Do You Hear Him Calling?

 

Deacon Dave · Do You Hear Him Calling?

Homily for the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time, June 26, 2022. Gospel of St. Luke 9:51-62. Theme: Do You Hear Him Calling? 

In the Gospel we just heard Jesus asking 3 people if they want the opportunity to be his disciples and follow his way. He invites them into a deeper relationship with him but they each set down a condition or make an excuse as to why they must hesitate or even say no to his call. 

The first would-be disciple cried out to Jesus with exuberance saying, “I will follow you wherever you go!” He was basing his potential discipleship upon superficial emotions and reacting to how excited Jesus made him feel. Perhaps he got caught up in the spirit of the crowd and was swept away by the enthusiasm that often surrounded Christ. But in any case, once he realized what Jesus was asking of him and that a deeper relationship with Christ would require sacrifice on his part, his enthusiasm waned and he fell silent. 

This dynamic is really pretty similar to any significant meaningful relationship in our lives, isn’t it? At first we are “head over heels” crazy about the other person and enjoy the way we feel when we are with them. But our love-commitment really proves itself in how we handle the ordinary ups and downs of life together. And as they say, trials can either make or break a relationship. Some draw closer to one another when difficulty arises, while others simply get up and walk away. No relationship based primarily on emotions, on how the other person makes me feel, is able to survive, thrive and grow. 

And the same is true with our following of Jesus. Our relationship with him will have joys as well as sorrows, times of consolation along with struggles of desolation. The Gospel message itself will fill us with hope and encouragement on some occasions, but it will also convict us of sin and call us to repentance at other times. Like Jesus we are going to experience joy and of glory, but also rejection and the cross. Will these things make or break our discipleship commitment? Will we draw close to Jesus when what he asks requires sacrifice or will we simply get up and walk away? 

In the life of every disciple there comes a critical moment when the Lord speaks to each one of us personally and individually. It’s a call tailored to who we are and what we are capable of doing. No one can tell you what this call will sound like or look like, except the Lord who will let you know in the deepest recesses of your heart. But when we do indeed hear that call, we have to be careful to not respond like the three would-be disciples in today’s Gospel. 

The first one asked to follow Jesus, but fell silent when he was told that as a traveling disciple he would have no place to lay his head. He did not want to give up the comfort and security he had in his life to venture out into something different. We can learn from him to not let fear of the unknown hold us back from responding to the call of Jesus. 

The second wanted to bury his father first. That was actually an ancient Middle-Eastern way of saying that he first wanted to inherit the family property and then he would be financially set to follow Jesus. His excuse teaches us to focus instead on the treasure that we store up for ourselves in Heaven by living as faithful disciples of Jesus. 

The third would-be disciple wanted to say goodbye to his family and loved ones first. This doesn’t sound unreasonable and Elijah even allowed Elisha to do this in our first reading. But Jesus is greater than Elijah and the call to follow him is of much more eternal importance. Jesus is reminding us that we must love him more than our family or friends. And that sometimes a Christian is indeed required to make that kind of a judgment call. 

Today’s liturgy is asking us how passionately, how seriously are we willing to follow Christ? It’s inviting us to examine and evaluate our own discipleship and discern if we truly want to follow the pathway of Jesus, to draw closer to Jesus, to become more like Jesus. It’s asking us to consider what we are willing to do or to give up so that our response to the Lord will be more honest and thorough? We just need to keep in mind that if we do not respond when he calls, we run the risk of never responding at all and of missing out on the greatest relationship, the greatest experience in life that we could have. And most of all, of missing out on living and reigning with Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Living Bread From Heaven

 

Deacon Dave · The Living Bread From Heaven

Homily for Corpus Christi Sunday, June 19, 2022. 1 Cor. 11:23-26; Gospel of St. Luke 9:11-17. Theme: The Living Bread From Heaven 

Today's Gospel story about the miraculous multiplication of loaves has always been seen by Christians as connected to the Eucharist. This is because it deals with a miracle using bread and shows Jesus feeding people in an incredible way. You know, when the people in that crowd encountered Jesus, what they saw and smelled and touched and heard was an ordinary Jewish man from the backwoods village of Nazareth, in his 30’s, fit and strong from his work as a laborer, speaking with a heavy Galilean accent, and covered with the dust of the road. But their senses did not, could not, experience the full reality of who he truly, fully was. What they could not see before them was the glorious Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Eternal Son of God the Father. This reality was always there, but it was hidden from their senses by the physicality of flesh and bone. 

The Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist is very much the same. We don’t grasp the full reality behind what our eyes behold, what our hands touch and what our mouths taste when we receive Holy Communion. And yet, a genuine miracle takes place at every Mass. What was simply bread and wine becomes the very Body and Blood of our Risen Lord Jesus Christ. Though they continue to look and taste the same, Christ our God is in fact really and truly present in every morsel of what was once bread and in every drop of what was previously ordinary wine. 

