Jesus, I Trust in You!

 

Deacon Dave · Jesus. I Trust in You!

Homily for the Octave of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, April 27, 2025. Gospel of St. John 20:19-31. Theme: Jesus I Trust in You! 

 In our 2,000 year Catholic heritage, many prayers and devotions have come to us through the spiritual experiences of the saints. But few, very few, ever reach the highest level of actually becoming part of our Liturgy. However, Divine Mercy Sunday, which we are celebrating this weekend, has this distinction after having been studied, approved and promoted by popes. The Divine Mercy devotion was given to us by Jesus Himself through the spiritual experiences of St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun and mystic of the early 20th century. 

 Our Lord asked St. Faustina to devote her life to increasing awareness about His tender compassion and healing love for all people. He told her that He was saddened that so many think that their sins are an obstacle to drawing close to Him. But he told her that, quite the contrary, the greater a sinner a person is, the greater is that person’s right to approach Him as Savior and claim His mercy. He said that He is drawn to wounded and struggling hearts the way iron shavings are attracted to a magnet. And that when anyone comes to Him with repentance and humble trust in their hearts, He finds them irresistible and pours out His mercy upon them. Now doesn’t that sound just like the Jesus that we learn about in the Gospels? 

Jesus gave us through St. Faustina a few special spiritual gifts to help deepen our trust in His compassionate love for us. These are: 

• The celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday as a special way to close our 8-day long Easter feast. He said on this day He would especially open wide the floodgates of His mercy upon all who turn to Him with trust as their Savior, no matter who they are or what they may have done. 
• A prayer called the Chaplet of Mercy, in which we ask God to have mercy upon us and on the whole world; 
• And a special picture of Himself which is called the Image of Divine Mercy. And it’s the Image of Divine Mercy that I want to focus on because Jesus made some beautiful promises about it. 

 He said that this image was meant to be a vessel of mercy to be placed in our churches and homes as a visual reminder of His love. And He wanted every copy of it to have the words, 'Jesus, I trust in you’ printed on them. He called these words His signature. He told St. Faustina, "By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls; so let everyone have access to it." We want everyone in the parish to have access to it and so we have copies of it for you at both entrances to the church. And finally, Jesus promised that many great blessings and even miracles would come to people who prayerfully seek His intercession through this image. Not because it’s magical but because it inspires trust and confidence in the Lord. And this promise has been confirmed by countless healings and conversions of life granted to those who have turned to Christ with confidence through this image! 

 Allow me to share one with you that I myself personally witnessed many years ago. It made me a total life-long believer and promoter of this devotion. 

 (I tell the story here in the audio version) 

 True stories like this should fill us with confidence and encourage us to trust in Jesus. This is the whole point of the Divine Mercy devotion. Inspired by the spiritual experiences of St. Faustina and following the example of St. Thomas the Apostle in today’s Gospel, let’s come into the Lord’s Presence in the Eucharist and venerate him through the Image and with deep faith say to Him from the depths of our hearts, “My Lord and my God, I believe in you. Jesus, I trust in you!”

The Transforming Power of the Holy Cross

 

Deacon Dave · The Transforming Power of the Holy Cross

Good Friday Homily: The Transforming Power of the Holy Cross 

 At the Last Supper, Jesus gave us what He called a new commandment when He said, “love one another as I have loved you.” And then on the next day, the first Good Friday, He showed us what loving like Him looks like. He chose to forgive those who were mocking Him and to extend mercy to the repentant thief next to Him even in the midst of physical and mental agony. Christ gave a new kind of purpose to the experience of human suffering by transforming the Cross into an opportunity to bestow life-saving grace and forgiveness to others. 

 And He enables us to do the same when suffering enters our lives. Because of our relationship with Jesus we can become partners in the Passion, so to speak, so that our struggles and pains and frustrations become a sharing in His Cross. All we have to do is to unite ourselves in spirit with Christ crucified and make the choice to love and to forgive and to think of others no matter what we may be going through. Down through the centuries ever since that first Good Friday there have been many devout Christians who have embraced this transformational way of the Cross and given purpose to their otherwise meaningless suffering. 

