The End of the World (As We Know It)

 

Deacon Dave · The End of the world (As We Know It)

Homily for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Nov. 17, 2024. Readings: Daniel 12:1-3; Gospel of St. Mark 13:24-32. Theme: The End of the world (As We Know It) 

 A very important fact we need to recall about today’s Gospel and really about Sacred Scripture in general, is something that I mention to people frequently: that it’s written in ancient Middle-Eastern style and so we’re not going to readily grasp its message if we treat it as modern day literature. You see, God’s Word was written according to the customs and language of the ancient Middle-East which is vastly different from 21st century America. Bible scholars help us to get a grasp of ancient culture and style so that we can properly understand what God is saying to us. Failure to acknowledge the vital difference between modern-us and ancient-them is the #1 reason why people come up with some quite odd and at times even spiritually dangerous interpretations of the Bible. 

 For example, in today’s Gospel we hear Jesus foretelling things that seem quite incredible and frightening! He speaks of the elements of nature going berserk, and the universe itself falling into some kind of death-dealing chaos. Hearing all this as 21st century Americans we tend to think of some kind of horrible cosmic cataclysm that would make for a fantastic special effects sci-fi movie! But St. Mark’s 1st century audience were quite familiar with this kind of symbolic religious language. It was what they knew and so they understood these words of Jesus correctly. His message was not one of fear and trembling but of hope and joyful expectation! They knew that Jesus was saying that sometime in the future there’s going to be a spectacular, world-shaking, never-seen-before event in human history. And this event would show once and for all, to every human being, God’s glory and power, his justice and mercy. 

In our Christian tradition we have come to call this event the Second Coming of Christ. At that time every human being will rise up from the dead as the prophet Daniel foretells in our first reading. Those who have been faithful to God will receive a new and glorious eternal existence, while those who have lived selfishly and intentionally apart from God will experience eternal shame and horror. We remind ourselves of this message every Sunday in the closing words of the Creed where we profess faith in the resurrection of the dead and in the life of the world to come. 

 Both the prophet Daniel and the Lord Jesus are using dramatic language to wake us up out of our complacency and get our attention. They want us to look at the bigger picture of our total existence and never forget that planet Earth is only the starting point of our story. Life in this world as we know it is only a very small drop in the bucket of our total existence; it’s only a small and blurry picture of who we really are and of what we shall one day become. This message might shake up a few people or even frighten others, but it is “Good News” to those who trust in Christ as a Merciful Savior and walk with God through life. To them His words are not not of doom-and-gloom, but rather a hopeful threefold promise. 

 The First Promise is that Christ will, indeed, return to planet Earth. Unlike when he came the first time in the quiet and stillness of Bethlehem, this Second Coming will be powerful, glorious, awe-inspiring and public. All people will recognize what is happening at the same time and in the same way no matter who they are or where they live or what they do or do not believe. 

 The Second Promise is that we who belong to Christ shall be safe from all spiritual harm when this all comes to pass. Daniel prophesied for us that St. Michael the Archangel, who has been charged with the mission of being the Guardian of God’s People, will defend us in the battle, protect us from harm and lead us in our escape from evil and into the Presence of God. This is why many people say the St. Michael Prayer. They are in effect preparing for that day and asking for the grace to remain a part of God’s people who have safe passage through the struggle. 

 The Third Promise is that this will be the arrival of the long-awaited time when good finally claims its ultimate and total triumph over evil. We who have struggled to remain faithful to God shall all be vindicated and, as Daniel tells us, we shall live forever in shining glory. This is when everything will be made right and payback will be given to those who thought they were so very clever in manipulating and trampling upon others. These faithless ones defrauded the poor, took advantage of the lowly, ignored the truth, spit upon the sanctity of human life, and did so many other injustices to their brothers and sisters in the human family. 

 But we who did our best to follow Christ and his Great Commandment of Love are promised something so very wonderful. It will be the beginning of a glorious joyful and eternal existence with one another. And in this very real new world of the resurrected, there will never again be any hatred and division, no more sickness and suffering, and evil of any kind shall never more be known in the Kingdom of God. So, yes, big changes are coming for humanity and while we await them we must never forget that God is a Father who loves his children and always keeps his promises.

God is Never Outdone in Generosity

 

Deacon Dave · God is Never Outdone in Generosity

Homily for the 32nd Sunday of OrdinaryTIme, November 10, 2024. Readings: 1 Kings 17:10-16; Gospel of St. Mark 12:38-41. Theme: God is Never Outdone in Generosity 

 The stars of our readings this Sunday are both widows who are extremely generous in giving what little they have for the needs of others. Now in order for us 21st century Americans to truly appreciate why Jesus would elevate these widows as examples of trust and generosity in his Gospel stories, we need to know something about the culture of those times. In ancient Israel widows had no right to inheritance. They had no social standing nor recourse in their needs if they did not have an adult son or son in-law to take them in. A widow without a male protector and provider was often unhoused and unfed, wholly dependent upon the mercy of others. 

 In the first reading, we encounter a widow in the village of Zarephath who is on the brink of consuming her last morsels of food. Years of drought have taken their toll and she has next to nothing left in her pantry. Resigned to her fate, she then encounters the prophet Elijah who begs for something to drink and eat. And so she has a choice to make: ignore the suffering of another or relieve his hunger at a risk to herself and her little son. She is obviously a woman of faith who trusts that God will keep His promise of plenty through the words that Elijah has spoken to her. How would we respond in this situation? Like her, do we truly believe in our hearts and not just with our minds, that God knows us, cares about us as individuals and is attentive to our needs? It is this trust that frees her to be generous. 

 In the Gospel, Jesus praises a poor widow who puts all that she has to live on into the temple treasury for the poor. We are not told any other details about her but all we really need to know is that she is a widow, because that says it all, at least to those who first heard this story. They knew what those few coins meant for the woman. But we can deduce that she must not have had anyone to support her because Jesus says she gave all that she had to live on. And yet this widow wasn’t focused on herself and her situation. The Gospel shows us that she had compassion on others who were like her in their poverty. With a free and generous heart she contributed to their survival and trusted that God would somehow provide for her own needs. 

 So, we see that in these stories neither widow is focused on herself to the extent that she ignores the needs of others. And neither widow is greedy and fearful, clinging desperately to what little they have for their own needs. Instead, manifest a living trust in God that enables them to take a huge leap of faith. And both of them receive a reward from the God whom they love, trust and honor. The widow of Zarephath has her generosity returned to her by the ongoing miracle of the jar of flour and jug of oil that never become empty! We do not know the specific material reward, if any, that the Gospel widow received, but we do know that her trust in God and generosity to others has earned her a public spot as an all-star in the Gospels and Liturgy of the Church for 2,000 years! 

