required. I also depend too much on the drugs to control my disease. I don’t watch what I eat or exercise as much as I should. It doesn’t require me to really do much to get the benefit. My numbers are good right now, but what happens if I go off the meds?

 

So, one of the side effects of the drug that is helping control my disease is a good one – maintaining a healthy weight. However, recent studies have also shown another unexpected side effect in some users. They not only are not hungry but have seemed to have diminished joy in life. Not just joy in eating, that would seem logical, but joy in other areas of their lives as well. When you are hungry all you can think about is food, and therefore you enjoy eating even more. When you’re not hungry even the joy of eating goes away. And as the deliciousness of food is diminished, one of the great joys of life also seems to be slipping away.  

 

It's a two-edged sword. Removing the pain and discipline can also remove the joy.

 

Hunger. We see it as something to avoid. We want to eliminate world hunger. We want to save people from suffering and dying. But hunger is also a good thing, because it causes anticipation for something good. The absence of something makes us want it more. Hunger for food makes the eating even more satisfying. Remove the hunger remove the satisfaction.

 

Today we hear the culmination of the great bread of life discourse in John. The crowds were first miraculously filled with bread and fish. Their physical hunger was satisfied for a time. But their fullness wore off, and so followed Jesus across the lake to see if he would perform the miracle again. Jesus upraided them and challenged them to see beyond mere bread to himself, the bread of life that has come down from heaven. Their hunger was superficial, but Jesus knew their spiritual hunger, and yet when He promised satisfaction they couldn’t understand it. They couldn’t get past his claims. How can someone come down from heaven? How can someone be bread? Who does he think he is? And this thing about eating his flesh and drinking his blood is really over the top. This saying is hard. Who can accept it? And that’s understandable if they just took it at face value, if they only saw physical bread and an ordinary man. And so they returned to their former way of life.

 

They left not because they weren’t hungry anymore but because they didn’t understand what they truly hungered for. They had eaten the bread and fish but had not felt the deep satisfaction of the bread of life. And they didn’t believe yet that Jesus was who he said he was, and that by entering into relationship with him they would gain eternal life. They saw him as a prophet and miracle worker. They could not accept the idea that he was the Son of God. This saying is hard. Who can accept it?

 

The apostles had a different experience and understanding of Jesus. They saw him as so much more than a great prophet. Peter said it so well. Where else can we go? We’re still hungry. Not just for physical nourishment but for the words of everlasting life. For eternal life itself. They did want that deep personal relationship with Jesus, because for three years he had been the center of their lives, literally, and they had come to believe that he is the Son of God.

 

This whole episode is such an analogy for Christianity for so many people today. We’re all hungry and want to be fed. Like the crowd, we expect one thing from Jesus and get something else, an offer so personal and deep that we’re afraid of it and reject it. We go looking to be fed physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and instead he asks us for a relationship. We are attracted to the superficial – we see the bread – and he just wants us to see who he really is. And that call always comes with a cost. We must change. We must submit. And that’s frightening.

 

We like things simple and uncomplicated. We see the superficial hunger but not the spiritual hunger inside us. Just feed my physical and emotional needs, Lord, and that’s enough. Give me a good job and a nice house. Give me a happy family and no anxiety. If you do that I will stay, if not, I will leave. Give me good liturgy with uplifting music and decent preaching, and I’ll come to Mass. But don’t ask me for anything more. Don’t ask me to enter into a deeper relationship with you, because I may not like what I see there. I may have to give up control. Give me the temporary satisfaction but not the suffering. It’s one thing to eat a bit of bread but don’t ask me to drink from the cup that you drank from. We say we become what we eat, but do I really want to become like you? Do I really want to do what it takes to make you the center of my life? Am I ready to embrace it all?

 

We are like the crowds who wanted Jesus to feed them again without their having to do anything themselves. It's a two-edged sword. Removing the pain and discipline can also remove the joy. Give me the drug and I will lose the weight, but I also risk losing the joy of anticipation and the experience of eating.