St. Mark Ji was one of these outstanding partners of the Passion. His is a marvelous example of embracing the cross of suffering as an opportunity for loving as Jesus loves. He was a Chinese physician and a very active member of his parish. He was married with children and was known for his kindness and generosity in treating patients. However, easy access to medical drugs was the beginning of his own personal way of the Cross. He gradually went from using opiates as medication into becoming a full-blown addict. And as his addiction spiraled downward his fellow parishioners shunned him until the once popular doctor became a social outcast in his own village. And because Mark kept giving into his addiction his pastor refused to hear his confessions and began denying him Holy Communion. Finally, he was even refused admittance into the parish church itself. And so for 3o years Mark remained an struggling addict exiled from both church and sacraments. But fortunately, not exiled from Jesus Christ. 

 You see, the pastor and villagers of course knew nothing about the dynamics of addiction as we do today. They either didn’t know or didn’t understand that the Church teaches that the compulsion of addiction takes away the freedom of choice needed for someone to be personally guilty of mortal sin. And so they saw Mark’s on-going addiction as a simple matter of choice and falsely judged him to be an obstinate and unrepentant sinner. Fortunately, God sees into the heart and knows the real truth about our struggles. 

 Amazingly, despite how his pastor and parish treated him, Mark did not hold this against them nor isolate himself from them. Every Sunday he could be found outside the church, humbly kneeling at its door, begging for prayers as the people arrived for Mass. And he would remain there, joining in their worship from afar. This went on without fail, Sunday after Sunday, for 30 years. Inspired by the example of Jesus during His Passion, Mark forgave those who ignored him and stepped around him as they entered the parish church. He harbored no hatred. 

 In the midst of all he was going through, Mark did his best to maintain his relationship with Christ in whatever ways he could. He knew that his faith and love for Christ was genuine, even if his addiction hid this fact from the others. He had moments, even stretches at a time, of recovery but these were quickly followed by relapse. He just couldn't seem to beat the cycle of addiction. But he never stopped trying. Through it all, he kept consciously uniting his pain, his struggles, his public humiliation and even his falls from sobriety to the Passion of Christ, for he knew that Jesus accepts all that is offered with sincerity of heart. He simply kept trusting in God, clinging to the hope that someday, somehow, he would be set free by the power of the Holy Cross. 

 Well, that day of freedom finally arrived but in a way he could have never imagined. The Chinese government had begun a fierce persecution of Catholics and the parishioners of Mark's village were all summoned to the church, where they were arrested and condemned to death, But of course the outcast Mark was not among them. However, despite the danger he eventually made his way to the parish church and finally gained admittance to it after 30 years of exile. He approached the officer in charge of execution and declared, “I am one of them.” 

 And then amazingly, he asked for and received permission to die last of all. Why did he make this request? According to surviving witnesses, it was so that he could make sure that no one would die without him at their side, comforting and encouraging them. Even during those horrible final moments, Mark thought of loving others and reminded them that they were on their way to Heaven. He prayed with them and sang hymns to the Blessed Mother to uplift their hearts. No matter how he had been treated for half of his life, he did not want those he loved to face death alone and afraid. Like his Lord Jesus on the cross, Mark offered himself up for the good of others and loved them to the very end. 

 Who would have ever thought that the parish outcast and village drug addict would turn out to be the most authentic reflection of Jesus Christ from among them all? Now that’s the transforming power of the Holy Cross! That’s the never-ending always-available grace of Good Friday that is possible for us all. So in a few minutes when we venerate the Holy Cross let our touching of it be a sign that we, too, want to unite our personal sufferings with those of the Lord and become partners in the Passion of Christ. Let’s embrace the power and grace of the Cross and allow it to transform us into Christians who strive to love as Jesus loves and by doing so make 0ourselves and whatever we have to deal with into something beautiful for God and for others.

The Message & Meaning of Palm Sunday

 

Deacon Dave · Palm Sunday homily

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, April 13, 2025. Theme: The Message and Meaning of Palm Sunday 

 Today’s Gospel of Jesus’ triumphant entry into the holy city of Jerusalem is full of symbolism from our Jewish roots and ancient culture. So to better understand its rich biblical meaning, we need to know a bit about those things. First of all, in ancient times kings held victory parades and these came in two forms, depending upon which side of the war you were on. As a show of victory over those who had lost the battle the Champion would ride into their city triumphantly, to take possession of it. Then, once back in his own place, he would ride in glory for the homecoming amidst the cheers of his subjects who were praising his power and might. This can help us understand what Christ the King was doing on that first Palm Sunday. 

