One of the most profound pieces of scripture that I know is the proclamation that Jesus is the foundational stone that was rejected by the builders, and will cause many to stumble, but is also the stone supporting all of the living stones that comprise His church. If we believe in Him, this cornerstone is our surest support. If not, we are doomed to continually bash ourselves against it and eventually shatter. This also calls to mind for me a conversation that Jesus had with a young Pharisee who was trying to justify himself in the Lord’s sight and the sight of others and asked Jesus about the greatest of commandments. Our Lord answered that to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength, and to love one another, were the foundational commandments that all the rest fell within. It is ironic that this conversation happened with a Pharisee because there were so many of them that were completely obsessed with the precepts of the laws they developed, so much so as to forget God’s true message and commandments. Yet this fellow understood and agreed with our Lord’s response. You see, for him, Jesus was a foundational stone that he could build his faith and understanding upon if he persisted. Yet for so many others, Jesus’s words could not be accepted and caused them to stumble, because they couldn’t get past their own agendas and priorities.

Our Lord made it very clear that the love of our Father and creator and of His creations were the foundational priority, and that all else was predicated upon this. Yet we still find ourselves stumbling sometimes as we get caught up in what we think are important issues that must be addressed. One of the latest of these is the debate that I see happening over the issue of religious gatherings in our churches being infringed upon by the government during this pandemic, and also the criticism of our bishops and priests who are not holding Mass in the churches as part of their adherence to the government’s directives. We are allowing ourselves to be swallowed up in the debate over religious freedom and concerned with whether our pastors are making the right call by not having Mass, and our not being able to receive the Sacraments the way we are used to. To be sure, the reception of the Sacraments is hugely important to each of us, and we all long for the time when we will be able to partake of them directly again. However, we need to be very careful of the ideas that we are lending our voices to during this time, as they are definitely heard by those who shape policies and feel the pressure of public opinion. This is particularly true of the input we provide in our correspondence, and in social media. We need to carefully consider what we are really working toward – is it truly in the interest of all of God’s children?

The intention of wanting to return to Mass and receive the Sacraments is not at issue here; we ALL want to be able to do this. We all long for the gathering for Mass, and to celebrate it communally, and to receive our Lord’s body and blood to strengthen us and draw us into that closer unity that only the Eucharist can provide. What we need to consider, however, is the impact this could have on those who are most vulnerable to this pandemic and who are being placed in harm’s way during our gathering together, and the potential for the continued proliferation of this virus that will impact humanity in general. We are called to love one another, as God’s Spirit resides within each of us, and part of that love is looking out for one another and putting our desires second to our love for others. This is the way of ‘agape’ love, selfless love, the love that Jesus demonstrated for each of us upon the cross. We must place the well-being of others ahead of our own desires, even for something as right as gathering together for Mass physically, if it will negatively affect others’ health. God gave us an intellect to allow us to make decisions based on our circumstances; it is not a betrayal of our faith or principles to adapt and deal prudently with a challenging situation and try to preserve the health and safety of those who may be at greater risk of sickness. Our Lord can, and will, still continue to work within us with the remote celebrations that are taking place. He is not limited by these at all, and neither as His children are we in our capacity to express our love for Him and others. Our God is greater than these physical limitations we struggle with and has given us a capacity to love that transcends form and location, but it cannot transcend our intent; we must be true to that and desire above all to express that selfless love. He still calls us to the same mindset that He placed before that young Pharisee, to focus on loving God, and to love one another above all other commitments – these are our foundations now, just as they were then. All the other well-intentioned ideas and debate must come second to our observance of this most important of God’s commandments. Let us never lose sight of that and cause ourselves to stumble.

 

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Our readings this Sunday come together rather sequentially to really illustrate for us what our path to salvation through Jesus really is.

In our first reading, we can see the necessity of baptism and accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, as the beginning of the path to our salvation. For those of us with the opportunity to know Jesus, this is crucial and is the beginning of our journey in faith. We must be as accepting of Him as those who were gathered that day before Peter, asking what they must do to be saved. You see, each of us with our sins contributed to His crucifixion as surely as any of those gathered there, and we must just as humbly accept Peter’s admonition and guidance. This includes the acceptance of our responsibility for all those transgressions that Jesus took our punishment for and saved each of us. Think about that for a moment – every transgression we have ever committed, those that we still commit, and any we will ever do, He accepted on our behalf, and took our place to be punished. Our humility and gratitude should be profound, and our resolve to stay as far from sin as best we can should be equally profound.