 The Bible teaches us that generosity is really more about trust and sacrifice than it is about particular sums of money. It is measured by the amount of love we have for God which shows itself in the amount of mercy we extend to others. A wealthy person can give vast amounts of money but yet still not be truly generous in God’s eyes because it is measured by the degree of mercy we have on the poor rather than by what particular dollar amount we write on a check. And no matter one’s income level, we can all fall prey to the temptation to hoard our resources and justify closing in ourselves and our own needs. 

 The Scriptures and the saints are all unanimous in telling us that God will never ever be outdone in generosity. And this is the fundamental lesson that today’s two widows teach us. The more we give to God - and by extension that means to our neighbor in need - the more He will bless us and provide us with what we truly need. The trouble is that oftentimes what we consider necessary is in actuality superfluous. We so often misidentify and confuse our wants with our actual needs. Slick advertising tells us to “buy, buy, buy” if we want to find happiness. But the Word of God tells us to “give, give, give” and we will experience the ultimate joy that never ends and receive what we truly need in return.

Love Divine All Loves Excelling

 

Deacon Dave · Love Divine All Loves Excelling

Homily for the 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time, November 3, 2024. Gospel of St. Mark 22:28-34. Theme: Love Divine All Loves Excelling 

 It’s so appropriate that we are hearing today’s Gospel about the Great Commandment of Love right after having celebrated All Saints Day on November 1, because holiness, that is, sainthood, is 100% all about love. Or more precisely, it’s about the purification and perfection of love in our lives. But as you know, love is a word that we throw around a lot. We use it in so many different ways to describe our feelings about so many different kinds of things, from the sublime to the mundane. Our free and easy use of the word can make it challenging for any of us to precisely define what we mean by it. 

 So, I started doing some research about it in the lives of the saints because they are our all-stars in our endeavor to love. And in doing so, I discovered that instead of describing or defining love, they simply tell us that it looks and acts like Jesus of Nazareth. Why? Because He is the Love Divine All Loves Excelling (as one of our hymns puts it) who became flesh precisely to show us what it looks like for a human being to love the Lord with all one’s heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor as ourselves. What this means is that if we want to learn how to love in our everyday lives then we need to turn to the example of Jesus. This was precisely what every single one of the saints did. Now of course, 

I’m not talking here about a literal imitation of Christ. And the New Testament doesn’t expect us to “mimic” Him in that sense either. Rather we are urged to become like Jesus - or as St. Paul puts it, to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 13:14) - which means to take on His attitude, to absorb the sentiments of His heart, and to look to Him and learn from Him as our most important role model. And this is exactly what every single one of the saints did no matter who they were or when or where they lived. So often when the stories of the saints are retold, we get a mistaken idea that they always were perfect in every way and some few were even as children. But honestly, nothing could be further from the truth. Because the reality is that they were just like you and me and many of them started off even worse than we are in many ways! 

 More than just a few of them had originally been greedy business people, conniving ladder-climbers, hedonistic self-seekers, crooked politicians, convicted criminals or corrupt clergy. But, at some point in their lives they had a deeply profound spiritual experience of the love of Jesus Christ and that’s when everything began to change for them. Bit by bit, day by day, the heart of Jesus, the mind of Jesus, the outlook of Jesus began to be gradually formed within each and every one of them. The trajectories of their varied lives show us that the power of God’s grace can turn a person around from being a skeptic into a believer, from living the lifestyle of a sinner into that of a saint. And their conversion experiences teach us that two things are indispensable in this process of being transformed by love: the Gospels and the Eucharist. 

 The Gospels are vital for modeling ourselves after the pattern of Jesus Christ because where else would we go to learn about Him? All four editions of the Gospel hand on to us what Jesus really did and said when he lived on planet Earth. And then the other texts of the New Testament, mostly those written by St. Paul, take up where the Gospels leave off and help us to actually put into practice what we learn in the Gospels. This is the reason why Pope Francis frequently urges us to read and really ponder the Gospels and allow ourselves to be formed by them. Unlike ordinary human literature, the Scriptures have the power of God within them and this power which we call “grace” can reach deep down inside us to touch, soften our hearts, and teach us how to love. 

 And as for the importance of the Holy Eucharist in our efforts of becoming more like Jesus, well that just makes total sense to me! I mean, how can we hope to grow in love if we don’t go as often as we can to receive the God of Love, who is truly present in Holy Communion? He enters into us and if we welcome Him with truly open and sincere hearts, He can get to work in changing us from the inside out! The more we receive Christ with intentional faith and conscious devotion, the more we can open ourselves up to Him and the more He can love others through us. This is why the saints were profoundly committed to receiving the Eucharist frequently. Each one of them knew that without Christ living in them, they were just one step away from becoming again what they once used to be. 

By turning to Jesus in the Gospels and the Eucharist, we can more easily and readily make the sentiments of his Sacred Heart our own. And this will enable us to make love more real and effective in tangible ways in our everyday lives, which is after all, the very goal of the Christian life. This isn’t easy, but it is possible by the grace of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who leads and empowers us. We need to be more conscious of His Divine Presence within us and more aware of what an astounding power this gives us! Let’s learn to hold our hands out to Him every morning and pray, “Holy Spirit of Love, come, visit and fill me. Make me more like Jesus by helping me to hear and follow Your holy inspirations. Amen.”

Master, I Want to See!

 

Deacon Dave · Master, I Want to See!

Homily for the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, October 27, 2024. Gospel of St. Mark 10: 46-52. Theme: Master, I Want to See! 

 The Gospels are filled with many stories of Jesus curing people. So when a particular miracle is singled out and retold to us in great detail, it means that there is an important message contained within it for our instruction. That there’s more to the story than what appears on the surface level. Today’s healing of a blind beggar is definitely one such story. 

 In today’s Gospel reading Mark introduces us to Bartimaeus as a model for us to imitate. He wants us to join with him in crying out to Jesus for the help that we need in our lives. He wants the joyful hope and expectation that moved Bartimaeus to jump up when he heard the Lord calling him, to fill our own hearts. And just as he threw aside his cloak, which symbolized getting rid of his old way of living, Mark wants those who hear this story to also begin living a new life by following the way of the Lord Jesus. 

 In other words, Mark wants us to put ourselves in Bartimaeus’ place. And this includes recognizing that we, too, can suffer from blindness, perhaps not in the physical sense but rather in regard to our moral and spiritual vision. Through this Gospel story, he hopes we will hear Christ saying to us, “What do you want me to do for you?” and that we will also cry out, “Master, I want to see! Open the eyes of my faith so that I can believe in You more firmly and follow You more faithfully. Restore clear sight to my conscience so that I can see and follow the sure bright path that leads to Heaven.” 

 This is an especially significant Gospel for those of us who live in Marin because our county has the highest percentage of un-churched non-religious observant persons in the nation! This means that there are an awful lot of spiritually and morally blind people walking around Marin County who stand in need of Jesus; healing touch. And they need us to show them the way to Him. 

