Nobody likes a Jeremiah

Homily: Friday, 5th Week in Lent -- March 30, 2012
1^st Reading: Jeremiah 20: 10-13 – Denounce! Let us denounce him
Gospel Reading: John 10: 31-42 – If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me.

Nobody likes a Jeremiah!  And even if God should send His Son, people still would not believe.   With statements like this we can wonder why would anyone want to be a prophet or a disciple, much less a Christian?

Jeremiah is one of the prophets whom many of us can identify with because of his very human struggle with his calling to bring God’s message to a people who for the most part were not too receptive to what he had to say.   In Jeremiah 20: 9 we feel his internal struggle to live up to God’s call. He says “If I say I will not mention him or speak any more in his name then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary of holding it in and I cannot.”  These words speak to the very real challenge of faithfully carrying God’s message, God’s promise to those He sends us to.  It can be ecstasy but can also be agony.  While we have the joy of receiving and accepting the Lord’s words as our own it seems that when we try to share them with others we are met with resistance.  And after repeatedly being rebuffed, scorned, ridiculed, abused and attacked, we can get tired and we don’t want to take it anymore.  But God’s words and promise are so full of life they can be like a volcano ready to erupt inside of those who have come to know the true meaning of the message.  And it seems that our only consolation when people reject us and turn their backs on us is that we are not alone. We know that there have been many before us who have felt and experienced the same things.

So today we have Jeremiah a very unpopular figure in his day.  In fact most of the prophets were unpopular figures.   Let’s face it, they have a terrible job.  Nobody likes having their shortcomings, their faults, and their failings which need correction pointed out in public or private.  But a prophet like Jeremiah who seemed to be constantly forecasting gloom and doom simply got on peoples nerves.  He was preaching at a time when the Kingdom of Judah and especially Jerusalem were constantly under attack and siege, by the Assyrians, the Egyptians, and the Babylonians.  One weak ruler in Judah after another sought to compromise with the pagan invaders.  They forgot the Covenant they had made with God.   So Jeremiah continued to warn them that such compromise would only lead to further compromise, to unending hardship, and subject them to captivity with no end in sight.  And the more He called them to accountability, the more hardhearted they got, locking him in the stocks, throwing him into cisterns, and subjecting him to all manner of punishments. 

So today we hear Jeremiah at first seeming to be feeling sorry for himself by verbalizing the rejection of his message by the people.  He is feeling mocked by words such as “Terror on every side!”  He says even his friends are saying to denounce him.  And because he has set himself up as a moral compass, he feels the pressure of them waiting for him to trip up, or fall into temptation so they can prevail and take vengeance on him.  But Jeremiah does not give in to their refutes and He does not give up on them.  Rather he loves his people and says, “for you I have entrusted my cause.  Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for He has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked.   So Jeremiah stands firm on his commitment to be God’s messenger, though he endures the same feelings of fear, loneliness, and dejection that anyone might feel when trying to live out God’s will and answer God’s call in an unreceptive and sinful world.  

Then when all of the prophets had done all they could, God sends his Son to get our attention, to provide an even clearer message, and ultimately to stand in the gap between the Father and us, a gap caused by our sinfulness.  But as we hear in today’s Gospel, sin had such a strong hold on the world, that there were still many who rejected the Son, the message and the miracles.   And eventually He would go to the Cross taking our sins with Him, but not our sinfulness.  Yes Jesus gained our salvation for us but we still have the choice to accept that salvation.  We are still subject to, liable to, vulnerable to sin.  And it is because we can still be tempted and we can still fall, that God still sends prophets.  By virtue of our Baptisms, we are not only anointed priests and kings, but also prophets.  We are called to be the Samuels, the Nathans, the Isaiah’s, and the Jeremiah’s of today.  And guess what.  People are no more going to like the message we bring today, than they did when Jeremiah prophesied.  Because the message we have to speak requires sacrifice, repentance, turning away from selfishness, pride, envy, greed, and sin.  

As Prophets today we are called to defend and uphold the sanctity of marriage as being between one man and one woman.  We are called to defend the sanctity of all human life from the moment of conception till natural death.  This means regardless of politics, regardless of where people were born or how they got here, every person’s life is sacred and must be protected.   As Prophets we are called to bring the revelation of the dignity and sanctity of the human body as expressed to us by John Paul II to everyone who can not understand why its not okay to have pre-marital relations, to use artificial contraception, or condone the harvesting of embryonic stem cells.  And even though we are called to deliver these messages without condemnation but rather with love and compassion, we are and we will continue to be met with rejection, abusive language, and hatred.  