In our second reading, as part of the acceptance of the baptism and belief in our Lord, there is a unique and difficult challenge placed before each of us: Our Lord’s example of “When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly.” Imagine for a moment two things. First, how difficult this example can be in practice for us – our instinct often is to lash out when we are injured or wronged – and second, how different things would be in our world if we could get past our own feelings of hurt when things happen, and have enough trust in God’s justice that there would be no need for any kind of retaliation in seeking our own flawed form of “justice”. We would know that the scales will be balanced no matter what, and we could save ourselves from the sin and pain of all the anger and hurt that generate so many cycles of hatred that can be ongoing. Our world, I suspect, would look vastly different if all our energies were put toward God’s purposes instead. The key to this in practice is surrendering our wills to God’s guidance on a consistent basis. This is not always easy and requires vigilance and practice on a continual basis for it to become entrenched in our minds and hearts, and so becomes our default behavior. When it does, and with practice, it will, we will know a peace here in our earthly life that we have never before experienced. The stuff that causes us so much angst, will cease to matter, and we will treat it as the triviality that it is. We will be drawn closer to God in a whole new way, in trust, and in love.

Lastly, in today’s gospel, there is a clear line drawn between what we are to recognize as the voice of our Shepherd, rather than the many voices of all those who would lead us toward the destruction of our souls. These voices come in many forms; there are leaders and politicians, there are famous personalities in the media, there are books and lyrics from songs, there are social media postings, there are people we consider friends, and there are sometimes even those who may be family. In short, anything we perceive from others that does not pass the litmus test of conforming to Jesus’ message of justice and peace, is from those other voices. We need to be careful to only listen to the voice of our Shepherd. Those other voices can sound sweetly familiar and persuasive, but they are alien to us if we stay focused on our Lord’s message. When we hear something, we have to ask ourselves, “Does this appeal to my baser human instincts, or would this align with the message of love, peace, and justice that our Lord never wavered from? Do these words lift others up toward a better understanding and relationship with our Lord or are they just noise coming from secular society designed to subtly erode our attention and focus from His teachings?” Subtlety is one of the enemy’s best tools. It lulls us into complacence and makes us question our own sense of what we know to be right by suggesting that we are being “overly sensitive” or perhaps intolerant to use the popular term. True tolerance is one thing and is a virtue; pandering to corrupt teachings because we are afraid of being labeled is completely another. People have weaponized terms that many of people are very sensitive to these days, in order to browbeat them into their way of thinking. If you look back through history, there is no shortage of the corrupted usage of terms like tolerance preceding many of our greatest tragedies, and mankind’s proliferation of sin. It’s used as a label of shame to browbeat those who stand for something into submission to popular ideology, that serves the purposes of others. To be truly tolerant means to be confident enough in what and who we believe in to accept disagreement (or even abuse) from others as we disagree, but never to be won over by a falsehood or compromise of what we know to be right. We strive instead toward peaceful change through our example and patient response to what comes from those around us who do not yet have a true belief in our Lord or his word. This is the hardest of paths; it requires careful thought in our interactions, prayer for the grace to stay the course, and most importantly the personal humility, and faith in our God to take refuge in His wisdom and words when we are in difficult circumstances. If we practice this, the reward is at the end – the gate that so few enter, the one that leads to the Shepherd whose voice calls all to Him. The question is, do we recognize it and follow?

 

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In our gospel today, we hear of two of Jesus’ disciples journeying to a small town called Emmaus. Every time I hear this story, I feel like the message is being aimed directly at me. I can relate to busily trudging along and trying to make my way toward some destination, and in the process being oblivious to much of what I encounter on the way. I don’t see the signs, I don’t pay enough attention to what is plainly before me, and I often fail to recognize the good things God has placed around me. I’m busy, too busy, or perhaps simply so focused on my temporal goals that the rest doesn’t get through. That’s not a good way to try to make our way through this life. As I have said before, the purpose of this life is to prepare us for the next. The life that is eternal and that has far greater significance to each of us.

When Jesus calls the two disciples out and tells them how foolish they are, and how slow of heart to believe, that rebuke resonates about my own obstinacy and unwillingness to recognize the things He is trying to get across to me. It highlights how many signs I have been given over the years, and graces, and prayers answered, and I still don’t get it sometimes. How many times was he right next to me, and I didn’t recognize Him? I’ve spent time studying the bible, I’ve tried to immerse myself in my prayer life, and even gone on retreats sometimes to try to gain perspective, only to slip back into old bad habits. Why? It’s called the human condition, and it’s something we all need to actively guard against. That same condition is the one created by the fall, and we still feel its ramifications today.

