Fourth Sunday of Easter - Bishop's Annual Appeal

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Note: Unless you are a member of St. Peter parish, this homily probably is not worth reading this week as it is geared towards our Bishop's Annual Appeal and the financial state of our parish. One of those occasionally necessary but not most enjoyable tasks of a parish priest.



I want to cover three things in this homily. First a summary of the key points of the Bishop’s message for the diocese. Secondly, my own personal comments on the BAA and what I would like to do with the monies that will come back if we go over our goal. Thirdly, give you an overview of the present financial state of our parish.

First. The bishop above all wants to thank everybody for their generous support of the Appeal and for their stewardship in general in caring for the material needs of the Church. He points out that with the hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the diocese was able to send more than $1 million in financial support. And he points out this was done not by a concerted effort to promote and plea for money, but through people’s attention to the promptings of the Spirit and their own recognition that when one member of the Body suffers, all the members suffer.

This sense of being part of One Body, is the basis of the theme for this year’s BAA – “One in the Heart of Christ.” The BAA reminds us that we are part of a greater community. As a church there are a number of things that we need to do at a level higher than that of the parish. For example, educate our future priests, provide food and services for the poor in areas where parishes can’t handle the overwhelming demands, and help coordinate Catholic education, social work, and other services. This appeal is where the resources to do such work come from. For this reason, the goal for this year’s BAA is $5.2 million. Our parish’s share of doing our part for the greater community of the diocese of Columbus, is $32,500.

With that being said, I would now like to discuss why I would like us to aim not for $32,500 but for $50,000. Last year we basically pledged right at the target - $32,000. If we go over target, everything over our goal comes back to us without the diocese retaining the normal 5% tax. So anything over the goal comes back to us dollar for dollar. To reach our parish goal of $50,000, I am asking each family to consider making a commitment of $250.

Each family is asked to see this as part of their tithing promise to God. As has been clear from the Scriptures, the Lord wants the first tenth of our income to be given back to Him as a sign of our gratitude in recognition that all of our resources are first and foremost his gifts, and that we trust He will give us what we need as we need it. It is between you and God how that gift is made – Church, outside charities, special gifts to those in need, etc. But Scripture is clear on the point that we need to give our first tenth to God in some way or another.

“One in the Heart of Christ.” The true heart of our Catholic Faith, the source and the summit of our Christian life, is what we are doing right now – celebrating the Eucharist – the Sacrifice of Christ made present – the worship of the Lamb who was slain – as we were reminded of in the Book Of Revelation today.

In discussion with parish council members recently, we recognized that this is the heart of who we are and it is where our attention should be in this coming year. Trying to find ways to help make this the place where every parishioner has a meaningful encounter with God every Sunday. This involves everything from the liturgy and how it is carried out to the church building itself and how conducive it is to leading us into worship.

I would like to use the excess monies we receive back from the BAA in order to begin some beautification projects involving the church and the sacred liturgy. The first which would be re-leathering some internal parts of the organ, which is badly needed and has been recommended by our organ servicer for the last several years with increasing urgency. The second is to relocate the organ and choir to the choir loft, which will help bring a fuller sound, a more robust music and singing to our Masses, and create a better aesthetic as you in the pew look towards the sanctuary. The most beautiful aspect of our church are these stained-glass windows – a company recently recommended a couple of procedures to help ensure the longevity of the windows – and as these are something we hope many future generations will be able to enjoy, this would also be addressed with the excess funds. Finally, we hope to begin to look at ways to provide better lighting, with advances in technology, new options are opening, and hopefully down the line we will be able to upgrade that.