God knows that this is a hard teaching to believe and accept and so every once in a while he gives us tangible evidence that what we believe is true. Every so often God has changed not just the inner reality but also the actual physicality of the bread and wine of the Eucharist. There are over 130 of these documented Eucharistic miracles affirming for us that what we worship, what we receive and what we adore is truly the Flesh and Blood of Christ the Lord. I want to mention just two of them because these were selected to be carefully scrutinized by scientific teams. 

The first and most famous Eucharistic miracles took place in Lanciano, Italy in the year 750 AD. A priest celebrating Mass was having doubts about the Real Presence of Jesus in Holy Communion. During the words of consecration, the host he was holding began to literally turn into flesh in his hands, and the few drops of wine in the chalice were transformed into globules of blood. And they have remained so ever since, for the past 1300 years! In 1971, Pope St. Paul VI permitted carefully guarded scientific studies to be carried out and scientists discovered the flesh was from the heart of a male and the content of the chalice was human blood type AB. 

Jumping ahead to the 20th century, a host also turned into bloody flesh in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1996. The bishop at that time, who is today Pope Francis, sent it under guard to a reputable lab in New York for sampling. Those who tested it were not told what it was or where it came from. The man in charge of the study was Dr. Frederic Zugibe, a world-famous cardiologist and forensic pathologist. The findings revealed it to be part of the heart muscle. The blood type was AB. A perfect match to the miraculous host of Lanciano. But the examination of the Argentinian host resulted in an even more astounding and inexplicable fact. When the lab samples were put under a microscope, Dr. Zugibe saw that the cells were actually moving, pulsating and beating, like a normal human heart! The host was somehow living cardiac flesh! He declared it to be a mystery far beyond the capability of science to explain. 

We call it a miracle. And our Faith supports this incredible finding because it tells us that the Eucharist we receive is the Body and Blood of the Living Risen Lord Jesus, not that of a dead and long-gone Savior. We proclaimed this mystery at the Alleluia acclamation today which said: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven…”. As we begin the 3-year long National Eucharistic Revival which the US Bishops have started on this feast of Corpus Christi, let’s praise and thank God for the Eucharist and ask for an increase of the gift of faith within each of us. 

While we cannot comprehend or explain how the Eucharist becomes the very Body and Blood of Christ, I think we can see why God chose to have its physicality remain as bread and wine in taste and appearance. For who of us would actually go to receive Holy Communion if it looked and tasted like what it really is: the living Flesh and Blood of Christ? And yet, that is the awesome reality of the Eucharist. Pope Francis has put it most simply and clearly saying: “It is Jesus, it is the Jesus who saved us, it is the Jesus who comes to give us strength to live. It is Jesus, Jesus alive.”

Reflections of the Trinity

 

Deacon Dave · Reflections of the Trinity

Homily for Trinity Sunday, June 12, 2022. Readings: Letter to the Romans 5:1-5; Gospel of St. John 16:12-15. Theme: Reflections of the Trinity 

Today’s liturgy reminds us that as Christians we have received a revelation about God that sets us apart from all other world religions. I am referring, of course, to what we have come to call the Most Blessed Trinity; the mystery of the One True God being a plurality or communion of persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And yet, somehow, this doesn’t mean that we have three gods who are intimately related, but only One Divine Nature shared equally and fully by three distinct Persons. 

How can this be? We’ll never really know because it’s something that our human minds simply cannot comprehend. That’s why we call it a mystery. We only know of it because it was revealed to us by God himself, when he came down among us as Jesus of Nazareth. And so, we accept it and we profess it by faith alone, trusting in the fact that Jesus speaks the truth. So, no matter how much time we spend thumbing through the pages of the Bible, we will never find any explanation whatsoever as to HOW God can be a Trinity of Persons…but what we will find is WHAT this means for us as Christians. 

Jesus taught that we who are baptized in the Name of the Trinity have a unique mission on planet Earth. We are given both the privilege and the obligation to reflect God’s image in all that we are, in all that we do. Just as God is a Trinity fueled by love which spills over out of itself and gives life, so too must our lives be motivated by love which is expressed in our behavior towards others. The New Testament tells us clearly that the only way others can come to know God whom they cannot see is by observing us whom they can see. This means that we Christians must consciously choose to live and act as images of God for others to see. It’s a big challenge but we are not left to our own devices in order to figure out how this can be done or to find the power to accomplish it. 

All three Persons of the Trinity empower us to carry out this mission of love by coming to live within us. Jesus said that he and the Father would dwell within those who love him and obey his Word. Today’s second reading reminds us that the Spirit is poured into our hearts as the connecting bond that brings us into the love-relationship of the Trinity. And so, as long as we strive to live in prayerful communion with God, as long as we try to do our best to obey Christ’s Word, the Spirit will be present and working within us. God will be reaching out to others through us. 