 

Have we lost our hunger for God? Maybe we have been so disappointed that Jesus is not what we expect that we have lost our appetite for him. Or maybe it’s just become so routine. I eat because I have to but really don’t enjoy it much. But I think we all have experienced the joy of that hunger at some time our lives, and so I think we can always rekindle it in our hearts. It starts with anticipating the gift of the Eucharist.

 

Remember when you were preparing for your first communion? Whether it was as a child or an adult, there was great anticipation, wasn’t there? For our catechumens their first communion is the sign that they are finally fully Catholic after such a long period of preparation. The littles are so happy not because they understand fully what they are receiving but finally they can have what their parents and older siblings and friends have had. It is a sign of growing up. They’re no longer left out. And they all have such a glow about them when they first take the host and the cup. You can feel the joy in their hearts. You can see it in their eyes. Think about how you felt that day. Now think about how you felt the last time you received the Eucharist. Has anything changed? Have you lost that initial joy? How can we regain that joy and that feeling? How can we feel hungry again?

 

Did you joyfully anticipate coming to Mass today? Do you yearn for the bread of life? How have you prepared yourself? What is in your heart as you process down the aisle for communion? Is your Amen a true declaration that “I believe, Lord, that you have the words of everlasting life? I will not leave you!”

 

Imitate the apostles, not the crowd. For them Jesus was the center of their lives, even if they didn’t fully understand who he was. They hungered for his words and struggled to live as he had commanded them. They entered into his passion and death literally, and after they experienced his resurrection the first thing they did was celebrate all of it in the Eucharist.

 

So don’t give up hope if you’re not hungry. Keep eating. Keep believing. Keep receiving. And if you do feel the joy of hunger, pass it on. Let others see the light in your eyes and feel the life within you. Keep remembering how beautiful it is.

 

Grand Events

 

17^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2 Kgs 4:42-44

Eph 4:1-6

Jn 6:1-15

 

I’m sure most, if not all of you here are aware of what’s been happening across the country with the three-year-long National Eucharistic Revival that began in 2022. It is a grassroots movement called by the US bishops to rekindle a living faith in the hearts of all Catholics across America to unleash a new missionary chapter in this pivotal moment in Church history.

 

As part of that movement, last year all dioceses hosted a local Eucharistic Rally. Last summer here in Salt Lake City 10,000 Catholics gathered together at the Mountain America Center for a full day of events and one huge Mass. So many St. Mary’s parishioners volunteered to make it a success and many more participated in the Mass. It was truly a wonderful event and experience and touched so many people in this parish and in the diocese that we are still talking about it a year later. One man I spoke with who attended told me that it has inspired him to return to regular Mass attendance.

 

This year starting in May there was a pilgrimage that processed with the Blessed Sacrament from the four corners of the country converging last week at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. We were blessed here at St. Mary’s that the pilgrimage went right through town and hundreds of us participated. We even celebrated a special Mass here with the pilgrims, Bishop Solis and Bishop Gordon from Las Vegas. It was so cool to see the video and pictures of our parish eucharistic procession from the Old Town Chapel to this church posted on social media and news channels nationwide.

 

The pilgrimage culminated at the Eucharistic Congress last week in Indianapolis, the first Congress in the US in 83 years. According to a statement by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, “The 10th National Eucharistic Congress was a profound moment for the whole Church in the United States as our Catholic family united in prayer. 60,000 Catholics gathered in Indianapolis for this generational event, and countless more across the nation joined via livestream. This was a pivotal moment in both American history and the legacy of the Catholic Church. After a historic National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, tens of thousands of pilgrims welcomed Jesus to Indianapolis. United in spirit with our brothers and sisters across the nation, we worshiped Jesus as the Body of Christ and sought repentance in joy and hope.”

 

It’s a big deal. A bigger deal than we’ve had in a long time. I’ve actually heard people comment that things like this are obsolete and old fashioned. Someone called them simply medieval. Why do we have to make such a show about something we can do ourselves privately or in our parishes? They’re so over the top. But there’s something different about coming together in large numbers to share our faith and worship. If where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am among them, then what outpouring of the Spirit they will be with tens of thousands?  Just as it is different to watch a football game in person versus on TV, the enthusiasm factor and sense of belonging and community are so much higher. Large events such as these create great enthusiasm, they revitalize the faithful and re-focus us on our faith. They also help us to spread the gospel throughout our communities and the world.