Finally, some of you have been asking about our need to replace the resurrected Christ with the Crucified Christ. After consulting some artists, I am currently putting that project on the backburner. There is the thought, that we need something more than another crucifix – and so I would like to begin looking at what options there are for a crucifixion mural that could go on this back wall. Particularly something with the type of vivid color, that could draw in the stained-glass windows, and really bring forth their beauty more. I’m in the very early stages of looking into this possibility, which is why I at this point would rather not invest in a new crucifix until we determine which direction we actually want to go on that. I do know this though, this is the heart of our worship. This is what it means to be Catholic, and nothing we do as Catholics, is more important than gathering in church to worship our Lord at Mass. It is as the Second Vatican Council reminded us, “The Source and the Summit of the whole Christian life.” For that reason I would like us to focus on the Church and the liturgy with whatever excess monies we would receive back from the BAA.

As the saying goes, “The good news is we have all the money to do these projects….the bad news is…it’s still in your pockets.” Therefore I am asking each family to consider giving a sacrificial gift of at least $250 ($20-$25/month) As I mentioned in the letter, I know that not all families are in a position to give this, and so I ask that those families who can do more, to please consider doing so. With the BAA we help the diocese and we can really help beautify our own church so that our worship will continue to deepen in experience of the Lord. I thank you in advance for whatever you can give. I simply ask that you ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to give what He wants you to give through this specific channel of returning to him his first tenth.

Finally, I want to give you an overview of the current financial state of our parish, which is what also gives me hope in this campaign. As you may be aware, the last four years we have run an average deficit of $43,000. If you have been following along the stewardship reports in the bulletin, you would also know that our most recent figure of offertory income compared to budgeted expenses shows us at this year to be less than $5000 under. This is due mainly to two factors: last Spring Fr. Black and the finance council made some difficult but needed decisions to cut down expenses considerably – this has been coupled with your own increase in generosity in offertory – as offertory is up 6% for the year. I think we as a parish have really turned a corner here. Parishioners have begun responding with an increase in offertory and the parish has been doing a good job of keeping expenditures under control. This year we are now actually projected to be in the black thanks to over $25,000 in unexpected gifts and bequests. This is much needed to begin replenishing the losses of the last several years and to prepare for some major improvements and repairs of the grounds and buildings.

However, as you can tell from the bulletin, we still are not at our goal which is to be able to pay all operating expenses solely from offertory income. We cannot rely on bequests and gifts each year and so we have to get to the point where we are not dependent upon them to pay our bills. These gifts and bequests would then be able to be used to improve our buildings and grounds. Therefore if you haven’t increased your offertory in recent times, I would encourage you to pray and ask the Lord if this is something he is moving you towards. Again, I believe if we are all truly trying to meet the Lord’s request for our first tenth, he will guide us on where and how to meet that requirement.

So as I conclude, the good news is that we appear to be turning a corner on our finances, we have the opportunity to focus our attention on beautifying the church on the sacred liturgy, and this parish is full of people generous with their time and resources that would make many a pastor envious. My request to you is that in your prayer, you ask the Lord to guide you in how he wants you to be a steward specifically of his church as you consider a gift for the BAA. If at this point, you already know, I invite you to fill out your envelope and drop it in the collection at offertory time. If you need more time, you can bring the envelope home and then over the next several weeks you can just drop it off in the collection. And I thank you all for your continuing generosity in your stewardship towards the Church.

Third Sunday of Easter

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER

As you may remember, last Sunday, we celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday, and in the Gospel we heard about Jesus appearing to His disciples for a second time. We don’t know how much time elapsed between last Sunday’s appearance and today’s appearance but we might imagine how the disciples were feeling. The man they had followed around for three years had been killed, their dreams shattered, but now twice He had appeared to them in His Risen form. They were certainly filled with confusion, they had not yet received the full outpouring of Pentecost, they didn’t know what Jesus was doing, and they were in a state of spiritual denial. And Peter comes up with an idea. An idea that we can all learn from when we are in a state of confusion, what does St. Peter say when times are rough: “I am going fishing!” And the apostles all concur: “We are going with you.” OK, so maybe there is or maybe there isn’t something we can learn on this point, but guys, if you are going fishing and your wife complains, you now can let her know Scripture backs you on this one.