 Moral vision, which enables us to see right from wrong, works through our conscience and it functions more clearly when it’s enlightened by God’s Word and informed by the teachings of Christ’s Church. Without these lights to guide the way to right living, our moral vision can darken and we can easily lose our way. This doesn’t happen all at once of course, but like physical visual degeneration, it’s a gradual process. With each misdirected step we take the blurring between good and bad increases until it becomes fuzzy gray clouds and shadows. If we don’t become proactive and take steps to correct this moral blindness once we recognize its symptoms, it can bring us to a place where we find ourselves doing things that we once thought we would never ever do. 

 Closely related to this is spiritual blindness, which if left untreated can lead to darkness and despair. For the spiritually blind, the only sure realities of life are those that can be experienced with the senses and scientifically verified with the mind. Those who suffer from this condition are concerned only about the “here and now” because they are blind to the truth that they will continue to exist beyond their time on planet Earth. They desperately cling to life in this world by any means possible because they do not see any other option. They simply cannot see that there is a whole other very real world, far better than this present one, awaiting them as a future possibility. 

 Spiritual vision, on the other hand, allows us to see that we are so much more than just randomly assembled atoms and cells. That we are so much more than our DNA, so much more than our physical appearance, so much more than our bank accounts and social status. Faith-vision informs us that each one of us has a purpose on Earth, a mission that no one else can accomplish in the exact same way. It assures us that we have an eternal destiny far beyond this planet. It enables us to know that no matter how others might judge us, Jesus peers into our depths and sees us for who we really are, and loving what He sees, He calls us to draw closer and closer to his Heart! 

 So, St. Mark is assuring us in today’s Gospel that Jesus, the Messiah Son of David, will indeed have pity on us in our blindness. If we call out to him in sincerity of heart then we will surely hear him say to us what he said to Bartimaeus, "Your faith has saved you”. That is, “your trust in Me has healed you.” And so I would like to close with a prayer for clear moral and spiritual vision that is short and easy to memorize. It was written by St. Richard of Chichester a very long time ago and it actually became the lyrics for a popular religious song, “Lord Jesus Christ, three things I pray: to see Thee more clearly, to love Thee more dearly, and to follow Thee more nearly, day by day.”

Becoming the Greatest!

 

Deacon Dave · Becoming the Greatest!

Homily for the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, October 20, 2024. Gospel of St. Mark 10:35-45. Theme: Becoming the Greatest! 

 In today’s Gospel, the brother-apostles, James the Greater and John, try to pull off a self-promotion maneuver behind the backs of the other 10 apostles. Like many Jews of their day, they misunderstood the ancient prophecies about the Messiah and imagined that he would be the Royal Champion who had come to conquer the Romans and establish a new and improved version of the Great Kingdom of Israel! They wanted a significant piece of the action and they are quite bold in asking for it! Instead of simply requesting it, they seem to be demanding this favor from Jesus. 

 Jesus does, indeed, grant the first part of their request, that is, to be intimately united with him in his reign in the Kingdom of God. But poor James and John had no idea what they were really asking. The “cup” and the “baptism” mentioned by Christ are symbolic references to his Cross and Passion. Jesus was mysteriously informing them that he would enter into his reign as King by wearing a crown of thorns and being given the cross as his “throne”. And per their request, these two brothers did indeed share in this baptism and cup of suffering by offering up their lives to God for the sake of the Gospel. St. James the Greater became the first of the apostles to die for Christ when King Herod ordered his beheading in the year 46 AD. And his little brother, St. John, endured torture and exile for the sake of the Kingdom. He was the last surviving apostle, dying around the year 100 AD near the age of 100. 

 But you know, James and John fundamentally had the right idea, that is, they wanted glory with Jesus and were willing to stand with him to attain it. But they misunderstood what this meant and went about it in the wrong way at first! The two brothers seem to have forgotten that Jesus has already told them that the way to victory, the way to reign with him in the glory of the Kingdom. It was to follow his example and serve the needs of others. And so our Lord repeats this lesson in today’s Gospel and says: “Those who wish to be first must become last and make themselves the slaves of all...I have come not to be served but to serve, and to give my life as ransom for many.” 

 Like James and John, this is a lesson that we all need to remember and put into practice in our everyday lives. We need to avoid their worldly ambition and realize that we don’t have to be persons in authority or someone with impressive credentials to have prestige in the Kingdom of God. Our greatness is not in what we do but in how we do it. Every human occupation and endeavor, every social level of living and every upright form of working can be a pathway to making us great in the Kingdom of God! The way to transform our ordinary everyday living into something great and extraordinary is by doing everything through Jesus, with Jesus, and in Jesus. 

 When we carry out our everyday duties THROUGH Jesus it means that we intentionally offer everything we do as a gift of love to God the Father. Our prayers and our professional duties, our joys and our struggles, all of our daily events are offered to him through the pierced hands of Jesus his Son. In this way the gift of our lives becomes joined to the gift of Jesus’ life given out of love and becomes something beautiful for God. 

 When we do everything WITH Jesus it means that we are mindful of the truth that we are not walking through life alone. We have the Lord as our companion throughout the day and can speak with him heart-to-heart. He is walking with us, he is working with us, he is praying with us and he is resting with us. When we join ourselves to Jesus in this way everything we do takes on a deeper spiritual meaning and becomes mystically united with all that he did when he lived on planet Earth.

 Finally, we seek to do everything IN Jesus. This means that we consciously try to carry out our daily actions as if it were Jesus actually doing them. It means to strive to love as he loves and to interact with others in the same manner and with the same kind of attitude that Christ has shown us. This is what it means to develop an outlook of servanthood, an attitude of humility. 

 Every morning can make the conscious and intentional offering of our day THROUGH, WITH and IN Jesus, and unite this gift of ourselves with his self-offering, by using this simple prayer from the Liturgy which we have all heard so many times: “Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever. Amen.”

Free From the Inside Out!

 

Deacon Dave · Free From the Inside Out!

Homily for the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Oct. 14, 2018. Readings: Wisdom 7:7-11; Hebrews 4:12-13; Gospel of St. Mark 10:17-27. Theme: Free From the Inside Out! 

 The rich man in today’s Gospel was not all that different from many of us today. He enjoyed what life had to offer but at the same time he recognized that there was more to life than what we experience here on planet Earth. He knew that how we live in this life has a direct correlation as to where we will continue our existence in the next. It seems that his dilemma was really a matter of priorities. He stood in need of the gift of wisdom (as we heard in our first reading) so that he could make the best choice between two forms of wealth & success. Would it be the material pleasures of the here and now or the eternal luxury of treasures in Heaven? 