 

There were many processions where I grew up in Massachusetts, both eucharistic and for feast days. You would just see a bunch of folks following behind the priest carrying the monstrance down the street to the church. Since I was in Catholic school, I had to join in. I always thought they were pretty hokey, and somewhat embarrassing, because it was a Catholic thing, and my non-Catholic friends could see me marching down the street. I was a Holy Joe. And I was too young and too self-absorbed to realize that that’s the idea. It is to make our faith visible to the world. The processions are for the pilgrims, yes, but they are more for the spectators. They are for the non-believers. They are for the world to see our devotion so that some will find that attractive and want a part of it. They are a way for us to witness to the world who we are, what we believe in, and to claim part of our Catholic identity again. Large public displays of devotion are missionary events, and we are a missionary Church. The entire world saw our faith on display last week.

 

Most of Jesus’ teaching, healing and preaching happened with individuals or smaller groups. But sometimes they were grand events, like the feeding of the multitudes. The story of the feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle that is recorded in all four gospels. Matthew and Mark also tell of feeding another 4000 at one time. These miracles are a foreshadowing of the Eucharist. Jesus takes, blesses, breaks and distributes. But I think the most important thing about them is the leftovers.

 

What do you think they did with the 12 baskets of leftovers? They gave them to the people to take home with them. The people were enthusiastic that day. They had just witnessed something extraordinary, and they were eager to spread the news. They didn’t just take bread and fish home with them, they took the story. They evangelized to their family and friends about the man from Nazareth. Those same people who Jesus fed that day followed him to Galilee, and they are the ones who he gave the bread of life discourses to. Once fed a little, they wanted more. They were touched by Jesus, and they wanted to make him their king.

 

Those 60,000 Congress participants and the thousands more who experienced the eucharistic pilgrimage were fed, and now want more. They are enthusiastic. They have witnessed something extraordinary, and they are eager to spread the news. And they will follow Jesus wherever he goes to get more. They have brought the fragments of their experience back home with them to their parishes, homes, families and friends. The gift with which they have been fed has reinvigorated them and recommitted them to their faith. I have read the testimonies of people who were interviewed about their experiences. So many of them had been on the peripheries, not zealots as you might expect, but ordinary people who have a simple faith, oftentimes a wavering faith in the face of so much secular opposition, and something has come alive in them.

 

Wow, this isn’t just me. This is a movement. I am not alone. We really can revive the church.

 

The leftovers are here, in this parish. Just as 60,000 people knelt on the floor of that stadium last week in silent adoration of the blessed sacrament, so can we here. Just as 60,000 people received the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ together in that stadium every day, so do we in our little parish, at our Sunday gatherings or even with a handful of friends at daily Mass. The size and scope of the gathering does not affect the reality of the sacrament, nor its efficacy. It’s the same Jesus feeding us. The loaves are still being multiplied. We still take the fragments of the grace we receive home with us to give to our family, friends and community.

 

Will that enthusiasm fade over time? Probably. But you know, we can always have another procession. We always have eucharistic adoration in our parishes. We still have daily and Sunday Mass. We still gather as pilgrims throughout the world, in large and small congregations, to be fed by our king. A flame has been kindled, the same light of Christ that was lit in you at your baptism. It’s up to us to keep that flame burning brightly and to feed it until it grows to a roaring conflagration.

 

Grow Up!

 

10^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle B

Gn 3:9-15, 2 Cor 4:13—5:1,  Mk 3:20-35

 

I saw a really adorable video this week of a three-year-old girl whose father was questioning her about why she painted her entire Barbie doll with blue nail polish. He would ask her, “Why did you paint your Barbie with nail polish?” And she kept saying, “She told me to do it, and I told her hundreds of times no.” She was crying and anguished. Every time her father patiently questioned her about what she had done she kept repeating, “I told her hundreds of times no, but she kept telling me to do it.” I think we have all experienced this with little ones. This father had a really hard time not busting up. She was so innocent and so sincere. We expect that type of thing from kids. We know they don’t know any better. We know they aren’t really responsible for their actions at that age. They’re just trying to get out of it.