However this is nothing new.  It has been happening since the time of Jeremiah, Jesus, and throughout the centuries up to today.  And while we may feel the struggle of Jeremiah or be met with the rejection that Jesus felt, we are still called to remain faithful remembering that God is with us. that He is guiding us and that His Son has won the final victory for us if only we can stand firm in proclaiming the truth, being compassionate in our message, and forgiving to those who can not or will not yet accept the truth.

Nobody likes a Jeremiah.  It is not a pleasant job, but it is the work of the disciple, it is the job description of our Baptism, and it the call of the God who loves us.

God's Love & Light Dispel the Darkness

Homily: Sunday, 4th Week in Lent -- March 18, 2012
1^st Reading: 2 Chron. 36: 14-16, 19-23 – Early and often did the Lord, the God of their fathers send messengers to them.
2^nd Reading: Ephesians 2: 4-10 – God who is rich in mercy because of the great love He has for us.
Gospel Reading: John 3: 14-21 – For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son so that all who believe might not perish but might have eternal life.
 
  Love – Light – Life    or   Darkness – Deception – Dispair – Death

Today is Laetare Sunday.  We are a just a little more than half way through our journey in Lent and it’s time to take a break from all of the work we hopefully have been doing to prepare ourselves for Holy Week and the celebration of Easter.   Now all of you chocoholics that have given up Hershey bars and Reese’s Peanut Butter cups for Lent, this doesn’t mean you can eat yourself into a chocolate coma.  The word Laetare means joyful and today we are reminded that even though what we are about to celebrate in a couple of weeks will require us to confront the sadness, horror, and feelings of despair, as we follow our Lord through His passion, there is light at the end of the tunnel.  Why? (Show John 3:16 Poster.)   This may well be the most popular Scripture verse in the world, or at least in our country.   There was a time when you couldn’t go to a sporting event or a concert, without seeing at least one person holding up poster like this.  And wouldn’t it be great if everyone in the stadium or arena took these words to heart, but in all honesty we have to ask ourselves do they or we really understand the depth of what these words mean.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son that we might not perish, but that we might have eternal life”  How can we even begin to understand what this means?  How can we know that God loves us?  How can I know that God loves me?  How can anyone know especially when we live in a world filled with so much darkness some of our own making, but also darkness thrust upon us through no fault of our own?  Well in order to know we are loved, we must first come to know the Lover.  And second, being able to hold on to this feeling, this belief that we are loved will depend on what we do in the darkness.

Today’s readings remind us that even when God calls out to his people, then and now and sends messengers then and now to light the path for us, there have been and still are times when His people turn away from him, and choose the darkness.  And sometimes when people have fallen into darkness whether by their choice or not, they can get lost, and stumble around, and can’t seem to find their way out, unless they turn back to or are brought back to God.  It may be that God will use another person to help guide us out of the darkness or call us to bring someone else out of darkness.  

The 1^st reading is a mini-history of the Israelites people.  It reminds them of how their choices to turn from God, and toward temptations, evil allurements, selfish acts, and worshiping false idols resulted in their being dragged off into captivity as slaves.  Then in their darkest moments they cried out to God to save them, and after enough of them had repented God moves the heart of a Persian king Cyrus who grants them their freedom and allows them to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, they and their ancestors had desecrated by their sinful acts years before.  So God shows His love for them and He uses a pagan King to lead them out of darkness.  Now it was up to them to get reacquainted with the God who loves them, and not end up falling into darkness again.  But as we know God’s people all of us continue to backslide, and to fall into darkness and in this darkness we forget or find it hard to see or feel God’s love for us.  It is especially during these times that we need to return to the words of today’s Gospel.  It is in these words that we come to know the lover.    How can we know we are loved?  How can we know it’s going to be okay?   Because the Son of God was lifted up so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. 