 According to Jesus, we cannot have it both ways! Striving after both forms of riches cannot successfully coexist as a double-goal in our lives. Or as Christ put it in a related teaching of his Gospel, “No one can serve two masters. For you will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24) It’s not that wealth is evil in and of itself. But a fat bank account and a more-than-sufficient income can fool us into thinking that we are safe and secure, self-sufficient and masters of our own destiny. They can fool us into thinking that we are secure, and unstoppable. That is, until the stark reality of our human vulnerability and mortality slaps us in the face! 

 There aren’t enough riches or pleasures in the whole galaxy to keep disappointments or disasters, sickness or death away from us. And we all know that the old saying is true which tells us that “money cannot buy happiness” yet we so often just keep acting as if it can. We see the truth of this saying manifested in the rich man in today’s story. He had it all and lived a basically good life and yet… something was lacking, something was holding him back from real satisfaction with life and with himself. His money could not buy him the happiness he desired and in frustration he turned to Jesus for the solution. The Lord was able to look into his heart and told him precisely what was lacking, but he wasn’t open to hearing it. He wanted the best of both worlds which simply cannot be done. His wealth trapped him and he was possessed by all that he owned. And so the gospel tells us, “He went away sad, for he had many possessions.” 

 In passing on this story to us in his version of the Gospel, St. Mark wants us to honestly look inside ourselves and discern what is holding us back from more fully following Jesus? Maybe it isn’t money or possessions. Maybe it’s lust or arrogance; maybe it is envy or a hurt that we refuse to forgive. Maybe it’s a wrong relationship or a destructive behavior that we do not feel strong enough to break out of. But if we truly thirst for eternal life, then we need to honestly ask ourselves: “What is it that I lack that keeps me from giving myself completely to Christ? What is holding me back?” 

 The description of the Word of God in today’s second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews can help with this personal diagnosis and its cure. It reminds us that Scripture is like a two-edged sword that can perform spiritual surgery, so to speak, and help us to cut out whatever blocks our full following of Jesus. This is why Pope Francis constantly reminds us to read at least a small portion of the Gospels daily. God’s Word has power to penetrate into our hearts, into our consciences, and to root out whatever does not belong to Christ. Like any medicine, it works over time and must be taken in daily dosages, but if we persevere in undergoing this spiritual treatment we will indeed gradually come to be free. 

 Jesus had offered the rich young man a pathway to freedom, but he preferred the comfort of his chains. He could not let go of the gold in his hand in order to grasp the hand of his Lord. Let’s not be like that. Let’s drop the gold of whatever it is that holds us back and take Jesus’ hand and follow Him, and allow him to lead us through life - with all its ups and downs - and finally bring us to that awesomely free and utterly fulfilling life with God that never ends.

Covenant or Contract?

 

Deacon Dave · Covenant or Contract?

Homily for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Gospel of St. Mark 10:2-16. Theme: Covenant or Contract? 

 This Sunday's liturgy focuses primarily upon the awesome mystery and meaning of marriage. Sacred Scripture begins with the creation and union of man and woman in Genesis and ends with "the wedding feast of the Lamb" in the Book of Revelation. So we see that the Holy Bible refers to marriage from its first to its last page. God gave marriage its natural origin and purpose and then Jesus elevated it to the supernatural status of a Sacrament, making matrimony a channel of his uplifting grace enabling spouses to preserve their union through good times and bad. 

 The Pharisees were known for trying to trap Jesus throughout his public ministry. In our Gospel reading their question about the lawfulness of divorce was intended to put Jesus between a rock and a hard place. They knew that divorce was not in God’s original plan for marriage, but they also knew that God’s great prophet Moses had allowed husbands and wives to divorce. So, where would Jesus stand in this seemingly contrary situation? Would he turn his back on the law of Moses which they held to be untouchable? 

 But our Lord doesn’t fall into their carefully set trap. He emphasizes that it was Moses and not God who allowed for divorce and refers them back to the Book of Genesis which asserts God’s original intention for marriage. He reiterates to them that when a man and woman get married they become “one flesh” by entering into a union which is both bonded TO God and bonded BY God. Thus Jesus says, “what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” This was a hard teaching for some who heard Jesus to accept and it remains a challenge for many today. It seems to me that a big part of the problem today is that people are using the same word (“marriage”) but they are using it to describe two related but different things! Let’s look at both viewpoints. 

 The Church sees God's design of marriage as a COVENANT. This means it’s intended to be a three-way bond between the Lord, the groom and the bride. The couple agrees to live out their relationship with God and in obedience to his Word. In return God pledges to be with them always and assist them. As the late sainted Archbishop Fulton Sheen used to say, "It takes three to get married!" This covenant made BY and WITH God can only be broken by God and can end only with the death of one of the spouses. 

 On the other hand, non-Christian sources see marriage as a CONTRACT and not a covenant. For them it is a man-made legal partnership by which persons enter into a legal agreement. And as a legal document it can define marriage anyway it wishes. It can also end the legal relationship upon the decision of the signers of the marriage license. A judge then declares the contract null and void and that the person is legally free to enter into another civil marriage contract. So you see the vast difference and divergence between the two definitions! 

The widespread confusion between covenant vs. contract is really what is at the heart of a misunderstanding of marriage. Being raised in a culture where the dominant media is more prominent than faith in their moral formation, children can grow up with a warped-image of matrimony. This media disinformation gives rise to the idea even among some Christians that the best and most normal “marriage preparation”,so to speak, is had by living together in disregard for God’s Word. It further muddies the matrimonial waters by claiming that all weddings are pretty much the same, whether it be a ceremony celebrated sacramentally in a church OR a civil service held at a vineyard (or some other desired venue). And finally, it delivers the fateful message that a marriage can end when hopes for how it should have been do not become a reality. 

 But there is a short and simple response to these errors promoted by the media and society in general. And it can be found in the sacred promise that is traditionally spoken at a Catholic wedding: “...to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death do us part.” This is the real heart and soul of a holy matrimony that is lived out, day by day, by both husband and wife who mean what they say and who depend upon Christ to supply what they lack.

More Than a Cup of Water

 

Deacon Dave · More Than a Cup of Water

Homily for the Annual Vincentian Appeal, September 28/29, 2024. Gospel of St. Mark 9:38-48. Theme: More Than a Cup of Water 

 In today’s gospel, Jesus declares that even giving someone a cup of water in his Name does not go unnoticed and unrewarded by God. Well, it’s my privilege to speak today about a group of ordinary everyday Christians who give the needy so much more than simply a cup of water. They are called Vincentians, members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which was begun in Paris in 1833, under the leadership of a 20-year-old Catholic law student named Frederic Ozanam. The Society was started in the aftermath of the bloody French Revolution which persecuted the Catholic Faith and resulted in terrible poverty for so many. Frederic and some of his classmates were accused by fellow students of being comfortable Christians who were all talk but no action when it came to making life better for the destitute. Rising to the challenge, the small group decided to give tangible witness to their faith by bringing the love of Christ in concrete ways to the hungry, the sick, the suffering and the vulnerable. 