So how do we guard against this condition that came from the earliest humanity? First of all, we have an advocate in Jesus Christ. He is our mediator to the Father, our advocate who shared our human nature and knows full well the challenges we face. He is our healer, and that healing comes from both His words and from His body and blood that we receive in the Eucharist. It is impossible to overstate how much we need His influence and graces if we are to have a chance at eternal life. We need to cultivate our relationship with Him and attune ourselves far more than we often do, to His will and guidance. We can’t afford to walk through life blindly because we’re too focused on getting where we think we want to go; instead, we need to keep the real goal in mind. Nothing in this life matters if we do not have the hope of living in eternal life with our Lord. We think we know what is important to us, but our viewpoint is hopelessly out of reference with the eternal, because of how limited our capacity is to understand such things. This is where digesting Jesus’ words on a daily basis comes in. He gives us perspective, He gives us the intellectual and spiritual food that we need to accomplish this. We need His word, just as we need His body and blood as our spiritual sustenance; both sustain us.

When we make our way through our week, it is incredibly easy to get into the mode where we get immediately swallowed up by our routines for work, school, hobbies, whatever. If we think that we’ll just make an effort to be more aware of what God is trying to tell us, without taking some concrete steps to facilitate this, I think we are kidding ourselves. The first day of the week is Sunday, the Lord’s day, for a reason. It is our starting point, and if we observe the Lord’s day properly, as the Sabbath that it is, we should be starting out with our focus where it ought to be and do some planning for the rest of our week. Solid planning, just like all the stuff we put in our organizers, or the post-it notes we leave ourselves for everything else we do – we have set times to STOP, spend time with our Lord in prayer and meditation, and as part of that receive the reminder we need to pay attention to His actions in our life, to look back and really be aware of what He has been doing, and whether we even acknowledged it. This takes time and a bit of discipline, but it’s the commitment that should frankly supersede all our other seemingly important commitments. There is no guarantee of tomorrow. All our illusions of control and planning are frankly just that: illusions. We can try to do the best we can, but in the end, there is only the one constant we can count on to safeguard us and get us to the gift of each new day, and that is Jesus Christ. I think it might be worth our giving Him some time in our schedule, to draw closer to Him, and to listen to what He is trying to tell us. Let’s not miss all the signs and the guidance He is trying to give us as we make our way along the road.

I know that I mentioned earlier in the homily the necessity of receiving the Sacraments, and with or current situation, that might seem like an insensitive statement at the moment. However, I’d like to take a moment to remind everyone, that despite the limitations we currently have due to social distancing, you can still receive Holy Communion and the Sacrament of Reconciliation spiritually, please see the video link below from Father Chris Alar.

Father Chris Alar video – spiritually receiving the Sacraments

God Bless Everyone – and please stay safe this week!

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There is a common theme in our readings and Gospel today, and that is one of life in the resurrected Christ. Ours is not guaranteed to be an easy existence as we live our lives in communion with Christ Jesus, on the contrary, we are told specifically that we will be tested and tried, and refined. We will face challenges and adversity so that our faith will continue to grow and become pure, just as in the way metals are refined within a fire, so too will we be called to refine ourselves and to grow as followers of Jesus.

We are called to continue to live in community with one another, both so that we can be tested by one another, but also so that we can support one another when we stumble. We are called to take care of one another so that each can have their needs met, and so that no one is left alone. We are called to pray together, and to come together to celebrate the breaking of the bread in the form of the Eucharist, and to receive forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, so that our souls are nourished and cared for in the same way that our bodies are. This is one of the things that proves especially challenging right now as we are all separated in order to stem the spread of the pandemic. We must instead ask God for the grace to receive these gifts on a purely spiritual level and to still make the effort to ask for these graces and to partake of them as often as we can.