But there is more to this Gospel. As is the case so often with the Apostles, particularly after the Resurrection, we are given an insight into the Church. Their lives are a window to the life of the Church, as it was, and as it is. The first thing we notice is that without Christ they are fruitless, they are catching nothing. Apart from Christ, the Church can do nothing, if we are not in union with Him, if the Church quits seeking to deepen its union with the Living Christ, she will be fruitless, sterile. But with Christ, the Apostles bring in a great catch; the nets are to the seams. When the Church is close to Him she will be capable of bringing in the nations, there will be abundant fruit.

In the early Church, Peter normally represents the Pope – as he is the first pope. Peter represents the hierarchy, the institution. John represents the lover; he who is the beloved disciple represents the saints, the ones who have loved God most ardently.
Love senses first. It is John who first realizes, “It is the Lord.” It is the saints who usually first discover new or deeper truths about Christ, deeper understandings about the Way, the Truth, and the Life. But it is Peter who must verify it and lead the rest of the Church. John realizes it first, but Peter is the one who leaps to the water and goes first. It is he who verifies it for the others. In the life of the Church, the saints bring their new found understandings to the feet of Peter- to the hierarchy- to the Pope- and allow him to determine their authenticity or not. It is Peter who then proposes to the rest of the Church that which is true in both faith and morals. John senses, Peter verifies. We think back to just a couple of chapters ago in John, when news first reaches the Apostles that the tomb of Jesus is empty. It is John and Peter who rush to the tomb. John, Love, gets there first, but John waits for Peter. It is Peter who will first go in to verify that the tomb is empty.

In this passage it is Peter, the head of the Church, who will bring in the harvest and present it to the Lord. Peter goes to the boat and brings to the Lord the net full of 153 fish. According to St. Jerome, 153 is the number of species of fish that people of that time thought existed. 153 is the symbol of fullness, completeness, universality. It is a promise to the Church that with Christ she will bring in the fullness of the nations.

Finally, we have the dialogue between Christ and Peter. As the New Testament was written in Greek, the translation loses some of the original meaning of this conversation. I will re-read you this passage with the more accurate slight nuances in meaning. This is in reference to the word: love. Two types of love are being talked about. One is self-sacrificing-love – the kind of love that forgets self, and would willingly give up one’s life for the beloved. The other kind of love is friendship-love, still good, a true love, but not to the point of self-sacrificing love. And so to the paraphrase how the conversation would go:

Jesus: Simon, Son of John, do you self-sacrificing-love me?
Peter: Lord, you know I friendship-love you.
Jesus: Feed my sheep, take care of my people.

Jesus: Simon, Son of John, do you self-sacrificing-love me?
Peter: Lord, you know I friendship-love you.
Jesus: Tend my lambs, lead my people.

Jesus: Simon, Son of John, do you friendship-love me?
And here we can see how hurt Peter is. We are told “Peter was distressed…” For now it seems his embarrassment is complete. He was incapable of telling Jesus he was at a level of love that he is not yet at, for Jesus knows his heart. And yet, now it seems as if Jesus even doubts that he is at the lower level of friendship-love. And he responds:

Lord, you know everything; you know that I friendship-love you.

Jesus responds: “Feed my Sheep.” And then Jesus makes that bold promise to him: “Amen, Amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” It is the promise that Peter will one day get to that level of self-sacrificing love, that one day, he will be at the point where he will be able to willingly give his life for the Lord. That day of his martyrdom will one day occur, when he will be crucified upside down for love of Christ.

And the Lord’s final words to him in this passage tell him how he is to get to that point: “Follow me.”

The Gospel reminds us that without Christ, we can do nothing. With Christ, we can do all things. Our love may not be at much more than the level of friendship-love, but if we would follow Him, he has the power to transform our love.

