A Jubilee of Hope!

 

Deacon Dave · A Jubilee of Hope!

Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Jan. 26, 2025. Gospel of St. Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21. Theme: A Jubilee of Hope! 

 The Holy Father, Pope Francis, has declared 2025 to be a special Holy Year called the Jubilee of Hope. How appropriate it is, then, that in our Gospel today Jesus also announced the start of a Jubilee when He told the congregation in the Nazareth synagogue that He was initiating “a year acceptable to the Lord”. In ancient Judaism, a Jubilee was a special year and a joyful occasion when slaves were to be set free, debts were to be forgiven, and confiscated lands were to be returned to their rightful owners. 

 However, Jesus was transforming it into a new kind of Jubilee. It wouldn’t be about the restoration of land but rather about the restoration of sight to the blind and health to the sick. It wouldn’t be concerned with eliminating financial loans but on the forgiveness of the debt of sin. And Jesus’ Jubilee would not focus on the return of property but rather on the return of people back to a right relationship with God and one another. In addition, Jesus’ New Jubilee wouldn’t be confined to any particular time or people or place. It would be for anyone anywhere who desires peace of heart on earth and eternal life in Heaven. 

In declaring the Jubilee of 2025, Pope Francis wants us to realize that the Lord can and will do for us today these very same wonderful things that He did for others during His public ministry. The only thing that can stop this from happening in our own lives is us, that is, our own lack of trust in Him. You might recall that in the Gospels whenever Jesus works a miracle and heals someone He always praises their faith, that is, the expectant hope that they have in His power and willingness to help them. It is this kind of faith that is born of hope which brings about their cure. And so for the very reason of building up our confidence in Jesus, the Holy Father has dedicated this special year to the virtue of hope. Hope is a spiritual power that is infused into us at our Baptism along with the virtues of faith and charity. These three divine gifts form a kind of packaged deal, so to speak, that are given to us so that we can live a truly Christian life as God’s adopted children. 

I think we all know that the virtue of faith means that we believe in God and all that He has revealed to us. And I think we would all agree that the virtue of charity is what empowers us to love God and express this love by the way we treat others. But what about Christian hope? What exactly is it? Coming up with the answer tends to be a challenge for many people. I think the best way to define it is to first of all say that it is not the kind of hope that we usually talk about in our everyday language. You see, we use hope as an expression for something that we would like to happen, that we wish would happen, but aren’t really sure if it will or not. This kind of hope is full of uncertainty. It gives us no assurance whatsoever but leaves us wondering, hanging in mid air. 

 But Christian hope, on the other hand, is quite the opposite! It’s the firm conviction that God will always be faithful to His Word. And so we expect, and not simply just wish, that what He says will happen because we know Him to be a Father Who always keeps His promises. Christian hope then can be defined as confident expectation and trust in the Word of God. And the ultimate promise that we confidently expect to be kept is that of our eternal salvation, that is, an existence marked by joy and glory with God and one another in Heaven. 

 But even before then, while we still journey through life here on planet Earth, the virtue of hope comes to our aid. It enables us to persevere through thick and thin, confident in God’s Word which says that all things will ultimately work out for the good of those who trust in Him. Hope buoys us up with the promise of Jesus Who said that He would be with us always and this can help us to not give into worry, temptation and discouragement. So, even if the world around us seems increasingly evil. Even if some of the leadership of the Church seems rampant with corruption. Even if our personal lives are experiencing some sort of turmoil in the present or uncertainty about the future, Christian hope can still continue to shine brightly within us! It assures us that life is worth living and that what we may be going through right now is temporary and will pass. 

 Now, this kind of hope isn’t at all the same thing as being optimistic or exercising “the power of positive thinking”. Those things are based on undependable and fallible human effort. Christian hope, on the other hand, is firmly rooted in God and is an actual supernatural power that always resides within us. We already possess it. We just need to remember this and that it can be activated at any time by faith and prayer. And so to this end, Pope Francis urges us to say to ourselves, “I have hope, because God walks with me and holds my hand. God does not leave me to myself. The Lord Jesus has conquered evil and has opened the path of life for me.” 

 Just as the cross is the symbol for faith and a heart is the symbol of love, so the anchor has become the symbol for hope. This is because God’s Word in the Letter to the Hebrews says, “We have been given hope as a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.” (Heb. 6:19) This means that just as an anchor safely holds a ship secure during a violent storm, so our trust in Christ can give us stability in times of turbulence and difficulty. With this anchor of hope to ground us, we can face any adversity because another passage of the Word of God from the Letter to the Philippians says, “I have learned that anywhere and at any time I can be content…for I have the strength to face all things by the power of Christ living in me.” (Phil. 4:12-13)

Changing So Much More Than Just Water!