 

Passing the buck is our first instinct. When asked why he ate the forbidden fruit, Adam said he was just doing what Eve told him to do. No questioning it; she gave it to him so he ate it. And he tells God, “It was the woman, who you put here, who did it.” And it really wasn’t Eve’s fault either, the serpent tricked her. Nobody takes any responsibility for what they did. The serpent was the only honest one. He knew what he was doing. He was just doing his job.

 

Today we see the entire spectrum of moral development, starting with the first Adam and ending with the second Adam, Jesus Christ. The development of our own moral lives follows a pattern. The first sin was pride. You will become like gods. Totally self-centered. So, at this end of the continuum, we have pride. Everything’s about me. At the other end we have mercy. Jesus considers everyone to be his brothers and sisters.

 

In the middle of the maturation process we move through stages of growth from self-centeredness to awareness of others and our relationships with them, to the realization that we are all interdependent with one another and are all responsible for one another. And it has nothing to do with age. There is a big difference between a 20 year old TikTok influencer who posts suggestive selfies all day and the 20 year old army Ranger scaling the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc on D-Day. There is an overlap in our personal growth curves and our spiritual growth curves when we understand our need for forgiveness. We cannot receive forgiveness just by forgiving ourselves. We need to be forgiven, by God and by those we have sinned against. We can move to forgiveness when we experience forgiveness. We can move to mercy when we feel God’s mercy towards us. The morally mature person gives and receives mercy willingly.

 

This story is the story of us all. It takes so very long, oftentimes our entire lives, to fully mature. Some people never move beyond a 3-year-old’s understanding. Where are you on the continuum today? Are you still a child, thinking everything revolves around you? Do you habitually pass the buck and make excuses? Is it all about your own self-esteem?  Do you think you need to remove all the people from your life who don’t build you up or treat you as you deserve to be treated? Or do you understand that we are all interconnected as brothers and sisters, that we all need to forgive one another and show mercy to those who hurt us the most? Is your pride your biggest stumbling block or have you reached the heights of humility? Have you widened your perspective beyond your own little world to extend to the entire world, as Jesus did? Do you see everyone you meet as a brother or sister?

 

Jesus wasn’t disrespecting his family that day. He wasn’t ignoring or avoiding them. He was asking his disciples to expand their thinking. He wanted them to grow up! Being his disciple means you have to see everyone as your family. We don’t ignore our family, we expand it. Jesus was at the pinnacle of human moral and spiritual maturity, where he truly saw the big picture.

 

Just as there are stages to our moral maturity, there are stages to our spiritual maturity as well. And again, it has nothing to do with age. St. Dominic Savio died at 14. Maria Goretti was 12. Blessed Carlos Acutis was 15. We start off having no responsibility for our faith. It is given to us by our parents and family. When we begin to experience community, usually through the Church, we see that we share faith with other people. We begin to see our responsibility not just for our own salvation but for the salvation of others, in fact, the two are inseparable. We understand that we are not saved alone but with and through our relationships with others. We understand that to be spiritually mature we need to act on our faith. Our faith is both personal and public. We are our brother’s keeper.

 

Where are you on the spirituality continuum? It’s possible to stop your spiritual growth at any stage, or even go backwards. Many, many people who were raised in the faith stop believing for a time or even forever. Faith is a gift that needs to be nurtured to grow. Is your faith more cultural than committed? Are you motivated by fear or by love? Do you fear the repercussions of your actions, or do you truly make God the center of your life because you love Him with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul? Do you fully participate in the entire sacramental life of the Church because that is where you enter into the mystery? Do you attend Mass because of your obligation or because for you it is the source and summit of your faith? Or is it optional based upon the circumstances of the day? How big is your heart? Do you have your own personal Jesus, or do you strive to bring the joy of your faith to everyone you meet? Do you bring the grace of the Eucharist out into the world? As disciples of Christ, we are called to do more, to love more, to give more.