We are being told today to pick up our heads and look up at the crucifix, to meditate on it, and reflect on what it means.   For God so loved the world, you, me, everyone that he gave his only begotten Son that we might not perish, but that we might have life.  Look at the cross and see the extremes to which the darkness has taken hold of us.  Meditate on the extremes to which God would go to save us, and to bring us back into His light.  It is in the crucified Son that we come to know how much Father God loves us.   So coming to know the lover is how we come to know we are loved.  But knowing we are loved by God does not guarantee we will not fall into darkness.   In fact we are reminded that even when there is light, even when Jesus came, the gospel tells us that the people preferred the darkness to the light.   Think about when you wake up in the dark, and someone turn’s on a light.   It hurts your eyes and you say “turn it off.”   Well the nature of evil and sin is that it seeks to keep the one it has captured in the dark, because evil itself can not stand the light.   It is evil that seeks to deceive us into believing that the light is not good for us, that we are safe in the darkness.  And there is a lot of darkness in the world today.  And what has been its effect?   

As a society we haven’t just taken God who is the perfect light and put him under a bushel basket, we have locked him away in a closet and said He has no place in our public lives.    And without His light to guide us, the darkness of selfishness, greed, impurity, and worship of all sorts of idols and gods continues to spread throughout our world.   In this darkness we see many who have made the choice that they don’t need God.  Also in this darkness we find those who in some cases through no fault of their own must endure severe physical, emotional, and spiritual pain every day.   Most of us know people who suffer physical pain so great and prolonged that it would be understandable if they found it difficult to feel God’s love for them.   There are those who can not find their way out of the darkness of addiction to drugs, alcohol, porn, and power.   How are they to believe God that loves them?   There are those whose darkness comes from being a victim of all manner of abuse and whose scars are so deep and so numerous, that their pain keeps them in darkness.  How are they to find God’s love in all of this?  It may require someone else, like you or me to help them find their way back to the foot of the Cross.  God may require you or me to be the messenger who carries His love letter to the person in darkness.  We may have to be the ones who say the words, God loves you so much that He gave his only Son to suffer with you and for you so that one day you can be relieved of your pain.   It may be you or I who are called to convince a person, trapped in their addiction, their pain, their darkness, that they don’t have to remain there, that you or I will help them find their way out.  We may have to become the light of Christ to those who have despaired of ever finding their way out of their darkness.  

So today we have taken a break in our Lenten journey to hear some Good News.   We have heard just how much God loves us.  So much so that He would give over to suffering and death that which is most precious to Him, so that in what ever we are called to suffer or endure, we will know that He suffers along with us.   We are reminded today that the darkness we choose, or the darkness that is thrust upon us will not last forever.  But because darkness hates the light, it will not give up without a fight.   We must first choose and then to work at bringing ourselves and then others out of the darkness and into that perfect light which is God’s love.   It doesn’t happen overnight.  It takes repentance, transforming ourselves, changing our lives, making better choices, and answering the call to help others so that we can all find our way out of the darkness.  And as our eyes slowly adjust, we have the hope that one day we will be able to stand in the fullness of God’s light without hurting our eyes.

But it all begins with the Cross and the one who hung upon it.   We must make it our constant practice to look upon the Crucifix, and the crucified Jesus and appreciate what He freely went through for us.   Only in this way can we enter into the celebration of Easter with joy and a grateful heart for all that God has done for us.

Whoever is angry with his brother will be liable for judgment.

Homily: Friday, 1^st Week in Lent -- March 2, 20121^st Reading: Ezekiel 18: 21-28 – None of the crimes he committed shall be remembered against him.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 5: 20-26 – Whoever is angry with his brother will be liable for judgment.

We can only be enslaved if we allow ourselves to be.  I would like to share this story I came across on the web because it speaks so simply and clearly to our human condition.  It is called:

The Duck and the Devil.
 

            “There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods.  He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck.  Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and grieved.  In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to see his sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

             After lunch the next day Grandma said, " Sally, let's wash the dishes." But Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen." Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck ?" So Johnny did the dishes. Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, " I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make Supper." Sally just smiled and said," Well that's all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help. " She whispered again, " Remember the duck?" So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help.

              After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's, he finally couldn't stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck. Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, "Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you."

Our readings today remind us that God is a God of compassion, mercy, and justice.  In the 1^st reading from Ezekiel, the Lord offers hope to those who have sinned, and a warning to those who know better but choose to sin anyway.  It says that if the wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and if he repents and keeps God’s commandments and does what is right and just, he shall surely live.  He shall not die.  So in these words there is hope for everyone no matter how they have lived their life in the past.  God wants us to turn back to him but we also have the choice to do so or not.  There is also a warning for those who are virtuous, those who know what is right.   We are warned that a virtuous person who knows what is the right thing to do but chooses to turn away from God anyway, that person is accountable for their actions and they risk spiritual death.  We do have a choice.  But sometimes we act on impulse or without thinking, like the little boy in today’s story.  And once we have acted, it sometimes becomes hard to turn back.  We become paralyzed by what we have done, and it requires humility, courage, and fortitude to admit that we have done wrong and to say we are sorry.