Peter and John are necessary. It is Peter, the Church, the Institution, that verifies for us the paths of this life, the doctrines that will lead us closer, the morals that will enable us to authentically love. At the same time, without John’s burning love, those doctrines are simply dead letters. But with John’s love, they are not dead letters; they are the pathways to True Love and True Life. We pray in this Mass for the gift to listen to Peter and to follow with the love of John, that we too may one day be brought to the point of a love that is no longer merely friendship-love, but self-sacrificial.

Divine Mercy Sunday

Divine Mercy Sunday

Today we celebrate the newest Feast in the Church’s calendar: Divine Mercy Sunday. This was instituted by Pope John Paul II in the year 2000. As you may remember it was in response to a request from our Lord through a Polish nun of the early 1900s. The Lord had appeared to this nun, Sister, now Saint, Faustina and asked that a Feast of Mercy be celebrated on the Second Sunday of Easter, that an image of Him and His Mercy be painted, and that when that image was venerated on the feast then the “flood gates of my Mercy will be opened on this day.” He also gave her the Chaplet of Divine Mercy to be prayed on the Rosary, and gave a renewed call to Confession, telling her that “now is the time of mercy, after it will come the day of justice.”

It is a call to conversion, to repentance, to Trust in His Unfathomable Mercy. And yet a question probably arises: isn’t this superstition? To think that this Image would give more grace, that this Feast Day would be a day when the floodgates of Heaven are opened. Isn’t it just as effective if I stay home, and pray in my room, without an image? Is there really something special about this image.

And yet in today’s Acts of the Apostles, we are told that people brought the sick, where? To the shadow of St. Peter. The shadow of St. Peter was the means God chose to heal people. Not in the shadow, no healing – placed in the shadow – healing. Does it make sense? Not exactly but that is the way God chose to heal.

We are told in Acts of the Apostles chapter 19 verse 12 that it was handkerchiefs that healed. People would touch St. Paul with a handkerchief and then go and touch the sick or those possessed by demons and they would be cured…through a HANDKERCHIEF! Does it make sense? Not exactly but that is the way God chose to heal.

I remember as a seminarian one summer reading through St. Faustina’s diary and thinking, “I wonder if God really works through this image like St. Faustina said he would?” Shortly thereafter I ran into a guy very involved at the parish. He told me that up until a couple of months ago he had been away from the Church for ten years. Then one Sunday he felt this call to go Church. He said he went and sat down and his eye was caught by an image – yes this image. Here he was at Mass for the first time in ten years and it happened to be the Feast of Mercy – a feast he had never heard of before. As he sat there – he experienced in some way the rays of blood and water come from the image into him and immediately he felt a call to repentance, to conversion. He went to Confession and has been following the Lord ever since.

Does that make sense? Not exactly but it is how God worked.

Did it make sense that a shadow would cure people? That a Handkerchief would heal people? No, but that is how God chose to work.

God works in many ways that don’t seem quite reasonable to us, but they are His ways. But there is one thread through each of these experiences, and that is Faith – a response of Trust.

That guy that morning had a decision to make – he felt the Lord wanted him to do this, but he was free – he could have slept in that Sunday morning as he had every Sunday morning the last ten years. But he stepped out in faith.

Those people who had heard about healings accompanying St. Peter, had a choice to make – to trust those who had reported that healings were happening or not, to choose to wait in line to let a man’s shadow fall on their sick, or not. And yet they trusted those who had witnessed to them, and took the step, and the Lord healed.

Contrast that with Thomas in today’s Gospel.

How many of his closest friends had just told him Jesus is Risen?
Ten. Ten of his closest friends! These were the ones he had just spent the last three years with, day in, day out, as they traveled around with Jesus. All ten come to him and say with one accord: “We have seen the Lord.”

But Thomas responds, “Until I see the mark…until I place my hands in his side…I will not believe.” As if to say, “Your word is as nothing to me. I will determine what is true, you cannot be trusted.”