 Even though it was extremely dangerous, they began to go 2-by-2 into the Parisian slums. They devised an innovative method of making home visits to the poor so that they could see for themselves what needed to be done. Then they returned to their parishes to collect food, clothing, medicine and money to distribute on their next round of visits. They called themselves the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in honor of the patron saint of charitable organizations. The Society grew and spread rapidly. It arrived in America in 1845, in our Archdiocese in 1860, and in Marin County in the early 1900’s. Here at St. Sebastian’s we’ve been blessed to have had a Conference of the Society continuously for about 50 years. And its members continue to serve in the person-to-person style of Frederic and his first companions. 

They speak with and visit individuals and families so that they can see and learn for themselves what needs to be done. And then they come back to their parish, to us, in order to spread the word, make known the needs, and collect what is needed to provide relief. And the only reason they can do these things is because they have you, their parish community, supporting them. Because Marin has a reputation of being a wealthy county, the sting of poverty hurts even more. It can place upon the downtrodden an additional burden of false shame or they simply become invisible to eyes that just do not want to see them. But right here living among us are those who are struggling to simply survive. And they often have the additional stress of caring for a disabled child or spouse. Every week of the year, our Vincentians bring them help and hope by supplementing monthly rents to avoid homelessness; by making dental and medical care possible; they assure the continuation of utilities so that basic human needs can be met. They provide furniture to make apartments livable, they distribute Safeway cards to enhance food shopping, and overall they assist in so many ways that enable both adults and children to live with dignity and find some peace of mind. 

 In addition, unexpected and unique situations can also arise. For example, they have helped to relocate an abused woman and her vulnerable children to another state in advance of her abuser’s release from prison. On another occasion they were contacted by a terrified murder-witness who needed protection and relocation. And of course Christmas is fast approaching and as they do every year, our Vincentians will be distributing gift cards to families with children so that Santa Claus can make his anticipated visits to them as well. Now, this long list of amazing good works might sound like they were being carried out by an immense network of people covering a very large territory. But in actuality they were done by only a small handful of Vincentians working within just the confines of our local parish boundaries (which encompass Greenbrae, Kentfield and parts of southern San Rafael). But this same kind of scenario is repeated by Vincentians in other parishes of Marin county (many of whom are with us here at this special Mass tonight). Isn’t it amazing to see what wonderful things can happen when even just a few Christians band together to do good and when their parish communities stand behind them with spiritual and financial support! 

 And so I am standing here before you today to beg you in the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ and in the name of his poor for your participation in and support for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. It should come as no surprise to anyone that due to inflation our funds do not go as far as they used to and yet the cries for help continue to call out to us! To be quite blunt, we need your help in order to keep bringing the tangible love of Christ to those who struggle. Funds are always needed of course, but members are needed too, for what good will the money be if there is no one to actually use it and bring aid to the poor? So, please consider becoming either an active Vincentian yourself or a regular contributing Vincentian donor. 

 But even before money and members, I am asking first of all that you pray for the Vincentians and those they serve. You see, the Society looks like any other humanitarian group on the outside, but it’s really so very different on the inside! It exists for one reason only: to show the providence and love of God for the poor through good works that bring the Gospel of Jesus into people’s lives in concrete ways. Vincentians shine the light of faith on others simply by their very presence because they strive to be the Face of Christ FOR the poor and to see the Face of Christ IN the poor. You see, the Society is first of all a spiritual association and so your prayers are very much needed to uplift and support them as well as those they serve. 

 Secondly, I ask you to prayerfully consider if God might be calling you to live out your faith as an active member of the Society. Becoming a Vincentian is not simply joining a group. It's a vocation, it’s responding to a call from Christ himself to become a partner with him in bringing his Good News to the poor. Participation is based on each member’s available time and we could really use Spanish-speaking Vincentians as well. If you are interested to know more be sure to stop by our parish ministry fair which will be held after all the Masses on the weekend of October 12/13. This will give you a chance to ask questions and learn more about the Society and its works. 

 And lastly, I am of course asking for donations. You have always been so incredibly generous to the Society so it's hard for me to stand here and ask yet again. But the love of God and the needs of the poor impells me to do so. Just so you know, it takes an average of about $6,000.00 a month to meet the pressing needs that are made known to us, so please be as generous as you can with today’s special collection. Just a few tips when donating...

•  If you are donating by check be sure to put SVDP in the memo line. 
• If you are giving cash, please use one of the SVDP envelopes so that we know your donation is not for the parish in general. 
• And if you are not prepared to make a contribution today, please mail or bring back your donation, using one of the SVDP envelopes that can be found at each of the church entrances. 

On behalf of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul I thank you and I ask God to bless you and reward you for the giving of your time, talent and treasure to relieve the suffering of Christ in the persons of his poor!

Greatness (Redefined!)

 

Deacon Dave · Greatness (Redefined!)

Homily for the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sept. 22, 2024. Readings - Gospel of St. Mark 9:30-37. Theme: Greatness (Redefined!) 

 Today’s Gospel has a lot packed into it, so let’s take it apart and look at it bit by bit… 

 "Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it." What a stark contrast this description is about the ministry of Jesus! Usually he is surrounded by crowds at the seashore or has a huge gathering of listeners straining to hear his every word. But now Jesus intentionally seeks privacy so that he can have quality time with just his Twelve Apostles, giving them personal instruction. Why? Because they are headed towards Jerusalem for the Passover and Jesus knows it will be the last one they spend with him, and so he is trying to prepare them for the shocking reality to come. 

 "He was teaching his disciples and telling them about his approaching Passion, but they did not understand and they were afraid to question him." Well, the Lord says quite clearly what is going to happen to him but the Apostles don’t seem to grasp it. It makes you wonder what part of “they are going to kill me” didn't they understand? Well, I think there are two reasons for their silence. First, no devout Jew raised with the idea that the Messiah was a king or a kind of “Superman” would ever think it possible for him to be overcome by his opponents. The idea just wouldn’t even enter their heads. Secondly, it could be that they had an inkling that what Jesus was saying was somehow true. After all, he had never lied to them and he seemed to know everything. So just maybe they were quiet because they were afraid to ask, afraid of his response. It’s like we sometimes say, “if you don’t want to know the answer, then don’t ask the question.

” They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” The house in Capernaum was actually the home of the brother-disciples, Peter and Andrew. Almost from the beginning of his ministry Jesus had made it his headquarters. Jesus didn’t get a reply to his question but it didn’t matter because he knew what they were arguing about. I bet he asked because he wanted to hear them say it themselves, to hear them own up to it. I am sure that they knew that Jesus knew and so out of utter embarrassment they remained silent. I think we can all relate to their silence and sense of shame in being caught in the act, like when we ourselves have been caught by surprise in the midst of a petty conversation or gossip session. 

 Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Jesus loses no time going straight to the fact that even after living with him for several years, they were not picking up on his Message. The giving up of self out of love for God and neighbor is at the very heart and soul of the Gospel proclaimed by Jesus through both his example and his word. He gave us the primary example of this in his Incarnation. He, God the Son, humbled himself, laying aside his divine powers so as to become utterly human. Then, he lived for 30 years as a laborer in a poor working class family in a backwater village. Finally, he spent 3 years in public ministry during which he was constantly besieged by people and condemned by his opponents. Why did God freely choose to go through all of self=emptying? So that he could relate to us, be in solidarity with us, become truly one of us in all things except sin. He made himself susceptible and vulnerable, all out of love for us. And still…the disciples remain clueless. They push and shove one another for the sake of a high political position in a kingdom of their own selfish ambition and imagination! But Jesus doesn’t give up on them. He teaches them yet another lesson in humility and service by holding up a little child before them as a model and a sign. 

 “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.” To teach and illustrate to his disciples what he meant by “greatness” and whom they should seek to serve instead of the rich and influential, Jesus presented them with a child. You see, in their ancient culture, a child had no rights, no standing, no claims to anything whatsoever. A child had no clout with which to repay or reward anyone. And so Jesus is telling them - and us - that it is our attitude and treatment of the most vulnerable among us that truly proves the reality of our love for God. It is, in fact, by putting ourselves at the end of the line, so to speak, that we become great in the Kingdom of Christ. This is what it means to say that "the first shall be last and the last shall be first". 

 So it seems to me that our review of today’s Gospel is calling each one of us to examine our own attitudes and behavior. Do we have a spirit of selfish competition, trying to grab the highest place for our own benefit? Do we give special attention particularly to those who are influential and can thus repay us? What are we doing to actually show concrete care and concern for the “least” among us? Are we satisfied with merely feeling sorry for them but then simply continuing on with our own comfortable existence? Are there superfluous things in my life that I can give up and then use the money I would have spent on these things for the relief of the suffering of my neighbor? Those are important questions for sincere Christians to ask themselves.

The Fourfold Message of the Cross

 

Deacon Dave · The Fourfold Message of the Cross

Homily for the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sept. 15, 2024. Gospel of St. Mark 8:27-35. Theme: The Fourfold Message of the Cross 

 The word Messiah, which we most often use in its Greek translation of “Christ”, had deep meaning for the Jewish people of Jesus’ time. The Messiah’s coming foretold by the prophets was what gave hope to every devout Israelite as they struggled to live under Roman oppression. It fueled within their hearts the yearning for freedom, prosperity, and independence. Therefore, what a shock it was when Jesus affirmed that he was indeed the Christ but in the same breath foretold his approaching Passion at the hands of Israel’s enemies! 

 This was too much to hear and so Peter stepped up and tried to change the subject. As he and the other disciples saw it, the cross was for criminals and certainly not for the Christ! However, in God’s mysterious plan, the cross was indeed central to the mission of Christ and in today’s Gospel he tells us that it is also part of our mission as Christians. Each one of us must bear the cross as it manifests itself in our lives. This is not easy to do so it's important to find hope and strength in the fourfold message that the cross brings to us. 

 First, the Cross is irrefutable proof of God's solidarity with us. We worship a God who did not remain far away and aloof from his creation. In order to save us and restore us to an intimate friendship with him, our God became one of us. He rolled up his sleeves and got dirty, so to speak, with the business of being a man. He gave up the glory of Paradise and laid aside his divine power to humbly become like us in every way except for sin. And this "every way" included suffering and death. He did not exempt himself from experiencing our deepest fears, sufferings and pains because he came to save, to heal, to redeem every aspect and experience of our humanity. Thus, the Cross shows us the depths of God's solidarity with us. 

 Second, the Cross is a sign of God's love for us. People often ask why Jesus "had" to suffer the Cross and Passion. Couldn't God have saved us in an easier and different way? Well, of course he could have. But he chose to save us in a way that we could never forget or doubt the depth of his love. Crucifixion was the most cruel, shameful, humiliating and painful way to die. It began with being stripped naked before your peers and ridiculed in public. The nails were strategically placed to cause excruciating nerve pain and were situated in such a way that the victim could only breathe by struggling to lift themselves up a bit, putting even more pressure on the nailed parts of the body and thus increasing the agony. Thus, the Cross shows us the unbelievable depth of God's unselfish and passionate love for each and every human being. 

 Third, the Cross is a call to partnership with Christ. Jesus chose to freely offer up his sufferings for the sake of our salvation. Through his Passion he grabbed evil by the horns, so to speak. and flipped it on its back. What this means is that he has made it possible for us to unite with him and turn the Bad News of Suffering into the Good News of Salvation! This does not mean that sickness, pain and suffering have now become something good. Rather, it means that because of our relationship with the Risen Lord by baptism, we can intentionally unite our difficulties and painful experiences to the Cross of Christ in a mystical union or partnership. We do not have to bear our sufferings alone nor need they become "wasted" or "meaningless". Through him, with him and in him we can bear the Cross out of love and participate in obtaining graces of salvation and redemption for others. St. Paul wrote and taught about this kind of partnership in the New Testament. 

 And lastly, the Cross is a pledge of our future resurrection to eternal life. It reminds us that Jesus has promised - not just said but promised - that if we remain faithful to him we, too, shall overcome our physical death and enter into a new and glorious eternal existence! For this reason the Roman Christians composed a short prayer of praise that goes, "Ave Crucis Spes Unica!" or in English, "Hail, O Cross, our Only Hope!" It reminded them - and still reminds us - that the Cross, which was originally the symbol of torture and execution has been transfigured by Christ into the sign of resurrection and eternal life. 

 This is why we wear it. This is why we bow before it in reverence. And this is why we trace it upon our bodies when we begin or end a prayer. It sums up everything good and holy that God has done for us and stirs up within our hearts the good things God still has in mind for us as we wait with joyful hope for these better things to come!

Ephphatha! Be Opened!

 

Deacon Dave · Ephphatha! Be Opened!

Homily for the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sept. 8, 2024. Readings: Gospel of St. Mark 7:31-37. Theme: Ephphatha! Be Opened! 

 “Ephphatha” is a strange word in today’s Gospel. It’s actually one of the very few words we have from the lips of Jesus in his own native language of Aramiac. And as St. Mark tells us, it means “Be opened”. This healing story was of such significance in Christianity that it became part of the ritual of Baptism wherein Jesus' words and gestures are repeated in what is called the “Ephphatha Rite”. At that part of the ceremony, the baptizing minister touches the ears and mouth of the newly baptized while saying, “May the Lord Jesus, who made the deaf to hear and the mute to speak, grant that you may soon receive his Word with your ears and profess the Faith with your lips, to the glory and praise of God the Father.” 