 

As children we are all about us. I’m hungry, feed me. I’m thirsty, give me something to drink. I’m cold, give me something to wear. I’m sick, take care of me. Jesus loves me. I am a sinner in need of forgiveness. A mature Christian life is  about serving others. We feed the hungry. We give drink to the thirsty. We clothe the naked. We visit the sick and those in prison. We love one another as He has loved us. We love our neighbor as ourselves. We love our enemies. We forgive seventy times seven. We go and make disciples of the whole world.

 

It is only when we can see ourselves as we truly are, brothers and sisters of the Lord, loved deeply by Him yet flawed and in need of forgiveness, can we move out into the world and bring God’s love to everyone. Who are my mother and my brothers and sisters? It could be everyone I meet. They are definitely those who do the will of the Father. I am one with them and they are one with me. And we are all one in the Lord. Jesus says he is my brother. God is my brother! How radical, and cool, is that?

 

Say the Words!

 

Third Sunday of Easter

Cycle B

 

Forgiveness

 

Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away."

 

We hear the theme of repentance for the forgiveness of sins again in today’s readings. Jesus began his public ministry with the message, repent and believe in the gospel. That message was central to his entire teaching, but it was only after the disciples had witnessed his suffering, death, and resurrection that they could finally understand the how and the why. Jesus tied it all together when he appeared to them that Easter night.

 

 "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."

 

Forgiveness of sins is not only central to Jesus’ teaching but is at the core of all the scriptures. Forgiveness is talked about over 70 times in scripture, 40 times in the New Testament alone. Humanity’s fallen nature means we are in need of repentance and forgiveness. The bible is one long story of our falling again and again and being lifted up again and again. Jesus spoke of and offered forgiveness so many times, even from the cross to those who were killing him. To the very end he offered them hope and a relationship with him. He offered them salvation by forgiving their sin. Jesus knows how broken we are. Jesus knows how desperately we want and need to be forgiven, and he offers it to us constantly through His church today.

 

Forgiveness is central not only to our faith but to our very well-being. We all live in relationships with others, in fact, we cannot even be saved outside of relationships with others, yet we always seem to hurt one another and break those relationships. That is the definition of sin. There are many, many people today who do not have a sense of sin, what it is or if it even exists, but everyone can understand broken relationships because they are so painful. One of the great tragedies of humanity is that so many relationships are never healed because so many times forgiveness is never asked for or given or received when they are broken. And all our relationships will be hurt or broken from time to time. The only way to restore those relationships is through forgiveness, asked for and given, freely, honestly and truly.

 

If there was no forgiveness for our sins, there would be no hope for us. Not just hope for eternal life but hope for happiness here in this life. Without forgiveness we will spiral down into self-loathing, or we will become so scarred and jaded that we give up and not care. And that is the most frightening thing of all. Forgiveness is true love, and the opposite of love is apathy.

 

We all want to be forgiven; we all need to be forgiven. We all need to forgive.

 

Have you ever asked someone to forgive you and they refused? Or they sloughed it off and didn’t take it seriously? Or they said they accepted your apology, but you felt deep down they didn’t mean it, and the relationship remained strained? How did that make you feel? Hurt, angry, worthless? What did that do to your self-image? What did you think about the other person? Do you still feel that hurt today?

 

I give advice to young parents when I prepare them to have their children baptized to never hesitate to forgive their children when they do something wrong. When a child says they’re sorry to you, if you even flinch or pause or give some sort of condition before accepting their apology you plant the seed of doubt in them that you really don’t forgive them. And if you do that to them often enough, they will eventually stop saying they’re sorry because they don’t believe you will forgive them. It’s a defense mechanism to avoid the pain of that rejection because that is what withholding forgiveness really is, rejection. A deep rejection when we are the most vulnerable. Those feelings of rejection and avoidance of situations where it could occur again can carry over to adulthood and affect all our relationships.