So where are we today? Doubting Thomases or one of the believers who would wait in line just to be in the shadow of Peter.

Jesus is Risen! Do we trust the witness of so many believable witnesses?

All but one of the apostles were martyred for this faith, and the other one, John, was exiled for it. All witnessed to this truth by the shedding of their blood.

Something like the first 30 popes, said “This is True” by the shedding of their blood for it. The testimony of countless saints’ holy lives, all attesting that Jesus is Truly Risen. That He is Truly Lord. That He wants to be personally in every one of our lives, guiding and directing all things.

Can we accept St. Faustina’s testimony? Isn’t her word valuable, she who witnessed by a holy life? Can we trust the insights of Pope John Paul II, the approval of the Church to her message? Can we Trust? That is the question today.

Jesus tells us through St. Faustina, “Now is the time of mercy, after it will come the day of justice.” Today’s feast recalls us to Trust, to repentance, to receiving His mercy, and to praying for the conversion of sinners.

We pray too in this Mass for an increase in Faith, that we might say with new boldness those words at the bottom of the image: Jesus, I trust in You. Jesus, I trust in You. Jesus, I trust in You.

Easter Vigil 2007

Easter Vigil

There are two key events that happen in this Gospel that we would do well to pay attention to. What is the first thing they do after being told that Jesus is Risen from the Dead?

“And they Remembered His Words” – “they remembered His Words”

The very next thing they do, on returning from the tomb:

They “announced all these things”

Remembering His Words and Announcing – this is the description of the early Church in the first moments of Jesus’ Resurrection – this is the description of the Church down to today.

The Church is meant to be a community of believers who are constantly recalling the Words of the Lord, and constantly seeking His Word in prayer and Scripture reading. And above all in the Sacred Liturgy – where the events are not only remembered but made Present – “This is my Body, This is my Blood, do this in remembrance of me”

The Church throughout the world this evening – remembers the Words of the Lord in grand fashion. It recounts the creation of man in Genesis, the covenant made with Abraham – forming a people of God, His miraculous intervention in leading His People out of Egypt, and the promises foretold through the prophets of forming them into His Holy People. And then at last his coming among us in the flesh, his gathering a new community of believers to Himself, His dying for us, and His Rising from the dead – setting off a new explosion of remembering the words of the Lord and of announcing His Resurrection.

The Early Church sets out by Remembering His Words. In fact Jesus had promised to send the Holy Spirit who would “Remind you of all of these things.” That gift to His community would always be with it “Lo, I am with you, until the end of the ages.” It is the gift that allows the Church to century after century – recall with certainty the events and the words of the Lord. This is what we call Sacred Tradition – both written: Scripture, and oral – the liturgy and the traditions of the church – every liturgy, every Mass, and especially the Easter Vigil Mass is soaked with meaning, with remembering.

And so in the Gospel we hear the enkindling of the flame of faith in the hearts of the women, of the early Church. And like today it often is, the message was met with unbelief.

And so we see in the image of the early church, an image of the Church of the ages. The believers, gathered around their burning flame of faith, seeking to shield it from the dampening of unbelief of the others. The Church today continues to seek to shield the faith from the winds of false doctrines and the violent storms of ideologies counter to it. The little community gathered around their flame shielding it.

And yet they also realize that they can’t simply shield it and keep it hidden, they must announce, they must make known, the same fire of faith is a fire that seeks to make Jesus Christ known. And so they remove their hand from the fledgling fire, and tell their story in the midst of unbelief. 2000 years later the Church continues to bring forth the light of Christ – to speak the Truth of Jesus Christ, of Faith and of Morals – to a world in which many will not accept the light, or even worse, as with the Gospel passage, many of the community itself will not believe.