If Jesus had come into Jerusalem as a Warrior-King he would have ridden on a steed, a mighty military horse. But the Gospels want us to note that He rode on a donkey, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah, showing that He was entering the holy city in humility and peace not for domination or violence. Also, the Gospels point out that He was coming into town through the city’s East Gate which was believed by the people to be the Gate by which the future Messiah would one day enter Jerusalem. 

 Palms were also a part of the backstory of Jewish culture and celebration. They were a symbol of victory, a sign of salvation, and the people would wave them amidst shouts of joy, crying out “Hosanna!” which means “Save us!. They especially did this on the Feast of Tabernacles which was celebrated to honor the future coming of the Messiah and his kingship. But that feast was celebrated in the Fall and they were doing it in the Springtime. This, together with their cheers of “Hosanna” and “Blessed be the king…” leave no doubt that they were welcoming the Messiah of Israel into the Holy City. 

 Palm Sunday is unique among our Catholic liturgies for two reasons, one of which is that the Gospel is proclaimed twice instead of just once. And in addition to having a double Gospel, today’s commemoration also has a double-name: it is officially called Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. This double-name reminds us that the King Whom we honor today with a procession of palms was ridiculed and nailed to a cross on Good Friday. This brings to mind a couple things that we can ponder during this Holy Week. 

 First, Palm Sunday shows us that we can be fickle Christians, often living as “fair-weather friends” of God. It’s so very easy for us to judge and condemn the cheering crowds of Jerusalem who then turned on Jesus just a few days later, calling for his crucifixion. They had been wanting a Messiah who would defeat the Romans and bring autonomy to Israel. So when the One they thought was the Messiah was arrested and taken captive by their oppressors, they concluded that they had been mistaken and saw their imagined hopes trashed. So they turned on Jesus because He wasn’t the kind of Savior-Messiah they wanted. And yet…before we point a finger at them…we have to stop and examine our own attitudes towards the Lord. Have we ever shaken a fist at God, like the people in that crowd, because He wasn’t acting like the kind of Savior we expected and wanted Him to be in our lives? And if so, we have to ask ourselves quite honestly if a relationship with Jesus is being sought by us primarily for our own personal benefit. 

 Second, Palm Sunday highlights our role in the Passion. The crucifixion of Christ was on the historical level planned by members of the Jewish leadership and carried out by the governor and soldiers of the Roman Empire. Today’s Liturgy wants us to see things deeper than just the historical and to realize that spiritually and truly we are among the actual participants in the Passion. This is why everyone has a part in the Gospel proclamation today. And like the crowd in Jerusalem on that first Good Friday, we have also called for the crucifixion of Christ, perhaps not with our lips but certainly by the choices we have made in our lives. Jesus suffered and died because of our sins, because they needed absolution, forgiveness. The history of each one of us shows that there have been times when we have betrayed Jesus with Judas; that we have denied Him with Peter; and that we have abandoned Him as did the other disciples. Every one of us can relate to Pilate’s cowardice in caving into social pressure and choosing popularity over doing what was right. Palm Sunday reminds us that we are indeed guilty parties to the Passion of Christ. 

 Despite the fickleness of our hearts and the litany of our sins, Christ died for us. And not just for “us” as in the cumulative sense of the entire human race. But He died for each one of us, individually and personally, as if you or I were the only ones in the whole universe who were in need of His salvation! And on top of all that, while struggling to breathe on the cross, He asked God the Father to forgive us because we truly do not realize the full extent of what we are doing when we choose to sin. But we know something that the Palm Sunday crowds in Jerusalem didn’t know about Jesus. His story didn’t not end at the cross. He completed the work of our salvation by rising from the dead, showing that the Father had accepted His offering for our sins and so we could now be free of them! 