Likewise, as we receive care for our bodies and souls, we must also consider the task that we have been given. When Jesus said to His disciples, “as the Father has sent Me, so I send you” and then breathed on them to impart the gift of the Holy Spirit, our roles are called to be decidedly similar. You see as each of us has received the Holy Spirit through Baptism and Confirmation, we are indeed called upon to continue the work that Jesus had intended for us – to be witnesses to Him, and to evangelize to those who do not yet know Him. As the disciples were commissioned to forgive sins and to spread God’s word, so we are each called to spread the word of God. Perhaps the most effective way of doing this is simply how we live our lives on a daily basis. I can think of no better way to get people to take notice than to demonstrate to them daily the difference that belief and faith in Jesus Christ make in our lives. To show that it is our way, to be compassionate, to share in what we have (both temporal gifts and spiritual ones). To not be ashamed to stand up for our belief, and make known proudly that yes, we both believe in, and follow Jesus Christ because we love Him. We choose this way of life, not because of what we receive, but because of what we know to be true. In this day and age, when so many are content to treat faith as more of a punchline in a joke, than as a way of living, we are commissioned to be different. We are called to continue to show brightly the light that Christ brought back into this world at His birth and the hope that He gives all men through His death and resurrection. There is no salvation outside of that hope. God is merciful to those who have never heard of Him through no fault of their own, and we pray for his compassion to those souls who never knew Him directly, but who lived their lives in such a way as to reflect His teachings none the less. We know that God alone can read the mind and heart, and render just judgement, but we should be very much afraid, of the opportunities we miss to educate those who do not know Him yet and let them continue on without faith or knowledge of Him. To those whom much has been given, much will be expected, and as Catholics, we have indeed been given many graces and gifts of knowledge and reasons for faith. How then can we ever justify failing to share such treasures, which are as much necessities of life, as the bread we are called to break together? As we continue on in our social distancing, a lot of us are finding some extra time on our hands. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to spend it in ways that can give both the gift of faith, and perhaps newfound hope to someone who is isolated and afraid? It would be nice if we could come together directly to do this, but for now, we can certainly still use other avenues, such as social media, and other forms of remote communications to give witness. It doesn’t have to be preaching, if we’re asked how we are spending our time, don’t just talk about how the garden and the back yard are shaping up, talk about the extra time you have found for spending time with God, and the beauty of what that brings. Don’t worry about those who may initially scoff, they will still be left wondering on some level, what it is that you know, that perhaps they do not. Seeds are planted most effectively in this way. The loss of life due to the pandemic is tragic, but wouldn’t it be more to lose those who simply gave up because of their isolation, and seemingly inescapable loneliness, fear, and hopelessness? You can give that hope. To quote Pope John Paul II, be not afraid.

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In today’s Gospel, we hear of the emptiness of the tomb when it is first found by Mary of Magdala, and then Peter and John, and the initial pain and confusion that comes with it. They couldn’t quite yet comprehend what had just taken place, they had heard Jesus say before that He would rise on the third day, and yet, the thought that this had actually taken place still eluded them. I think sometimes we are not so different. We’ve heard the message of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, and how this saved us from death, and yet we behave often as though this isn’t the case. We doubt, we fear, we struggle with so much worry, and it is all pointless if we would simply grasp what Jesus did for us on the cross, and in rising from the tomb. Imagine a new way of thinking and living, where our true focus is on living in such a way that our Savior’s approval is the only focus that really matters.

You can be sure, that when Jesus appeared to His disciples in the room where they were staying, there was a serious mental shifting of gears. The realization that what He had promised was all true, that there was more to life than this fragile human existence, and that their relationship with God really was all that actually mattered in the larger picture. Daily struggles, politics, taxes, fears, all just took a serious back seat to the new reality. Jesus is alive, we will live if we are His followers, we will have eternal life just as He promised. Moreover, there is a reunion of loving friendship, they are indescribably glad to see the one they love, just as we should be. He is sitting with them, conversing, eating a small meal, it is just like old times, but with one important and profound difference, they have seen for themselves what only God could do. All the agony and sadness and fear of the cross, has been replaced by love and joy. What an amazing Easter morning.