And yet the flame of faith will never go out so long as it is fed. How did those women keep the flame of faith fed in the midst of the fierce winds of unbelief, how did the saints throughout the ages keep the faith fed in the midst of the fierce winds of unbelief, how do we keep that fire of faith burning in our hearts – the answer will come in one of the first sightings of Jesus – on the road to Emmaus (Lk 24). What is the line the disciples say when they are recalling their visit with the Resurrected, yet disguised Jesus – “Were not our hearts burning within us, as he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”

That is the key to our keeping the flame alive – remembering His words – spending time with Him in prayer, Scripture reading, and the sacred Liturgy – this is the remembering that will increase the flame of faith within us

Then we will be able to remove our hand from protecting the fire and announce Him with boldness and confidence. The question that will be in our heart with each encounter is “how can I bring this person to Jesus Christ?” to some it will be the explicit proclamation of Jesus Christ and His message. To others it will be the silent witness of a holy life. However it is done, we must seek the ways to Announce: Jesus Christ is Real, Jesus Christ is Risen, Jesus Christ is Lord.

Remember and Announce this was the simple task of the early Church and it is the simple task for us today: Remember and Announce.

Among us this evening are some who had Jesus Christ and the fullness of his Presence in the Church announced to them, and they have pondered and remembered His words, and have now made the decision to be baptized into His death and resurrection. There are some others with us who have already been baptized but now seek full communion with the Church Christ established on the rock of Peter. These are the fruits of the Church’s announcement of Jesus Christ. And that they might have new life in Christ, I now invite forward those to be baptized.

Good Friday Homily 2007

Good Friday

“Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, while we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. He was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins…”

The Scriptures struggle to express in human words this most profound of mysteries – that God in the second Person of the Holy Trinity, became man, uniting Himself to us and sacrificed Himself for our sake. St. Paul even tells us in the 2nd letter to the Corinthians that Jesus became “sin for us.” That through His love, all of our suffering entered Him.

Human words fall short, human analogies can’t fully express this truth. We know that Jesus, the Son of God, so united himself with all of humanity, with you, with me, with every human being who ever existed or ever will exist, so united himself, that the infirmities, the sufferings, the temptations, the anxieties, all became His own.

To try to grasp how, we might look at one of the most similar human relationships: the relationship between a parent and their child. - imagine a mother, at bedside, keeping watch over her child who is seriously ill, maybe even terminally. Although she is a separate and distinct person from her child, when the child cries out in pain, the mother cries out even more intensely within herself. The bond of love between her and the child conveys and intensifies the pain, so that the pain of the child becomes her own pain and because of the love, the pain within her is even more intense than in the child.

And when the mother looks into the future, she is plagued with a number of fears and anxieties that the child himself would not even comprehend. Because the mother has a clearer vision of what the possible outcomes of the illness are, she suffers much more in anxiety than the young child. The child might not even know what the word “terminal” means but the mother knows and it pierces her to the heart.

The mother’s love for her child transfers his suffering into hers. If we can begin to grasp this image we can grasp what is occurring on Good Friday. “It was our infirmities he bore, our sufferings he endured…” A mother’s love is only a small reflection, a drop in the ocean, compared to the intensity of God’s love for his people. In Jesus, God unites with all of sinful humanity. Jesus sees the full picture of sinful humanity – a humanity that has used its free will to turn from God – to choose self – over God – to reject the only one that can bring humanity eternal peace and joy. One look at a newspaper will give us an appreciation of how far we have fallen.

And he sees his children deathly sick with the disease of sin, a disease that is eternally terminal. So “at-one” does He become with us, that our fears, our sufferings, our temptations, our deaths, become, in reality, His very own so that we are told He begged the Father, with loud cries and tears.

We come to the point where “Jesus no longer distinguishes between Himself and His fate, and that of sinners” (Balthasar) – Jesus’ loves unites Himself so strongly to each of us, that it is as though our guilt becomes His, and His Life becomes ours. Just as the mother’s love for her child takes in all of his sufferings and they become as it were her own, so Jesus takes upon himself our guilt and our sufferings and they become his own.