 

Deacon Dave · Changing So Much More Than Just Water!

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Jan. 19, 2025. Gospel of St. John 2:1-11. Theme: Changing So Much More Than Just Water! 

 The Church’s Liturgy has spent the last two Sundays gradually moving us out of the Christmas Season and back into Ordinary Time. In each step along the way, the Gospels of those Sundays unveil Jesus’ true identity. The first of these was 2 weeks ago on the Solemnity of the Epiphany wherein Jesus was manifested as King of Kings to the Magi. The second revelation took place at last Sunday’s Baptism of the Lord, when Jesus was affirmed by the Father’s voice and the Spirit’s visible manifestation as the Anointed Savior of mankind. And now this Sunday’s Gospel with its demonstration of the Lord’s power over the elements brings us a third revelation of Jesus as Lord and Master of Creation, that is, God come in the flesh. 

 On the surface level of factual history, this event is a recounting of the Lord’s first public miracle. But everything that Christ said and did goes so much deeper than surface level. His words and actions have meaning and application to people of all times and places. And so the story of the wedding at Cana isn’t just about the miraculous transformation of elements. It was just the attention-getting opening act, so to speak, that jump-started Christ’s 3-year long public ministry and turned people’s attention to this previously unknown carpenter from Nazareth. 

This miracle is really about more than changing water into wine. It’s also a sign that Jesus can change people, can change each one of us, from what we are into what we want to become as His disciples. It’s a sign and a promise that we can experience a personal transformation if we listen to Mary’s words to “do whatever He tells you.” Our Lady at Cana encourages us to turn to Jesus, Who will open up whole new possibilities in our lives. Faith, which is another word for trust, is the foundation of this transformational spiritual experience and if we truly place our trust in Jesus then we will see miracles of grace starting to take place within us as the Lord begins to gradually change us from the inside out. 

The first reading in today’s Liturgy sets us up to receive the transformational story of Cana. In it the prophet Isaiah speaks to the people of Israel who are suffering the humiliation of defeat and exile at the hands of their enemies. He tells them that if they trust in God they will be changed from being “Forsaken” and “Abandoned” into being “Chosen” and “Blessed”. To put this into modern day vocabulary, we can say that they will go from being “Failures” and “Losers” into becoming “Champions” and “Winners” by the grace of God. Isaiah’s prophecy is telling us that the negative and hurtful things we have experienced in life are not the last word and that our present - as well as our future - can be free of what we have suffered in our past. He is encouraging us to be faithful to God Who can and will bring good out of bad if we allow His grace to touch and change the trajectory of our lives. It all depends upon our decision to have confidence in God’s love no matter how things might seem in the present and boldly move forward trusting in His Word. Jesus can change our past into a very different and hopeful future, just as He changed ordinary water into fine and expensive wine. 

 Another example of transformation culled from this story can be seen in Cana itself. Before the Lord’s miracle there, it was just another out-of-the-way backwoods village. Which, like Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth, was so insignificant that it wasn’t even on the map. But ever since that unforgettable wedding reception, it has become a place of pilgrimage, a shrine of faith, a sign of hope. So even the transformation of that little town itself teaches us that we don’t have to be awesome and spectacular to attract the attention and miracles of Christ. We don’t have to be great and amazing in the estimation of others to become “somebody” in the eyes of God. He can and will transform our ordinary and often-times humdrum lives by His extraordinary grace if we just trust in Him and follow Mary’s advice to “do whatever He tells you”. 

 And that brings us to another very important lesson of today’s Gospel that we cannot overlook: the presence and role of Mary. St. John emphasizes that she is not just there as one of the wedding guests nor as a witness to her Son’s first miracle. Rather, she is actually the one who brings it about and thus initiates the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. It was at a word from His mother at Cana that Christ recognized that the time had come to reveal Himself and begin the process that would transform His reputation from that of a village carpenter into of the long-awaited Messiah of Israel. The Gospel is showing us that Mary is likewise willing and ready to intercede with Jesus on our behalf about the changes we need in our lives. And it shows that we can be confident that Jesus will be touched by His mother’s concern for us and our needs and work a miracle of grace for us just as He did for her and the Cana newlyweds.

Why Was Jesus Baptized?

 

Deacon Dave · Why Was Jesus Baptized?

Homily for the Baptism of the Lord Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. Gospel of St. Luke 3:15-22. Theme: Why Was Jesus Baptized? 