             Then in the Gospel, Jesus raises the bar higher with respect to the behavior that is expected of us.   Our righteousness must extend beyond just obeying the commandments and following the rules.  We must be consciously and constantly asking ourselves “what are those things which are getting in the way of me hearing the Lord, following His commands, and being moved by His spirit.  It’s not enough for us to not kill someone.  Jesus tells us to not allow ourselves to get angry and if we do, we need reconcile with the one with whom we are angry.  We need to forgive those who have been unjust, unfair, unfeeling towards us or someone we care about.  It’s not enough to not steal.  We shouldn’t allow ourselves to feel envious of what other’s have.  The envy will blind us to what God has already given us.  In all these things, we must be ready to forgive, to forget, and to let go of anger, envy, lust, greed, or whatever it is that has a hold on us. 

            The lesson from the scriptures today and from the story is important for us to hear, but it is more important that we believe.

           “ Whatever is in our past, whatever we have done the devil likes to keep throwing it up in our face (lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.) ....whatever it is....we need to know that God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing..... He has seen our whole life. He wants us to know that He loves us and that we are forgiven.  He's just wondering how long we will let the devil make a slave of us.   The great thing about God is that when you ask for forgiveness, He not only forgives us, but He forgets what we have done.  It is by God's grace and mercy that we are forgiven.  It is through God’s love that we are saved. And we need to always remember that God is standing at the window.”

3rd Monday Ordinary Time -- A nation divided cannot stand

Homily: Jan. 23, 2012—Monday, 3^rd Week in Ordinary Time                                

1^st Reading: 2 Samuel 5: 1-7, 10 – David becomes King of all of both kingdoms.

Gospel: Mark 3: 22-30 – A kingdom divided cannot stand.

       If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

             A busload of our parishioners is returning this evening from Washington, where they spent the day marching for, witnessing to, and defending the most precious gift God has given us, the right to live.   And just as Jesus was met with opposition on so many occasions from religious leaders and the general public, our brothers and sisters who traveled to the Nation’s capitol today were likely to encounter opposition from protestors and lawmakers. 

            We are a nation divided on so many issues, but none more critical to the spiritual life of our country than those which threaten the sanctity of life.    And there was a time when we as a nation could not or would never have imagined that abortion, euthanasia, and embryonic stem cell research would be not only legal but acceptable to a large portion of society.   It didn’t happen overnight.  The devil has been working slowly, methodically, and deceptively to change the minds and hearts of people.   It has been the execution of a slow and methodical plan to separate people from God.    It was so when Jesus walked the earth and it is same today.     By misinterpreting, and misrepresenting the words of Sacred Scripture and having disdain for Sacred Tradition, those in power and those seeking power have led people astray.   They have determined that they know the mind and heart of God, and have crafted a message disguised as one of compassion when in reality it is self serving.   Rather than showing care for human life, they have devalued human life. 

            Make no mistake it is a faith-filled Christian who strives to live out the words of the Gospel in all humility and seeks to defend the sanctity of all human life that is compassionate.    A true pro-life Christian cares for the health and welfare of the woman in crisis as well as her unborn child.  A true pro-life Christian cares about the family who suffers watching their elderly loved one’s health deteriorate at the end of life as well as for the elderly person.    But just as Jesus was accused of being possessed by the devil for the good works he performed and the truth he spoke, so it is for those today who work to protect life.  But to also be clear, there are those whose zeal and passion for the Pro-Live cause have driven them to acts of violence which contradict the very essence of what it means to be Pro-Life.  This is also the work of the evil one who deceives and confuses people by convincing them that this is what God calls them to do.

             So while it is a fact that today our nation is divided, we must continue to be faithful witnesses of the truth.  We must continue to show love and compassion to all in need and forgiveness to those who would persecute with words and actions.  We must peacefully and tirelessly work to bring our nation back to God, and under God’s protection.   This is what spiritual warfare is all about.   This is the heritage of the Disciples of Christ.  