And like the mother who comprehends the seriousness of the disease and its possible consequences far more than her child does, so Jesus comprehends with a greater understanding and greater clarity the full possible horrible consequences of the sin, and as for the mother this means a greater suffering than that of her child, so Jesus is filled with a greater anxiety and horror of sin and hell – a horror of sin and separation from Him, which we should have had, but didn’t and don’t.

And it is in this state, as truly one of us, bearing our infirmities and our sins, that He suffers the consequence of death, and yet it is in virtue of His total love for the Father, His total YES of obedience to the Father that death cannot conquer him, and thus now death cannot conquer those who allow themselves to be so united to Him.

Holy Thursday Homily 2007

Holy Thursday

Today the we celebrate three major events: The institution of the Eucharist; the Institution of the Priesthood; the Revelation of God’s Self-sacrificial love.
Of course these three are inseparable. We cannot have the Eucharist without the priesthood, and the priesthood makes no sense without the offering of Jesus in the Eucharist. And the Eucharist is the manifestation of the extent of God’s self-sacrificing love, while the priesthood is meant to be a participation in that self-sacrificing love – a primary way it is made present in our time in the gift of the sacraments.

When one thinks of the world religions, one thinks of the story of people throughout time seeking God. Writing what they think he is like, gathering followers to follow a certain way to grow closer to Him, giving precepts on how to act, etc. But with Christianity it is a different story. Christianity tells the story of God coming in search of His People. He is the initiator of the covenants, He gives revelation, He calls to Moses – who was not at all searching for Him, and gives Moses the power to lead Israel, his Chosen People, out of Egypt. The account we heard in the first reading is the miraculous way God intervenes for the people He has sought out.

He goes further than any major religion had ever ventured to think possible, He becomes flesh – He lowers and humbles Himself to become man. He shows Himself so in love with His people, as to be willing to die for them. Not only to die, but as the second reading shows – to become food for them, to become the Eucharist. He goes so far as to risk our indifference towards this gift of Himself, to risk our ignoring of His Presence, or our lack of reverence for Him. God reveals Himself to be much more wonderful than any conception that any human being has ever had of God. Here is one who loves unto death.

Then if that weren’t wonderful enough – tonight He doesn’t only make himself food – saying “This is My Body” He gives mere creatures, human beings the authority and power to make Him present on any altar at any time throughout the world. “Do this in memory of me.” The apostles receive the gift and the power to pass on that gift by the laying on of hands, the ordaining of future priests and bishops. For it is not enough for God to visit his people once. He desires to dwell with them, to visit them in the sacraments. He desires to dwell sacramentally present in all the tabernacles through out the world. On Easter day, He will breathe on those same priests and not only give them His forgiveness, but once again give them the power to forgive in His Name. He will use them to make himself present in person, so that He might forgive sins in the sacrament of Confession. He will breathe on them saying “Receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit, whosever sins you forgive are forgiven, whosever sins you retain are retained.” Not content only have a personal encounter with the people of 2000 years ago, but to have an encounter with people throughout the rest of time. This is love.

And how is this done, by taking the finest men and making them priests? By taking the richest food and making them his Body and Blood? Not at all, but by taking broken and weak men and gifting them with his sacramental powers; by taking ordinary plain bread and transforming into His Living Body and Blood. He takes the ordinary of this life and imparts his own extraordinary power.

And so we come to the foot washing of the Gospel. In John’s Gospel this is meant to describe the Last Supper, to describe the institution of the Eucharist and the Priesthood. Whereas in the other Gospels, we have the institution narratives, here we have an account of foot washing. For it reveals what the Institution of the Eucharist and Priesthood are about.

Simon Peter instantly sees the absurdity of it, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?” “the master serve the disciple?” “the great get on their knees to take care of the weak?” And in this Jesus reveals what the Love of God is. It is a love that seeks only to serve, to forget self, to pour oneself out for the others.