 It’s nearly impossible for us to imagine how much the deaf man suffered due to living in a silent world of social isolation. Notice how intentionally and carefully Jesus interacted with the man. Because he could not hear, touch became the basis for their communication and so Jesus placed his fingers upon the man’s ears and lips, indicating that he was focusing on these parts. Then the Lord placed saliva upon the man’s tongue, because it was thought to be a natural and powerful medicine, so it delivered a message of health and healing. Finally and thoughtfully, Christ groaned aloud so that the man could sense the vibrations of his voice and know he was being personally addressed. And when Jesus exclaimed, “Ephphatha!” the man was set free from the suffering of isolation and given a renewed life! 

 But you know, being deaf and mute are not the only ways in which the ears and lips can lead us into the prison of social isolation. It can also happen when those who are able to hear and speak choose to use these faculties in negative and destructive ways, such as by gossip and detraction. Such people often find themselves in a social isolation of their own making because no one likes to be around those who exude such negativity. And then there are also those who put others into social isolation by trying to silence them, closing their ears to hearing what someone is really trying to say. This can make the speakers feel invisible and that their thoughts don’t matter. 

 It’s also possible for such things to go beyond the personal and become a national problem. We’ve seen this happening in the past few years particularly via social media. Those who speak unpopular truths are maligned and silenced. Many who have a public voice speak lies and innuendos. There is no attempt to really listen to one another and to speak in a way that builds peace and promotes unity. Instead we see the virus of social isolation taking on a new and ugly form as it spreads and infects others, even causing social isolation to take place within families and in workplaces. All of these misuses and abuses of the lips and ears - whether in our private life or in the public forum - stand in need of healing. They all need to feel the touch of Jesus and hear him exclaim, “Ephphatha”! “Be opened!” 

 And this brings me back to the Ephphatha Rite in Baptism. We receive our own “ephphatha” at the beginning of our Christianity because it spiritually empowers us to become part of the healing solution to this divisive and isolating problem. Baptism washes away sin and the Ephphatha brings this cleansing grace to our speaking and our hearing. It isn’t there just for the sake of ceremony. It isn’t simply empty ritual symbolism. Rather, it makes us part of the on-going ever-present miracle of Christ, by bringing us into a participation in his healing ministry. Those of us who have had our ears and lips opened are called to pay it forward and spread the Lord’s “ephphatha” to those around us. 

 So, how do we do that? How do we ordinary everyday Christians pay it forward and do what we can to be Ephphatha healers? We do so most of all by ensuring that our own use of speech and of listening are guided by the supreme law of charity. We are to say the good things people need to hear, things that will really help them and so become a healing presence in a very broken world that is inhabited by very broken people. Following the instructions of St. James in our second reading, we are to speak and listen without showing any favoritism or partiality, accepting each person as someone who deserves to be heard and spoken to with respect. As Ephphatha Christians we strive to act in this way so that others can experience the touch of Christ through us, enabling him to open their ears to truly listen and open their lips to speak the truth.

True Worship, True Religion

 

Deacon Dave · More Than Going Through the Motions

Homily for the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sept. 8, 2024. Gospel of St. Mark 7:1-23. Theme: True Worship, True Religion 

 I grew up in an immigrant Italian family still very much tied to the culture of the Old Country, as some of my elders used to say. Now, as far as food went this was awesome, but as far as religion goes, well…it meant there was real estrangement from the institutional Church. This was an attitude that was imported from their anti-clerical homeland. We never went to Mass or to the sacraments, but we did observe some external religious customs. However, I would have to admit that like the Pharisees in today's Gospel, these traditions were devoid of any real interior heart-felt devotion. But here’s the real odd thing: I would quickly get a salami sandwich slapped right out of hands on a Friday, accompanied by the reminder that “we Catholics don’t eat meat on Fridays!” And when I asked why… the reply was always “because that’s just what we do.” Do you see what’s wrong with this picture? 

 Well, Jesus tells us what’s wrong with it in today’s gospel. It's going through the motions without knowing why. It’s religion based on rules and not on relationships of the heart. It’s observing external rituals without them being an expression of an interior communion with God. In other words, it’s hollow, it's an empty show. Jesus is strongly warning us in our Gospel reading that this approach to religion has absolutely no power to transform, to change, to save the human person. Instead, it misleads us into thinking that we are devout and good simply because we obey the rules and follow the customs. It blinds us to the real and ultimate purpose of Christianity which is conversion of life, changing the ways we think, speak and act so that we become more like Jesus. 

 Just going through the motions of external religion cannot produce saints, let alone good Christians. It’s unable to empower us to forgive those who hurt us. It fails to motivate us to serve the desperate needs of the hungry, the poor, the sick and the lonely. External religion eventually becomes meaningless and boring and routine and those who practice it soon become disillusioned. God becomes disconnected from their lives because, well in all honesty, he was never truly welcome there in a serious way in the first place. Simply following rules and observing rituals will not lead us to Heaven, but only to other place to be quite honest…and the danger of it is that it can fool us all along the way into thinking that we are doing just fine. 

 As Christians who belong to a Church that has always placed great emphasis upon ritual and rules we all have to be careful to avoid the trap of falling into this kind of approach to religion. The number one way to insure against it is by first of all nurturing a personal relationship with God through “prayer of the heart”, which means speaking honestly and openly with him about our lives and hopes, our joys and struggles. And when we do engage in formal liturgical worship, we need to be careful that we are not just “going through the motions” unaware of what our rituals mean and why we do them. Otherwise the Mass can become just an empty show. So, let’s take a quick look at some of the things we say and do every week during Sunday Mass and consider what they really mean so that they will not simply be memorized words and routine actions. 