               

Is God Unfair? -- The Parable of the Generous Land owner

Homily: Sunday 25^th Week Ordinary Time _September 18, 2011  

1^st Reading: Isaiah 55: 6–9 – My thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways says the Lord.

Gospel: Luke 8: 4-15 – Parable of the Generous Land owner or Sour Grapes in the Vineyard

I couldn’t help but think that if Jesus told the Parable of the Generous Landowner today, he would have been approached by lawyers for the AFL, CIO, or the Teamsters demanding to know the name and address of this landowner so they could file a lawsuit for unfair labor practices.  We as humans are all about fairness.  It goes against our human nature to accept that life is unfair.   We are put here by God.  We are told that God loves us.  We are told that He calls us to be gentle, compassionate, and kind to others.  We are reminded often that He wants us to pray, and go to Church, and to be faithful.  Yet we see examples everyday of good people who do all these things who suffer and not so good people who don’t.   We wonder why bad things happen to this person, and not to that person.   We may think we deserve more than we’ve gotten, while others didn’t deserve what they got.  We may wonder why life is so unfair, and perhaps at times even dare to think that maybe God is unfair.   These questions are understandable when you consider that they come from a human perspective.  We tend to equate fairness with justice.  They are not the same thing.  Yes life is unfair but we can’t think of God in terms of fairness.  God is abundantly generous and his ways are not our ways and his thoughts are so far above our thoughts that we cannot begin to see how His wisdom is at work when we deal with issues of fairness.

            In telling the story of the Generous Landowner, Jesus was not only painting a picture how God thinks and how He deals with His people but Jesus was also pushing the buttons of the self-righteous.  The chosen ones who resented that Jesus offered the same opportunity for forgiveness and salvation to gentiles and pagans.  In the story the laborers who were hired at the beginning of the day symbolized the Jews who had heard God’s word early on, and followed the commandments and the law their whole life.  The laborers whom the landowner gave work to later in the day symbolized those non-Jews, that is pagans and sinners who heard the Gospel later in life, but when they heard it they embraced it.    The Landowner as we know symbolizes God who out of His generosity pays the same amount to those who only worked a few hours as those who worked all day.   And as we hear, the laborers who worked all day cried foul and accused the Landowner of being unfair even though they had negotiated and agreed on the pay they would receive before they began.

So it obvious that the story symbolizes how generous God is, but what else are we to take from this, that God is not fair?  Not at all, what the Lord is telling us is that what God offers is not payment for doing good or working hard.  What He is offering is salvation and eternal life.  We can not earn these.  We could never do enough in our lifetime to be deserving of what God offers us.  These are the gifts freely given by the God who loves us.  These gifts are the same for all and available to all.   And we show our appreciation and acceptance of the gift by following the example of the one who earned the gifts for us.   And though God offers the same gift, that is eternal life to everyone, the way we come to receive it differs from person to person.  We are all journeying toward the same goal from a different direction, under different circumstances, and with different life experiences.

A second point of the story is the plight of the day laborers.  These were unskilled workers who during Jesus time went out every day to the market place looking for work so that they could feed their family.  They literally lived from day to day and from job to job.  If they did not work, their family did not eat.   So by paying each worker a full day’s wage regardless of whether they worked one hour or all day, the wealthy land owner is also seen as having compassion for those who needed to feed their families.   And perhaps the Lord is asking us to consider looking at similar situations today from a different perspective.

A third point of the parable is that there was an urgency to get workers into the vineyard.  It was likely that it was harvest time, and the harvest had to be picked before the rains came and destroyed the crop.  That urgency continues today.  The vineyard is our families, our neighborhoods, our community, our country, our world.   Some have been working in the vineyard their whole lives while others are coming to work late in life.  There are full time workers and there are day laborers. And, if they have heard and are faithful to the Gospel, showing love, mercy and compassion to others, if they seek the Lord, and they call on Him to guide them, then guess what.  Those who come to the Lord late in life are offered the same gift as those who have been faithful from birth.  Now we are not supposed to delay our own hearing and accepting the Lord’s invitation.  There is grace and security in coming to know the love of God and accepting the gift of His Son from the earliest moment we can.  But there are those who come to this understanding and acceptance late in life, and sometimes after many years of living for themselves and not for others.  But God still offers them the same opportunity, the same gift (salvation & eternal life) and He expects those who already know Him and have been faithful to not look down on others who come to Him seeking pardon & forgiveness late in life.  Instead we should be helping them to turn their lives around, and to see the gift that is offered, doing so with kindness and compassion.   The Kingdom vineyard is made up of all kinds of workers, all working to different schedules, but all toward the same goal.  It is not a question of God’s fairness.  It is a fact of God’s generosity, mercy, and compassion.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Homily: Monday, Solemnity of Assumption of BVM – August 15, 2011                                

1^st Reading: Revelation 11:19a-12:1-6a,10a – A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet

Gospel: Luke 1:39-56 – My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.