There is much more to be done though, with the joy and privilege of seeing Jesus alive again in His glorified body, comes also a great deal of responsibility to make others aware of what has transpired, and how important this is to their own salvation. If we are not sharing what we know to be true, then we have really missed the point of Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection. He did all this out of love, and we are called to give the gift of this to others out of love. In our first reading, it almost sounds like Simon Peter is calling out those who had killed Jesus, and perhaps he was, but not for reasons of anger or retribution – you see Peter finally got it, he understood that because death had no hold on Jesus, all the fear and anger they had experienced as they saw their friend and teacher killed was completely pointless, and there was no room in the new reality they now lived for those feelings. They had amazing news to proclaim, and to share, and love of their fellow men to demonstrate and pursue, because they knew that is what Jesus had been forming them to do, it all made sense now. The awakening was complete, and now the task of calling others to belief and faith in Jesus had begun. They were boldly proclaiming their belief and Jesus message to all men, Jew and gentile, and this would take them to all the corners of the known world. All people were Gods creations, and they understood that His death and resurrection was for all of them, every man, woman, and child was precious and wanted by God to be part of His family, and to have eternal life with Him. This would seem like a daunting task when you think about it, but when approached with the new understanding they had attained, the magnitude didn’t matter because they knew they were not alone, and that what might be impossible for them on their own, was more than possible with God’s help, they were no longer even trying to go it alone, they accepted and wanted God’s help and guidance in all things. They talked to Him constantly and had no doubt that they were heard. This is their  call to us as well. To accept what they knew, and to live our lives to reflect that. It is not always easy, but with reliance on God, and a relationship that is constantly renewed and refreshed to include everything going on in our lives, we can have this as well. We can have the confidence and comfort of knowing God is with us, and most importantly we can let Him know how integral He is in our lives and how much love we have for him. I can’t imagine a nicer Easter present to give to our Lord than pursuing and living this. He already gave us our Easter present.

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I can remember when I was a child pondering Good Friday and feeling sorry for Jesus because of the pain He endured. I didn’t grasp then why He endured such pain, that there was salvation at work, rather than just suffering and death, and that I should, in fact, be profoundly and constantly grateful for that day. I also never understood all of the pain that existed as part of Jesus suffering while here on earth. I never considered the loneliness He must have sometimes endured, both in everyday life, but especially at the cross. Think about how often we hear in the bible of people who sought Jesus because of a need they had, and then ponder how often we hear of those who simply wanted to spend time with Him for His own sake. The instances are a bit more sparse.

When Jesus was in the garden praying to the Father shortly after his last Passover meal with His disciples, He experienced all of our emotions and pain, He knew that He would be abandoned and denied by those who were closest to Him. He knew that their faith in Him would be shaken, and yet His concern was for their wellbeing, and not His own. He did ask the Father that if the cup could pass Him by, to let it be so, but He also added, that not His will, but the Fathers be done in this. He was having a very frank talk with the Father about what He was feeling and experiencing, He did not deny it, He just let it all come out, and He still trusted enough to not only be honest but to tell the Father that He would accept whatever His decision was. No reticence, no caveats, no lacking in His faith in the one He knows can always be counted on to do what is ultimately best for us, and for all, even when we don’t understand it.

When the time arrived, and those who sought to arrest Him came, and He had to leave all of those closest to Him, He went without struggle, like a lamb, and accepted what had been decided. He knew that despite anything being possible for the Father, that prophecy was to be fulfilled, and fully accepted that He alone would bear that burden. He was alone after being taken from His disciples, He was alone in front of His accusers, He must have felt even more alone when Peter denied Him, and He was profoundly alone on the cross when He called out to the Father to ask why He had forsaken Him.

So, how much does He continue to feel alone now when we call upon Him only in times of adversity or want. He often doesn’t hear from us when we are doing well, we don’t think to share our lives with Him, to keep Him company, and to make Him part of our lives. Can you imagine the hurt and rejection of someone who wants so desperately to be loved by us, and who often can only look into our lives as an outsider, to not be able to feel part of our families or circle of friends? And yet, even there, His first thought is of what is best for us, He calls us to community with our Church family because He knows we do not do well on our own, and that we need one another. He calls us to commune, and to care for each other, to spend time in fellowship, and to receive gifts from Him in the form of His body and blood to strengthen us. He is more concerned with our well-being than with His own, as He has always been. He shows agape love, the selfless love that puts ones self last, and instead elevates the needs of others.

If we have any conscience at all, we have to ask ourselves, how can we change this? How can we love the way we are loved by our Lord, and in doing so draw closer to Him whose love and sacrifice have always existed, and are constant and ongoing? We can start by simply spending that most precious of commodities, our time. We can pray – it need not be fancy or formal, just talk. Tell the Lord how your day went, tell him what you are planning for your weekend, ask Him to be part of it, and most of all tell Him that you love Him. Tell Him that you didn’t mean to so often leave Him out of your everyday life. You can show Him that you have learned from Him and His example, by showing the same care for others. Find someone that you even suspect might be lonely and make it a point to reach out. A phone call, a letter, even an email or text, anything to break the isolation and monotony that so many are feeling right now. There is no better way to show that we kneel before the cross, than to simply take to heart our Lords example of sacrifice even in the smallest of ways. It will not go un-noticed. Loneliness is something that our Lord can well relate to, and to try to quench that same feeling in one of the least of His children will be appreciated by the one who bore so much pain, so much suffering, and so much loneliness Himself.