 Today’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord brings our Christmas Season officially to an end. And so today’s Liturgy ushers us out of Bethlehem, and moves us forward to the banks of the Jordan River. Jesus is no longer a baby in the manger but now comes to us as a 30-year old man. We encounter Him approaching his cousin, St. John the Baptist, who because of his fiery preaching and devout life, was mistakenly thought by many to be the Messiah. However, John sets them straight, telling them that they had picked the wrong man for the job but were about to meet the Real Deal in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. 

 To understand what’s going on at the Jordan River, it’s important to remember that Jesus was not baptized because He had any sins to be washed away. Even though He shared fully in our human nature He was always the faithful Son of God Who had nothing for which to repent. Rather, Jesus insisted on being baptized to show His solidarity with us sinners as our Savior and to sanctify the element of water which He would use as the sacramental channel for His saving grace. So in short, Jesus was not baptized because He needed it but because we do. The story of Jesus’ Baptism teaches us that what happened to Jesus at his Baptism, is also what happens to each one of us at ours, just in a different way. 

 The first thing we hear about after Jesus comes up out of the water is that Heaven was opened. And this is precisely what Baptism does for us. It re-opens the way to Heaven which was closed to us by the original sin of Adam and Eve. Recall that they were given the choice of living in obedience to their Creator or of going it on their own terms. They freely chose to turn their backs on their intimate relationship with God and the effects of their choice was passed on to all us, their descendants. Jesus came to undo what they had done. He came as Savior to heal the spiritual disability of original sin and to reunite us with God. And so this first step towards Heaven is taken by being cleansed in the Jesus-sanctified waters of Baptism. 

 The next marvelous thing we see happening to Jesus at the Jordan River is the Holy Spirit coming down upon Him under the appearance of a dove. Now, we might wonder why God chose to appear in the form of a dove? Well, because the dove is a biblical symbol of peace and innocence. By the waters of Baptism, we are made innocent through the forgiveness of sin and we make our peace, so to speak, with God. Baptism puts us into a right relationship with God as our Father, with the Son of God as our Savior and with God the Holy Spirit as our Sanctifier. The innocence and peace we receive from this Sacrament remains with us as long as we remain faithful to the baptismal promises to reject sin and Satan, to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and to live what He teaches us through the Bible and his Church. Should we ever fall away from these promises they can become ours once again through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And the Good News is that in God’s rich mercy there is no limit as to how many times this can happen! 

 Finally, the Gospel tells us that God the Father’s voice was audibly heard declaring Jesus to be His Beloved Son in whom He was well pleased. And this is exactly what God the Father thinks about each one of us, about you and about me! We have become spiritually one with Jesus in Baptism and so through Him, with Him and in Him, we become God’s beloved children in whom He finds delight! The Scriptures assure us that God rejoices over you, rejoices over me, rejoices over each one of us personally because He is a Father who unconditionally loves us. And it’s this conscious awareness of God’s personal love that moves us from the inside out to want to live in a way that delights Him in return. 

 So often, too often really, we seem to get that backwards and think that we have to be good and earn God’s love before we can receive His blessings. But it’s not that way it is with God at all. This is not at all what the Gospel of Jesus teaches us. God loves us freely, totally and unconditionally simply because we are his. From all eternity He foresaw each one of us - knowing full well the good and the not so good within us - and He so fell in love with what He saw that He called each one of us into existence at the proper time. And as if that wasn’t already enough, God then sent His very own beloved Son into the world as our Savior so that we could have visible proof of His love, be freed from the spiritual alienation of sin and live with Him forever. 

 And so it’s good that we move on from the Nativity of the Lord because that was just the beginning of the story of Jesus of Nazareth. If we compare the life of Christ to a book, we could say that staying at Christmas would be like never getting past the first chapter. Never getting caught up in its dramatic plot of interesting characters, miraculous cures, and powerful teachings. Never reaching the exciting apex of its conclusion with the stunning events of Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday. So you see, the Baptism of Jesus follows upon the heels of Christmas because it sets us up for the rest of the story. Through the Gospels proclaimed at the Liturgy over the following weeks and months, we will learn more and more about the marvelous and awesome things that God has done for us and still does through the Christmas Gift that is Jesus Christ.

What is My Epiphany Response?

 

Deacon Dave · What is My Epiphany Response?

Homily for Epiphany Sunday, January 5, 2025. Gospel of St. Matthew 2:1-12. Theme: What is My Epiphany Response? 