 

When Fr. Bob would teach our catechumens about the sacrament of reconciliation, he would tell them that in the confessional it was like he is holding the penitent’s heart in his hands, and it is an awesome responsibility for him to cherish and honor that heart and not destroy it. It takes great courage to ask for forgiveness, and when we do, we are extremely vulnerable. If we are rejected at that moment, it can affect us for a lifetime. When someone comes to us for forgiveness we have great power over them, and it is at that moment we can truly offer God’s mercy along with our own.

 

The beautiful thing about our God is that no matter what we have done, if we come to him with a sincere repentant heart desiring forgiveness, he will never reject us. Even if we come to him at the very last moment of our lives, all will be wiped clean. There’s a flip side to this forgiveness thing, however. Jesus told us that we will be forgiven to the extent that we forgive. He actually said that if we don’t forgive one another, we will not be forgiven, and his forgiveness is predicated on our truly repenting of our sins. That means we sincerely intend to avoid those sins, we feel true remorse not just because of the potential consequences of our sins, but because we know that they hurt our relationship with God, who deserves all our love.

 

We all want to be forgiven; we all need to be forgiven. We all need to forgive.

 

Forgive each other constantly, even if you are forgiving the same thing over and over again. Ask for forgiveness constantly, even if you are asking it for the same thing over and over again. Never cease to persevere in doing what is right, brothers and sisters.

 

The three most important words in a relationship are not “I love you”, but “I forgive you”. The next three most important words are “I am sorry”. Say the words. We need to hear the words. We need to say the words. We need to hear ourselves say the words. Words matter. Let there be no question about your intent or what you are asking for and offering. A wise monk once told me that the most loving thing you can do for someone is to say you’re sorry to them, because you are then giving them the chance to love you in return. Give them that chance.

 

Say “I am sorry, please forgive me” or better yet, “I am sorry for doing x, please forgive me.” “I apologize” can mean anything, as does “I regret my actions”. They’re halfhearted and meaningless. Saying you’re sorry shows emotional understanding of what you are offering. And in return don’t say “it’s ok”, because it’s not ok. There is hurt involved here. Say the words “I forgive you”. That leaves no question in the mind of the asker and can open the door to true reconciliation.

 

Say the words to God, too. Go to confession often, even if you seem to be confessing the same sins over and over again. I once told a priest that it felt worthless to keep confessing the same things over again, and he said, “What, you want new sins?” Jesus knows your failings better than you do, he wants to hear you ask for forgiveness, and he wants so desperately to have you hear his words of reconciliation.

 

It’s hard. I know. It’s really hard to put yourself out there risking rejection. Especially if the hurt was a serious one, or when you feel like such a failure to keep coming back and ask for forgiveness for the same thing over and over again. And it’s hard to keep forgiving the same things because you don’t see the situation ever improving. It’s like ripping off the scab every time. But we must. Jesus told Peter to forgive a sin seventy times seven. Because if you don’t it only winds up hurting you instead.

 

Jesus told his disciples that Easter night, “Who’s sins you forgive are forgiven, and who’s sins you hold bound are held bound.” You’ve gotta let it go.  If you forgive each other’s sins, then healing can occur and relationships can occur. If you hold them bound; if you keep them tied up inside of you and let them fester into bitterness, healing can never occur, and relationships will be permanently destroyed.

 

The first thing Jesus says to his disciples is “Peace be with you”. They needed to hear the words from his mouth because they were not at peace. He actually said it twice. How do you think they felt after betraying him, denying him and running away from him when he needed them most? But instead of berating them he showed them compassion. He knew how they were feeling, how ashamed they were. He knew they were in danger of tearing apart their fragile fellowship, destroying the church before it even began, and so he offered them two things: his peace and his forgiveness. “If I can forgive you,” Jesus was telling them, “Then you must forgive one another and move on”.

That forgiveness allowed the apostles to go out and proclaim the good news to the entire world. That forgiveness is what attracts people to the faith. That forgiveness is why you and I are Christians today. That forgiveness is the hope that we continue to offer humanity by practicing it in our everyday lives.