If we are truly living the Gospel as Christians, then when people hear our words or observe our behavior, it might make them wonder or even ask questions about the God who inspires us. When we choose to treat others as we ourselves wish to be treated, then they might hopefully see what it means to believe in a God who is love. And when we intentionally choose to be kind and compassionate then hopefully people might see what it means to believe in a God who gives life. The Commandments, the Beatitudes, the Works of Mercy show us how to speak and act as reflections of the Trinity for they have been given to us precisely as blueprints, so to speak, for building our lives after the image of God and the pattern of Jesus. 

So, I think we can sum it all up by saying that today’s feast of Trinity Sunday is meant to remind us that we are called to be tangible reflections of God’s love that gives life. By our prayer, example and encouragement we hope to help others turn or return to God, who alone can reach deep inside the human person to touch and transform the heart. This is how real and lasting change comes about. This is how we can work towards real social harmony and peace. Not by laws and words and behavior enforced from the outside; those things cannot change anyone. They can only bring about a kind of fake or superficial external conformity. 

Real change, genuine transformation, begins on the inside. It happens as people turn their lives over to Christ, person by person, heart by heart, and then it spreads out from individuals into the homes, neighborhoods, workplaces and cities of our nation. And, you know, this is precisely what our troubled, divided, confused and violence-torn society needs from us right now. We truly cannot absolve ourselves of this noble yet demanding responsibility that flows from our firm belief that God is a Trinity and we are his reflection.

The Message

 

Deacon Dave · The Message

Homily for the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday, June 5, 2022.  Reading: Book of the Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11. Theme: The Message 

 Today, Pentecost Sunday is called the birthday of the Catholic Church. Up to that day the Church existed of course, but in a kind of unseen way, much like a child in the womb. But with the sending of the Holy Spirit, this Church-in-the-womb burst forth out into the world, making a lot of noise like a healthy newborn child, preaching to everyone the message that Jesus is Savior and Lord of all people. It was and remains a pivotal point in human history and it literally changed the whole world, beginning in Jerusalem. 

 We can easily imagine the scene of that first Pentecost as described for us in today’s first reading from the Book of Acts. The apostles and other disciples were gathered together in a large room in Jerusalem. Jesus had told them to go back into the city and await the fulfillment of the Promise of the Father. He foretold that when it came they would be filled with power and become his witnesses. And so, united with Mary the Mother of Jesus, about 120 of them were praying for the Promised Gift, the all-powerful and truth-bearing Holy Spirit! And suddenly, without warning, that very Spirit rushed down upon them, transforming them from the inside out, filling them with joy and empowering them to become bold witnesses to the Person and Message of Jesus! 

 You know, there’s a lot of talk in the Book of Acts about the Message of Jesus and so that might make us ask: What exactly was it that those newly energized apostles powerfully proclaimed with signs and wonders? What did they say to the people on on Pentecost that was so powerful that the Bible tells us that over 3,000 were converted to Christianity that very day? 

 Well, it’s a Message that we have come to call the Good News or Gospel of Jesus Christ, and here it is in a short 4-step way to accurately summarize it, easily memorize it, and boldly share it with others… 

 1. God is love, unconditional love. He desires to live in an intimate personal relationship with every human being that he created. 

 2. At the beginning of our history, we humans rejected this offer of intimacy with God. As a result, we are all born into this world with a spiritual hole in our hearts, so to speak, a void or empty space where God should be. 

 3. But God would not take no for an answer. Instead, he took the initiative and became one of us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, so that he could personally fix our relationship with God. His teachings show us how to live this relationship. By his Cross and Resurrection he healed the rupture and reconciled us with God. 

 4. Anyone who wishes to live in this healed relationship with God can do so by trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This begins with baptism by which we become a member of the Body of Christ on earth, living and spreading his Message. For those who choose this pathway, death no longer has the last word over them and sin can no longer hold them captive for eternity. 

 As I said, this is the whole Message of Jesus, of the whole Bible really, in 4 easy points. It’s the Message of Pentecost…the Message of Christianity. It’s the Message each one of us is called to proclaim by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit within us. So, let’s ask this Holy Spirit to make today - and every day really - our own new personal Pentecosts! Let’s renew the promises of our Baptism by which we became temples of the Holy Spirit. Let’s re-embrace the grace of our Confirmation by which the Spirit empowered us to become witnesses to Christ. 

Let’s form the habit of praying to him daily saying, “Come, Holy Spirit! Fill me with the fire of your love! Transform me! Lead me! Guide me!” May he be pleased to come down upon us like he did upon the disciples in Jerusalem, as wind and fire, so that we can give witness by our tongues - and even more so by actions - that Jesus is Lord and the only Way to the Father. It’s a Message everyone desperately needs to hear, to believe and to live today!