 The Christmas Season has two major feasts, each of which proclaims that the Savior has been born for us, but each with its own particular slant. The first of these is Christmas Day itself when the birth of Jesus is revealed to the Jewish shepherds of Bethlehem as the fulfilment of God’s promise of a Messiah in Israel. The second is today’s feast of the Epiphany to the Magi wherein the mission of Jesus as Messiah is expanded to include those who are outside the confines of Judaism. As the early Church grew and spread throughout the Roman Empire, the Epiphany became a very important celebration because of its joyful message that all peoples can receive forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life through Jesus, Who is Lord and Messiah. 

 That Jesus is the Universal Savior of the world is nothing new for us to hear today. But in first century Israel the very idea that the Messiah had come for the good of all peoples and nations was utterly revolutionary and controversial! The Hebrews had been raised and taught to believe that only Israel was God’s Chosen flock and that the Gentiles were spiritually unclean and alienated from all that was holy. There were bitter arguments and fiery disagreements over it among the first Christians. who were by and large Jewish converts, but the truth won out. We hear it from St. Paul in his Letter to the Ephesians which is the second reading of today’s Liturgy, “the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and co-partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” 

 And so in response to this controversy the Apostle St. Matthew included the Epiphany in his Gospel to show that from the very beginning, Jesus revealed Himself to the Gentiles as well as to Israel. But another important thing that St. Matthew teaches us in his retelling of the story is that people can have very different responses to learning about Jesus Christ. The Epiphany story has intriguing and intense drama seen in the various ways in which people can respond to the Good News that God has sent his Son into the world as its Savior. As we start off the New Year, which is typically a time to evaluate our lives and make resolutions for improvement, let’s take a look at these characters and see if they can help us to identify and, if need be readjust, our own response to Jesus. 

 The first type of response can be found in the reaction of Herod when he learns about the birth of the Newborn King of the Jews. Now, Herod was a very wicked man whose jealousy to rule over his kingdom had led him to kill one of his wives and several of his own sons whom he saw as threats to his throne. So, it’s no surprise that he would order the slaughter of the little boys of Bethlehem in an attempt to get rid of the Christ Child. Herod saw Jesus as a threat and wanted Him out of his life at any cost. He cared only about his own status and situation with prestige and power being the false gods he worshiped in his life. His response to the news about Jesus was that of fear, the fear of losing what he possessed and this led to rejecting Christ. 

 A second type of response can be found in the Jewish scholars whom Herod called to advise him about the Messiah’s birthplace. They knew the Scriptures very well and were aware of the prophecies about the Messiah. They were, after all, the professional Bible experts of their day. Yet when the news of His birth reached them they did nothing at all. They stayed put in Jerusalem rather than go to Bethlehem (which is only 5 miles away) to see for themselves if their long-hoped-for dreams about the Savior of Israel had indeed come true. But their response to Jesus was apathy, a complacent yawn. They were comfortable and happy with life as they knew it, and they didn’t want a Messiah and his teachings to disturb their status quo. 

 The third type of response is the one we find in the Magi themselves. They were utterly consumed, totally captivated, by the quest to find the One whom the star proclaimed. They had invested a lot of themselves, their time and energy, in studying the prophecies and charting the constellations concerning the Messiah. They spent long hours mapping out their route to Jerusalem, gathering up supplies for the trip, and selecting precious gifts to properly pay Him homage. Stories tell us that later in life they heard the Gospel of Jesus from early Christian missionaries, they gave up their pagan religious practices to serve Christ as their God and Savior. The response of the Magi was one of faith which brought them the joy of new life in Christ. 

 So, today’s liturgy might be placing before each one of us a very important and personal question: What is my own response to the Epiphany of Jesus as King, God and Savior? Like Herod, does part of me find Christ and His teachings to somehow be a threat to my present lifestyle? Would I rather have Him out of my life rather than change my behavior? Or perhaps do I respond more like the religious scholars by thinking that Christ and Christianity are a disturbance to my comfort zone? Does following Jesus’ Gospel demand too much of a change from me? Finally of course, St. Matthew’s Epiphany story hopes to inspire us by the example of the Magi. They were totally committed to following the star, to finding the Newborn King and pledging their fidelity to Him. Encountering Jesus changed their lives forever. They had discovered in Him everything for which they had been longing and searching. Is that how Jesus is for me? Is this my response to Him? 

 There’s probably a tiny trace of Herod and a little bit of the Jewish scholars in all of us now and then. But as we begin this new year, let’s ask the Lord for the grace to respond wholeheartedly to the Epiphany more like the Magi. Let’s be willing to do whatever it takes to personally encounter Christ in our lives. Let’s take up the journey to Jesus and not be afraid of what might lay ahead. If we walk by the light of faith, like the Magi following the star, we will surely discover Jesus in a newer and deeper personal way just as they did.