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There is a contrast between our first reading, and the second reading and Gospel message. The first shows the instructions from the Lord to prepare the people of Israel for their exodus from Egypt, by the procurement of a lamb. Its blood would be used to mark their doorpost so that the spirit that would take the lives of every firstborn in Egypt would spare the people of Israel this same fate. Its flesh would be eaten in haste to strengthen the people for their journey. All of these things were to prepare the people of Israel for a new life out of the captivity they were currently experiencing.

In our second reading and Gospel, there is a similar, but much deeper preparation taking place to allow the people of Israel relief and hope,  not just from their Roman oppressors, but from the burden of the laws that man had created, and from all of life’s struggles. There is a model being put in place of quiet caring and loving servitude, that is anything but the fierce leadership that many were awaiting and expecting from their Messiah. There is a Messiah, a suffering servant, who is going to show the people a new way of living, both temporally and eternally. You’ve heard me talk about this before, that the people of Israel didn’t take into account both of the Messianic prophecies. The first was to be the suffering servant; it was for this fulfillment that Jesus was born a man. The second would be the warrior, king, and judge that Jesus will be when he comes again. This understanding is crucial to our belief, and to the message that we are called to evangelize to others. The suffering servant would be the greatest of all because He would be the servant of all in the most profound sense.

When Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, it was an extension of his answer regarding the greatest of the two commandments when he was questioned by the Pharisee. Love the Lord your God (you do this by demonstrating a quiet servitude and obeying His laws) and love your brothers and sisters (which we can do by taking care of and serving them). If the God of the universe had no issue with girding himself with a towel and kneeling before others, who are we to EVER have an issue with serving one another. We don’t always do a very good job of keeping this in mind however; that is part of the human condition. We stumble (a lot), and we lose sight of the example we were given. To help us with that, we are also given sustenance to strengthen us, we are given the flesh and blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who knows our weakness provided us with this precious food to feed both our bodies and our spirits. At a time when He knew what was to happen to Him shortly, he gave us this precious gift, first to His disciples, and through them to each of us. Jesus’ blood and body were shed for each of us as part of the new covenant that we are all part of as His followers. We are each of us called as part of this covenantal relationship to demonstrate the same humility, and to care for one another no matter how humble the means of service. The greatest gift we can often give is the one that is most humbling to deliver, and yet it means the most, both to the one who receives it, and in the eyes of our Lord who sees our deeds. There is no shortage of need in this world. There are many who need our help, even in things as simple as spending the time with them and letting them know they are cared about. Tie the towel around your waste, kneel in humility, and follow what is sometimes the most difficult path for us to follow our Lord on, the one of the servant who is seen as greatest in the eyes of our Father.

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I can remember as a child, and even through early adulthood, not liking the account of the crucifixion of our Lord. It started out as a dislike, simply because I knew that Jesus died that day, and I didn’t like that. Moreover, I didn’t care for the Jewish people involved, as I saw them simply as cruel murderers of our Lord. The killers of this Jesus that I had always been taught about, and who was so wonderful, why on earth anyone would want to kill Him, let alone in such a terrible fashion, was unfathomable to me. It never occurred to me, that I might be one of His killers. Nor did it occur to me, that some of my own actions would drive those terrible nails into his wrists with the same force as the largest of hammers that might have been used. I did not understand then, that the Jewish people were God’s chosen people, and their role was, in fact, instrumental to salvation for us all.

Jesus came to earth in human form for one reason, to restore us as a people, so that we would not be condemned to receive the fruits of our sins. So that forgiveness and a closeness to God our Father would be possible. He was born to this, He grew and gained understanding that this was His purpose and that He would one day fulfill all prophecy, and suffer and die for our sins. He did not aspire to the kind of greatness we humans relate to, He did not come as the warrior king, nor as the judge yet, but rather as the suffering servant. This was also foretold in prophecy but was not what the people of that time were looking for. The Jewish leaders were looking for a solution to the Roman occupation, they were looking for that warrior, king, and judge, too early. They did not want to recognize Jesus for what He was, in part because it did not appear to fit their needs, in part because they thought his teachings were dangerous since they called into question the conduct of those in their own power structure, and certainly because they had seen so many false prophets during that time that their hearts had become hardened, jaded, and afraid. They had lost their sense of hope and replaced it with their laws, their precepts, and their own illusion of control.