 And so the palms we hold in our hands and carry in procession today are also a sign of the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. His is a triumphant victory of love over hatred; of grace over sin; of forgiveness over condemnation; of eternal life over everlasting death. So when we bring our palms home and put them behind our crucifixes - or wherever you display yours during the Easter Season- let them be a silent but powerful reminder about the message they convey. Let them assure us that despite our fickleness and our failures; despite our part in contributing to His Passion, Jesus loves us beyond measure and calls each one of us to believe this wholeheartedly and to trust in Him with total confidence. Hosanna to our King!

Come Forth! Be Unbound!

 

Deacon Dave · Come Forth! Be Unbound!

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent, April 6, 2025. Gospel of John 11:1-45. Theme: Come Forth! Be Unbound! 

 Today’s Gospel about the raising and unbinding of Lazarus conveys a two-part message to us. The first is that physical death is not an end to our existence. It is a kind of “sleep” from which our bodies will awaken in the resurrection of the dead and be united with our immortal souls to live a glorious eternal life. And second, is that Jesus has the power to set us free to live a new life, not just at our future resurrection, but right here and right now. 

 This story is also telling us that if Jesus can raise up, unbind and set Lazarus free, then He is also able to do the same for us, but in a different sense than just physical death. I think many people tend to forget, and perhaps some have never been told, that there is more to us than just our mortal bodies. We also possess immortal souls and so we can also experience spiritual illness and death. But this serious and potentially fatal spiritual condition is not always obvious to us. We can look and feel great physically and yet be spiritually sick or dying inside, really only half-alive. We can walk this earth as part of the “living dead”, that is, as people who are enclosed in tombs, not made of stone but built of our own making. We can be spiritually and emotionally bound up like a mummy by the destructive choices we have made. We can enclose ourselves in spiritual graves, so to speak, being trapped in habits of sinful behavior, shackled by various addictions, struggling with grudges or being caught up in the web of greedy consumerism. 

 And Jesus, seeing us trapped in our self-made tombs, is deeply distressed and weeps over our condition as he did for Lazarus. And he doesn’t want to leave us there where we will only degenerate further into our moral corruption. And so, He speaks to us the same powerful words that He spoke to Lazarus, “Come forth! Be unbound!” He calls us to step out from the tomb of sinful behavior and be released from spiritual slavery. To come forth from the tomb of materialism and be unbound from the lies that tell us we are only worth what we look like and what we possess. To come forth from the tomb of isolation and be unbound from loneliness. To come forth from the tomb of anger and grudges and be unbound from broken relationships. To come forth from the tomb of anxiety and panic and be unbound from fear and worry. To come forth from the tomb of addiction and codependency and be unbound from sadness and self- destruction. 

 Now, if we’re not totally sure that we have the faith it takes for us to hear Jesus, come forth from our tomb and be unbound, we can draw hope from the example of Lazarus’ sister, Martha. Did you notice that the Gospel tells us that she had to “come to believe” that Jesus was Who He said He was? Those three words “come to believe '' should give us great encouragement! They tell us that, though Martha had some faith, she was still growing, open to Jesus and willing to trust Him, but yet not quite there. And I am sure the same can be said of us. Perhaps we too believe but are “not quite there.” Perhaps we have more to absorb, more to experience about Christ so that we can “come to believe” more fully as Martha did? But be that as it may, even if our faith is weak or little we can still come humbly before him saying, , “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” 

 Martha shows us that we can begin to say this prayer and trust in Jesus’ power even before understanding fully who He is; even before really grasping the extent of what He wishes to do for us. She demonstrates that our faith grows as our experience of Jesus grows. She shows us that our relationship with Christ, like all relationships, is a dynamic ever-deepening reality. And now through this gospel she invites each one of us to come to believe as well. She invites each one of us to reach out to Jesus and trust in Him. She invites each one of us to listen to Christ when he tells us to come forth from our tombs and be unbound. Let’s follow her example. 

 Let’s ask the Lord to grant us the liberating grace of hearing His voice in our hearts and taking those all-important first steps forward so that we can exit our self-made tombs and receive a new lease on life! Martha never gave up deepening her understanding of Jesus and she encourages us to do the same. If we persevere in faith we will be able to finally proclaim, like her and with her, “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God. You are the Resurrection and the Life!”