Doctor Marcellino D’Ambrosio, a Catholic professor and theologian recounted that he once asked a college theology class if anyone could explain the doctrine of the Assumption of Mary.  A student replied, “yeah, that’s the teaching whereby the Catholic Church “assumes” that Mary is in heaven.

And while the church certainly puts more prayer, thought, and reflection as well as guidance by the Holy Spirit into its teaching before declaring something a dogma, it does seem very natural for us to believe that God would honor Mary in a special way.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was proclaimed as dogma by Pope Pius XII in 1950 and has been held as a truth believed by Christians since the early days of the Church.  The Eastern Rite Church celebrates the “Dormition” (falling asleep) of Mary, whereas we in the Western or Roman Rite celebrate the Assumption of Mary.  The truth we believe is that having completed the course of her earthly life, Mary was taken up to heaven body and soul by God, because He willed that her body should not suffer decay or corruption. 

There is no recorded account in scripture, and there are no witnesses to this event mentioned.  It is a truth arrived at by logic, through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Mary, who was chosen by God, to be born without sin, so that she could bear His son,  Mary, who retained her virginity while giving birth and throughout her life, was set apart from all other creatures.   She who remained faithful to God to the very end was now given the highest place of honor in heaven alongside her Son.  In all these events, the Church sees the wisdom of God in that she who became the mother of us all, and the symbol of the Church, that He would honor her in this way.

The Assumption of Mary also gives us hope that we too have a chance one day to be in heaven body and soul.

In the Gospel today, we hear of Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth.  Mary is pregnant with Jesus, and Elizabeth is pregnant with John the Baptist.  Elizabeth greets Mary with the pronouncement, “who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”  And Mary responds with the beautiful hymn we know as the Magnificat.  “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”   Mary provides an example for us of true humility and trust in God.  She models the behavior and disposition we should all have.

Just as she brought Jesus to Elizabeth and to John, we too are to bring Christ to others, not as a chore to be carried out, but instead we are to do it with a spirit of great joy.  By our words and our actions, people should be able to see our souls proclaiming the greatness of the Lord and our spirits rejoicing that God is our savior.

   Mary leads the way and provides the model we are all to follow.  We too are called to lift up the lowly, because that is what God does for us.  There are so many people who have been beaten down by the struggles of life.  What can we do to lift them up?  We are to fill the hungry with good things because that is what God does for us. How might we feed the hungry today?  There are certainly enough soup kitchens that can use any monetary or volunteer help we can provide.   We are also reminded that there are tens of thousands starving in Somalia.  Their spirits as well as their bodies are hungry.  How can we help fill them with not only good food but with hope and consolation?    Mary’s humble acceptance of God’s will provides us with the example of how our souls can magnify the Lord and she continues provide the example from her place of honor in heaven.

Because of her Immaculate Conception, and the favor she was shown by God, there might be the temptation to think, that it was easy for her.  Of course her soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.  Of course her spirit rejoices in God, she was born without sin.  Yes she was born without sin, but she was not immune to human feelings and human failings.  She was still a target of temptation for the devil.  She still needed to trust in God during very difficult times of her life.  Think about it.  She and Joseph had to flee from a maniacal King Herod who wanted to kill her infant son.  Travel to Egypt in those days was no picnic.  It was a long distance, in which Mary would have to have held Jesus while riding on a donkey, while Joseph kept a watchful eye for wild animals or bandits who might attack them.

Mary had to endure the ridicule of her home town when they found out she was pregnant.  She had to endure the ridicule of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes toward her Son as he went about his public ministry.    And she had to watch helplessly as her Son was brutally tortured, and hung on a cross to die.  Mary was without, sin but not without feeling.  She suffered greatly.  And it would have been natural for her to question or to doubt God’s plan, but her faith never wavered.   And it is natural for us, during those times in our life, when our crosses feel like they are too heavy to carry to imagine having a joyful spirit or to feel close to God in our soul.   During those times, we should turn to Mary who can understand those feelings because of what she has endured. 