It’s no surprise that they held the trial before the Sanhedrin at night, a practice that was completely illegal under their own law; they were afraid of the people’s reaction, and the subsequent retaliation from the Roman occupiers when it would be apparent they could not control their own people. That is why Caiaphas said that it would be more expedient for one man to die, than for the people to do so. Against this backdrop, our Lord came into Jerusalem riding on a colt, as the people placed their cloaks and branches before him on the road. This humble king was acknowledged, knowing full well what this acknowledgment would cost Him. Yet this was why He came, to ultimately fulfill his Messianic mission through the suffering and death that would come from this proclamation of his kingship and divinity.

When the time came to celebrate the Passover, our Lord broke the bread, blessed it and gave it to His disciples to share His body, which would be broken for their sake. Likewise, when He raised the cup, blessed it, and passed it around for them to drink, it was for them to consume His blood which would soon be shed for them as the sign of the new covenant. This first Eucharist was to strengthen His disciples with the spiritual food that He told them explicitly was needed for them to have life within them, and to set in motion the Eucharistic celebration we continue to this day so that we may also have life within us. After sharing this first Eucharistic celebration our Lord knew that His time was near, and so went to pray, and in doing so experienced all our fears, and anxieties, and anguish, and brought them before the Father in prayer, yet He stayed focused on the will of the Father, and not His own. He knew what was to come and was obedient to the point of accepting all the suffering and death that the cross would bring. Our Lord did this out of love for us so that each of us would have the hope of being in God’s presence one day. He fulfilled all prophecy, and while suffering, He healed, He forgave, He carried His Cross, He gave us the gift of His mother as our own, and He gave himself. He completely emptied himself, so that we might be filled with hope, with His love, and with the promise of salvation. He did this with a love that we cannot completely conceive of, because we have no common point of reference. Perhaps that’s why sometimes it is so hard for us to really grasp what was done for us, and consequently, continue to sin. Could we really commit our sins, if we truly grasped His love for us? That is the human condition though; we still do not have a clear image of God’s love for us. If we did, we would know no fear, we would have an actual love for one another, and we would live for one thing only, the time when we would be united with God. This is our challenge, to try through our humble efforts to gain clarity of heart, and to try to grasp His love for us, so that we may stay focused on what truly matters, the love of God, and of one another that we return.

PodCast Link

It’s often very hard for us to grasp that what we see in the mirror each day is merely a shell of flesh that we are wearing. Our true selves are in fact not flesh at all but are spirit. The true essence of man is a spiritual one, that the Lord imparted to us when He made each of us. Yet we tend to focus primarily on the physical form. In some respects that is understandable, as our senses are limited primarily to the physical, though we do have the ability if we cultivate it, to perceive more than that. It is a grace that comes from God to be able to connect more with that which is spirit, and it comes from time spent in fasting and prayer, and leaving ourselves completely open, in order to receive God’s message. If on the other hand we simply focus on the physical (such as a growling stomach during fasting), then that is all we will perceive and know. Our Lord calls us to much more than that though, He wants us to live in the spirit, He wants us to exist at that level, which is the level that will lead to eternal life. The body will die, that is one of life’s certainties, but if we exist in spirit, we will not die, but live. It’s kind of ironic when we think about it, we have this physical form for such a comically short time compared to an eternity in spirit, you would think we would be so much more prone to focusing on that. That is why, if we really take the time to get past our current sensory experience, and actually contemplate our spiritual life, we can make strides toward living at that level.