• When we enter the church the first thing we usually do is dip our fingers in holy water…this connects us with our baptism and reminds us of the baptismal promises to reject Satan and sin and live for God above all else. We then begin the Liturgy with the Sign of the Cross. This classic Catholic ritual is a profession of faith using body language in addition to words. It means that we believe that God is a Holy Trinity of Persons and that salvation comes only through the Cross & Resurrection of Christ. 
•  Then at the Penitential Rite we recite the Kyrie three times…This is an ancient litany of repentance that we say three times in honor of the Trinity and when done with true sorrow it forgives our everyday sins and purifies our hearts to worship God and to receive Holy Communion. 
• During the Liturgy of the Word, we listen and respond to several Bible readings...our response of "Thanks be to God" means "Thank you, Lord, for speaking to us and teaching us." The readings will mean so much more to us and our responses will be so much more genuine, if we take the time to review the readings before Sunday Mass to learn about them before hearing them. 
• When it’s time for the Gospel we stand up, we sing and we mark ourselves with a small Sign of the Cross on our forehead. lips and heart…We rise up out of respect for the Gospel as the most important part of the Liturgy of the Word because it is Jesus speaking to us. Blessing ourselves symbolizes that we desire to think like Jesus, to speak like Jesus and to love like Jesus. 
• And then during the part of the Creed that mentions Jesus becoming human, born of Mary we bow our heads…This is a ritual action of praise and worship to God the Son who loved us so much that he gave up the glory and power of Heaven to become one of us and so we bow in adoration and thanksgiving. 
• At the Offertory, we put money in the basket for the works of mercy…It’s a symbol of our thanksgiving to God for his many blessings, of gratitude for the jobs we have that allow us to earn it and to give it; it’s our opportunity to share what have received for the relief of the sufferings of others. 
• After the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) we kneel down... The great mystery of the Holy Spirit coming among us to transform the gifts of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Risen Christ is about to take place and so we humble ourselves in the Divine Presence of this Sacred Action. 
• At the Sign of Peace we turn to those around us...this is an ancient part of the Liturgy which is our way of showing that we meant what we just prayed in the Our Father..."forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us..." It is not at all a time for social greetings but rather an opportunity to show reconciliation and unity with others. 
• When we go up to receive Holy Communion, we bow before the consecrated Host and we affirm our belief that it is truly Jesus by saying, “Amen!” … By word and action we acknowledge the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and by receiving his Body and Blood we become living tabernacles of the Risen Lord. 
• And finally at the end of Mass we are blessed and then dismissed with words of mission…We are officially sent out by Christ, through his ministers, to live as missionary disciples who glorify the Lord by the way we live our lives and who announce the Gospel by our words and behavior. This means that we are sent out to invite others to come to know Jesus, to learn his Word and to receive his promised gift of the Holy Spirit so that they, too, along with us, can know the peace and joy that comes from life lived with God. 

If we do our best to participate at Mass with this kind of awareness then we won't fall into the trap that Jesus is warning us about today. And we won't hear him say about our worship what he said to the Pharisees, "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." And we will be open to growing in the pure and undefiled religion that St. James described in our second reading, a religion that is not self-focused but proves itself in caring for others in their sufferings and afflictions.

Keeping the Light on For You

 

Deacon Dave · Keeping the Light on For You!

Homily for the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 25, 2024. Gospel of St. John 6:51-58. Theme: Keeping the Light on for You! 

 We’ve been hearing quite a lot about the Eucharist from the Gospel of St. John over the past few Sundays. And in doing so we’ve learned from Jesus himself that the bread and wine of the Eucharist undergo a radical transformation in their innermost reality, becoming his very Body and Blood while their outward appearances continue to remain the same. In response to this miracle at Mass, we at the altar bow profoundly right after the consecration of the bread and wine, while all of you in the pews kneel in adoration. We use body language at this time to express our belief because we have no words that can truly describe the indescribable or explain the inexplicable when it comes to this Great Mystery. 

 It seems to me that to try and say more about the Eucharist, would really just be talking in circles, so to speak. So, what I would like to do instead, is to reflect on something that visually proclaims the reality of this Eucharistic Mystery, but is quite often overlooked or forgotten or perhaps even unknown. It is found near the tabernacle in every single Catholic church or chapel throughout the world. What I am talking about is the Sanctuary Light, the Lamp of the Divine Presence, which you can see right above and behind me on the wall of our Adoration Chapel. It burns 24 hours a day, 364 days a year (it’s extinguished only on Good Friday) in testimony to the promise Jesus made to us as he was ascending into heaven and said, “I will be with you always, even until the end of time.” And actually, if we stop and think about why it's there and what it does, this sacred candle can teach us some beautiful and important things about the Blessed Sacrament. 

 The Sanctuary Lamp is first of all a silent and prayerful reminder of the Lord’s perpetual presence among us. Its flickering light assures us that this is not merely a symbolic, or emotional or even just a spiritual presence. Rather, it is what we call the Real Presence, meaning that Jesus is just as truly among us here and now as he was among his disciples 2,000 years ago, but simply in a different way. His Presence is even greater now because he is risen and no longer restrained by the boundaries of space and time. The Sanctuary Light assures us that just as crowds came to Jesus from all over the Holy Land, hoping to experience his healing touch, we can do the very same today simply by coming before him in the tabernacle. It’s the exact same Jesus with the exact same power, only now he is risen and glorious and unlimited in the scope of his Presence. 

 The Sanctuary Lamp is also an invitation to us. It beckons us to come to Jesus and stay with him a while. You may be familiar with the Motel 6 chain whose motto is, “we’ll leave the light on for you”. It’s their way of saying, “we’re waiting for you and you’re always welcome here.” This is also the message of the Sanctuary Light. It tells us that Jesus is waiting for us and that we are always welcome to come to the tabernacle and spend time with him. We can pour out our hearts to him there, share the struggles of all our aches and pains with him. We can talk with him about all of our needs and dreams and yearnings, and we can also thank him for all the many joys and blessings in our lives. The glow of the lamp invites us to come into his Real Presence and grow in our interpersonal relationship with him through these times of Eucharistic Adoration. 

 The Sanctuary Lamp assures us that we can depend upon Jesus to be there for us throughout the entirety of our lives and in every situation or circumstance. When we are young and when we grow old. Jesus is waiting for us there. Whether we are in our parish church or in an unfamiliar one while on business or vacation. Jesus is waiting for us there. When we are rejoicing over the birth of a child or grieving over the loss of a loved one. Jesus is waiting for us there. He truly abides with us in every era of our lives and during every experience that comes our way. He welcomes any and all who seek him for, as the Gospels show us, he never turns anyone away. No matter what our ethnicity or sexuality, no matter what our politics or our education, no matter what our job title or our life-situation, no matter what our sins or our failings, he eagerly awaits us and looks only at the sincerity of our hearts and at our desire to be with him. 

 We heard in today’s Gospel that many disciples of Jesus left his company over the Eucharist, for they couldn't accept its reality as the Lord’s Flesh and Blood. But there were others who did stay even though they too didn’t understand the Mystery. They had learned to trust in Jesus who often said incredible and curious things. The Sanctuary Light encourages us to be like them, to have faith like them and stay with Jesus. As Simon-Peter said, to whom else would we go, for Jesus alone is the Holy One of God who has the words that lead to eternal life. And so we know where to go to be with Jesus and stay with him for a while because the Sanctuary Light shines over where he can be found, much the same way that the Star of Bethlehem once shone over the dwelling place of the Newborn King. 

 So you see, we can look at the Sanctuary Light as really so much more than just a church decoration or accessory. It can actually become an inspiration for us to live as Christians who shine the light of Christ upon a dark and confused world. We who receive the Eucharist become living tabernacles of the Lord and so we should also be like Living Lamps of the Divine Presence that show others the way to Jesus. Just like the Tabernacle Candle, the light of faith within us should radiate upon those around us, so that they can know that Christ is risen and alive and still very much present in the world today.