            It is natural for us to assume that Mary is in heaven and it is natural for us to assume that God would grant her the honor of taking her up body and soul.   The word assumption comes from another word “assumere” which means to take to oneself.  In the Assumption, Jesus takes Mary, body and soul to himself, to be with Him.  This is the hope that we all have, if only our spirits proclaim the greatness of the Lord, and our souls rejoice in God our savior.

You are what you eat

Homily – Monday 3rd Week of Easter May 9, 2011 – You are what you eat.

1st Reading Acts 6: 8-15 – Stephen filled with grace & power

Gospel Reading John 6:22-29 – Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life

In an article entitled, “You are what you Eat”, Yakov Levinson wrote,

“Our eating style reflects and affects who and what we are.  It identifies our approach to life.  If we examine various societies and cultures, we see that each has its traditional foods and food ceremonies.  One will say "I am Italian. I often eat spaghetti, lasagna, or pizza," or another,  "I am a real American.  I eat hamburgers, hot dogs, steak, coke, and french fries." The French eat crepes, Belgians eat waffles, Chinese eat rice, Ethiopians eat teff, the Swiss eat chocolate, Israelis eat felafel, and Eskimos eat whale blubber. In short, the "way we eat" reveals how we identify ourselves. It reflects and often determines our world-view, our values, and our entire approach to life.”

               
The passage we heard today from John’s Gospel is the introduction to what is known as the bread of life discourse.  It is the day after Jesus  performed the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000.   That night his apostles got into a boat to cross over the lake to the other side.   It was that same night that a storm had blown up and Jesus walked on the water and calmed the storm and the fears of his disciples.   The people did not see Jesus go with them and assumed he was still close by.    The next day when they couldn’t find him, they get in boats and cross over and they find him teaching in the synagogue.  When the finally catch up with Him, the ask Him, when did you get hear?  And as we hear, Jesus questions their true motives in looking for Him.  He tells them that they are more interested in have their bellies full than carefully listening to what He has been teaching them.  He is offering them food that will last forever and allow them to live forever if they but believe in Him.   The food that they truly need, the food that will define who they are is His very body and blood.   He is challenging them and us to look beyond our basic physical need for food and instead go deeper to the spiritual food that we must have if we want to live forever.  That spiritual food requires that we believe in Him and the one who sent Him. 

            
The saying, “you are what you eat” was never more true than when it is applied to the Eucharist.    For it is when we truly believe that what we are receiving, what we are eating, is truly the body and blood of Christ that we are Christ like, that we are Christian.  We become like the one we consume.  But it requires that we go deeper than the need to satisfy a basic human need for physical nourishment.  It requires that we recognize that our souls, the very life of God within us is sustained, replenished, and nourished by God Himself.    These are difficult things to understand, but Jesus requires that we only have to believe, we don’t have to understand it.

               
I had the privilege of preaching at the 1^st Communion for my grandson this weekend.  And when I say that the Gospel for the Mass was the bread of life discourse from John, I nearly freaked out.    How do you talk to 7 year olds about what Jesus meant when he said, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, you will not have life within you?  But in praying about it, I boiled it down to two words for them, “mystery” and “miracle”.   We can’t understand it.  That is the mystery.  And since only God can perform miracles, it becomes a simple matter of faith, that is do we believe that Jesus is God or not?   If we believe He is God, then we can accept what He says we must do to have eternal life.   He wants us to become what we eat.

               
This Eucharistic mindset is also critical to Evangelization.  For if all we do is feed those that are hungry, which anyone can do, and we do nothing else, they will be hungry again.   But if in feeding their bodies, we also feed their spirit with the realization that God so loved them that He gave His only Son for them, then we are giving them food which lasts forever.   But the degree to which we will be effective in feeding the spirit of those that come into our midst will be based on what we believe and how we are living out that belief.

           
In the today’s Gospel, the people ask Jesus, “what can we do to accomplish the works of God?  Jesus tells them, “ this is the work of God, that you believe in the one He sent.   Each time we approach the altar to receive the Eucharist, it is an opportunity to reaffirm what we believe.  And if we truly believe and carry that belief out into the world, then people can say of us, “you are what you eat.”