I always like hearing about Jesus’ friends Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. We often think of Martha as being too focused on her work to really appreciate who is with her, and yet, it is actually Martha who first acknowledges that Jesus is the Christ. She hasn’t missed the point after all. She believes that Jesus as God can do anything that He tells her. Yes, this is the same Martha who complained to the Lord about her sister Mary not helping her with the work around the house in order to provide hospitality to Jesus and His followers. Yet while she may have been trying to take care of the earthly needs of those around her, she did not ultimately miss the point of who Jesus is. So, when He tells her that Lazarus will live, she does not question it, she does assume initially that He is referring to eternal life, even though Jesus means He will raise Lazarus from the dead. Martha, ever the practical one, even goes so far as to point out when they come to the tomb, that there will be a stench because of the amount of time that Lazarus has been dead. Yet she still believes that Jesus can do anything. When our Lord arrives at the tomb, he makes it a point to let those around him hear his petition to the Father, so that they may better understand what is about to take place. When he frees Lazarus from deaths grip and has them release him from the burial bands, there is a resurrection to physical life, but there is also the lesson of what is possible through God, and the underpinnings for our need to focus on life in the spirit, for it is only through that, that we too can be raised again. If we believe and are willing to let Him take control of us, we can experience the fruits of life in the spirit. We don’t have to wait for our resurrection from death to experience life in the spirit. We can have that intimacy and understanding now. We can live in the spirit now, by taking the time to contemplate who we really are, and what we were made for. We can look beyond the daily needs of the body, and instead focus on Jesus’ words of life, and the promise of life everlasting that He earned for us by his death and resurrection. We can mentally and spiritually shift our focus away from this current state we are in and look beyond what we will ultimately be. When we do this, our situation now is put well into perspective, and we need fear nothing of this world. Jesus is our focus, we surrender ourselves to Him, we let Him guide us, and form us, to be who and what we are truly meant to be. With that submission and trust comes both peace and hope for what is to come. We need not be slaves to our fears and earthly concerns any longer. We have transcended that through Christ, who can do all things for those who believe.

Take Care, and God Bless each of you!

Podcast of Homily

We all deal with something about ourselves that is less than perfect. Some flaw, some imperfection, that challenges us, and at times may perhaps be difficult to bear. Certainly, for the man born blind, there was much to be endured. He could not hold a regular job, he could not get around to all the places that perhaps he needed to go, at least not without difficulty, or perhaps assistance. On top of all that, he also had to deal with the fact that, in that society in that timeframe, it was assumed that either he or his parents must have done something awful that resulted in his being born blind. You see in that culture and time, most illnesses were not understood so much as physiological, but were instead attributed to retribution for offenses against God. This carried a heavy toll both internally in the way one perceived oneself, and externally in terms of a deep social stigma to be endured. The easily seen physical manifestations were, of course, the easiest to spot and nearly always resulted in judgement of the individual. Yet there are far more flaws that can exist in a person, than those that are readily apparent to physical observation. Our Lord made this very clear in his discussion with Samuel regarding who He would choose as his anointed one. Samuel could only see the stature of Eliab, but could not see his heart or mind, and so did not have the same image of him that our Lord possessed. With Gods insight he could truly evaluate Eliab in the ways that really matter and thereby know the true nature of the man. All the surface stuff, the lofty stature, the noble appearance, meant absolutely nothing.

If only we could be so observant, perhaps not so much about others since our senses are rather limited, but certainly about ourselves. We seem to sometimes spend far more time on our appearance, than truly taking stock of our situation within, really looking and evaluating at the level of our spirit. How have we been conducting ourselves toward others? How much time do we really spend with our Lord? Do we not only believe in Him but really trust in Him, to the point of being willing to let him take control and form us as He sees fit? Sometimes these are  uncomfortable questions to ponder. And yet, these are the only ones that really matter, these are the ones we will ultimately be judged on.

We’re in the midst right now, of a rather unique opportunity. At the very least,  our social calendars should be a bit freer of external activities, and in some instances, we may be downright isolated because of wanting to try to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. This can certainly leave us feeling uncertain, and even perhaps afraid, and yet, even in this situation, there is the possibility of producing something very positive. We have time available to us to spend in contemplation, to catch up on our relationship with God, that sometimes may otherwise take a backseat to our busy schedule. We can spend some time in discernment, figure out where we are falling short, and actually work toward fixing these areas. Our Lord is always willing to accept our efforts. Make no mistake, while we may not have chosen to have some of this extra time thrust upon us, if we make good use of it, He will receive our efforts with joy. In times like this, things can seem rather dark and bleak, yet we are a people who no longer walk in darkness because of the light of our Lord that we now dwell in. To all who put forth the effort to draw close to Jesus, He will take away our blindness, He will be pleased with what He sees within us, and He will give us light.

 

God Bless each one of you, stay safe, and be hopeful. Allow our Lord to take care of you, and take great comfort in His love for each of us.

My Podcast of this Homily