Peter resists but Jesus makes it clear. We must receive Jesus’ self-sacrificial love; we must let down our guard, admit we cannot do this on our own, desire holiness, receive Him. From there we will be called to model that same love – but it is no good trying to model it if we are not first receiving it – by sitting at his feet, in Adoration and prayer – seeking to receive, expecting to receive, receiving from a God who has spared nothing in His love for us.

In a few moments we will re-enact this foot washing – it is meant to be a display of Jesus’ humbling himself before his Apostles and washing their feet, revealing to them what their priesthood is meant to consist of – not in being lord and master, and thinking themselves as the center of their priesthood – but of a priesthood that is meant to forget itself in its service and love of others.

As today is the birthday of the ministerial or ordained priesthood, it is meant to be a stark reminder of the gift and obligation of this specific calling, but it is also a call to remember that all Christians are part of what is called the priesthood of the Baptized. It is a reminder that the Christian life finds its model in Jesus’ total gift of Himself. And so in this Mass we seek to receive from the Lord and we seek to live with our eyes not on ourselves but on those around us. This all begins in the family – Jesus shows us the pattern of first dying for those closest to himself, washing His disciple’s feet, and then tomorrow he will go out to die for the world. We ask the Lord in this Mass to help us love and serve our families, and then our parish, and then the rest of our community.

As he concludes, “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

Palm (Passion) Sunday 2007

PALM (PASSION) SUNDAY 2007

Now be honest, when you realized what Gospel it was today, how many thought “Ahhh no, the long Gospel!” -uh huh – another sign we are fallen humans.

But what if we thought of it as it really is: The account of the last moments of our Loved One’s life; his betrayal, his murder, the thought of him giving his life for us. To know what that Loved One’s final moments were like, what he was thinking, what he said. Then we might meet the Gospel with awe and wonder – we would listen intently to every detail we could. Keep that in mind when we go through the Passion Narrative again on Good Friday.

For much of the world, today begins simply another week. For us Christians it begins the holiest week of the year. For us priests, it begins our busiest week of the year, and so I apologize in advance if I look and sound stressed this week.

But it is meant to be the Holiest week of the year. It can be, but we must be open to and seeking the graces this week. Come to the Holy Week events. Don’t be what I call a fair-weather Christian this week: one who shows up on Palm Sunday singing Hosanna to Jesus, and then stays away until next Sunday, when they show up again shouting Alleluia - with Him in the Good times, but not in the bad. Instead, accompany him through His Last Supper, through His Passion and Death, into His Resurrection.

As always, holiness begins in the Confessional. If you haven’t made your Easter Confession yet, you can still do so. Attend a parish Penance Service or seek out a priest.

Thursday evening come back to Church for the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Where we remember Jesus instituting the Holy Eucharist, the Priesthood, and revealing that self-sacrificing love.

We will have the ancient ritual of the footwashing of twelve men, symbolizing the twelve apostles. Jesus washes their feet, revealing to His Apostles what it means to be a bridegroom of the bride, His Church – one must serve.

This will all conclude with a Eucharistic procession to a Garden Chapel, where we will be able to stay in Adoration with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane.

On Good Friday, we will all fast in union with Jesus’ suffering. We will have the Adoration of the Cross and will pray for the needs of the whole world.

On Easter Vigil, the Mass will begin with the Service of Light, as Jesus Rises from the dead, the Light of the World. We will listen to the Readings of our Salvation History, showing that God had been preparing this from the Beginning. We will be blessed here to have people baptized into the Faith, and others received into the Church and confirmed.

This week make the effort to make sure you live it as Holy Week. We are Catholics and thus should live as such. Turn off the TV or turn on EWTN to follow along the events with the Church. Increase prayer time, decrease other commitments, focus in on the Lord and what He is accomplishing. Enter into the Holiness of this week. The more we accompany him through his passion, suffering and death, the more we will experience his Resurrection Victory!