Change the World by Being the Servant of All

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 22, 2024 — Year B
Readings: Wis 2:12, 17-20 / Ps 54 / Jas 3:16-4:3 / Mk 9:30-37
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

If you want to see a total mental meltdown, tell a toddler, “No.”  YouTube is full of entertaining toddler tantrums. Where do they learn that behavior? Parents do not train them to do that. Truth is, we are all born that way. King David, in Psalm 51, wrote, “I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.” (Ps 51:5) You could say he is speaking of original sin. And no, I know toddlers cannot sin, for they are not at the age of reason. This is just an analogy. However, for those who are not baptized and not raised to know and love God and neighbor, the toddler tantrum syndrome continues into adulthood.

In the first reading, you see what I am talking about. “The wicked say: Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings.” (Wis 2:12) Adults do not like being told “no” any more than a toddler does. How many have left the Catholic Church because she binds and loosens in accordance with Jesus’ commands and with His authority? Many have left the Church because she says no to any marriage that is not between one man and one woman. Many others have left because of the Church saying no to divorce, to contraception and abortion, or even to capital punishment. To those people, the Catholic Church and her faithful children are “obnoxious.”

Just like those people in the first reading, those who view the Church as obnoxious, want to put us to the test. The LA Dodgers organization and Paris Olympic committee put us to the test, using cross-dressing men to belittle our consecrated religious sisters, the apostles, and Jesus, the Son of God, who died that they may be saved and that the poor may be given the good news. How can you not love Jesus?!

Today’s psalm shows us how to respond, “…haughty men have risen up against [us]…they set not God before their eyes. Behold, God is my helper…Freely will I offer You sacrifice; I will praise your name, O Lord, for its goodness.” (Ps 54:3,6) This is the Mass! We keep going to Mass to offer up the perfect sacrifice in a sacrament of thanksgiving, lifting our voices in praise by singing with the choir. The Mass inoculates us against the madness outside these walls.  It heals our minds and hearts and helps us reset, emptying ourselves of resentment and anger towards “those who test us,” so that our Lord can fill us with His compassion and love.

In the second reading, the apostle James describes people behaving badly and helps us understand why. He writes, “Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.” (Jas 3:16) He asks: “Where do wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members?” (Jas 4:1) Then he tells them what they do not want to hear. “You ask [God] for [things] but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” (Jas 4:3) No doubt, James’s words are obnoxious to many, maybe even to us in our low moments.

This brings us to the gospel, where Jesus, as always, shows us the way out of our mess. He coyly asks a question that He already knows the answer to. “What were you arguing about on the way?” (Mk 9:33) The apostles remain silent, and it is not hard to imagine them staring at their feet, too embarrassed to tell the Lord that they had been talking about who was the greatest.  Their egos are an example of one of the passions James said are at war inside our hearts and minds.

This is something to stop and ponder! If we, who like the Twelve, walk with Jesus in our life, still fall to our passions on occasion, then surely those who do not walk with Jesus are absolutely enslaved by theirs. If you cannot say no to your passions, then you are bound and must obey a cruel master.

Jesus sits down (the typical posture of a teacher back then), calls the Twelve to Him, and says to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” (Mk 9:35 / Healy 185) To drive home the point, He puts His arms around a child.

The meaning of this action is better understood if we understand the original language and historical context. In Aramaic and Greek, the word for child can also mean servant. Children back then were “nonpersons who had no legal rights.” (Healy 186) Jesus was doing more than showing affection for the child. Dr. Mary Healy, a leading Catholic biblical scholar said, “He was teaching His disciples to have a whole new esteem for and responsibility toward those who seem the most helpless and inconsequential.” (Healy 186)

Regarding this lowly child, Jesus says, “Whoever receives one child such as this in My name, receives Me.” (Mk 9:37) Mary Healy opens up the astounding meaning of Jesus’ words. She wrote, “To receive a little one is to accept, lovingly serve, and care for those who most need it and cannot repay it. To receive “in Jesus’ name” is to welcome such a person for the sake of Jesus…This implies that Jesus identifies with those who are most insignificant in the eyes of the world – so much so that He Himself is mysteriously present wherever they are welcomed.”  (Healy 186) Our active love for those in need, in response to Jesus’ grace, neutralizes those destructive passions James warns us about, both our personal passions and the passions that are out of control in some of those we serve.

So how do we engage those who see us as obnoxious, because we love and follow Jesus? Here are three steps that flow from today’s readings. And they are in proper order.

• Displace your own passions with Jesus’ grace, by going to Him in Confession and the Eucharist regularly.

• At peace in Jesus’ grace, “accept, lovingly serve, and care for those who most need it and cannot repay it.” This begins at home with our spouse and children. If you think, “Wait a minute, my spouse can repay me.” True, but not when they are holding a grudge, or are overwhelmed by emotion, or are very sick.

• Regular Confession, Eucharist, and care for our families cycles up Jesus’ grace within us, which enables us to then care for those outside the walls of our church and homes.

How do these three steps bring those who see us as obnoxious into the family of God?  Those three steps, brothers and sisters, are how the Catholic Church flourished under the persecution of pagan Rome and eventually displaced paganism with Christianity. Those pagans thought Christians were obnoxious because their very way of living made pagans feel guilty. Nevertheless, they were in time brought into the Church family by the Good News of the Gospel.

The good news is love, and love conquerors all, even death. This is the “wisdom from above” that James spoke of. He said this wisdom is “first of all pure.” (Jas 3:17).” What is pure and from above? Love is pure and from above; thus, Matthew wrote, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God,” who is above. (Mt 5: 8)

Here is a closing analogy to sum this up. When, in purity of heart, a parent gives a toddler what it is often crying for, their loving attention, they fill its emotional fuel tank, and the toddler becomes peaceful (Dr. Campbell). So too, when we lovingly care for those in society who are most in need, it is seen by those testing us with toddler-like tantrums. And they are attracted to this pure love, for in it, they see what they truly seek in their fruitless, angry, and exhausting pursuit of their passions. They see the peaceful presence of Jesus, who is Love.

Remember these things when Father gives us the final blessing, and I tell you to, “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” Amen.

CITATIONS

1. Ross Campbell. How to Really Love Your Child. David C Cook, April 1, 2015.
2. Mary Healy STD. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, The Gospel of Mark. Baker Academic 2008.

Jesus’ Real Presence in the Eucharist Brings Order to Our Life

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 25, 2024 — Year B
Readings: Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b / Ps 34 / Eph 5:21-32 / Jn 6:60-69
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

The Holy Spirit rewrote my homily this morning. He has never done that before. He wrote this homily on Saturday morning in two hours and forty-five minutes, when it normally takes me twelve hours over the course of a month. I am sharing that with you, because I am guessing the Holy Spirit did this because He knew people were going to come to Mass this weekend needing to be healed of something or needing to have their life reordered in a way that was not going to happen with my first homily.  He reoriented my homily to be more about testimony, sacraments, and life than about scripture and apologetics (i.e., defense of the faith).

The Holy Spirit highlighted five verses from today’s gospel on John 6. As I pondered them, I saw them as a summary of our life with the Holy Trinity.

• We say, “This saying is hard, who can accept it (Jn 6:60)?”
• Jesus, somewhat sarcastically says, “For this reason I have said to you no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father (65).”
• Still, instead of surrendering to His Father’s will we act on our own and, “As a result of this many of His disciples returned to their former way of life (Jn 6:66).”
• Jesus asks those of us remaining, “Do you also want to leave (67)?”
• We, the mystical body of Christ respond, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God (68-69).”

(By the way, guess what the verse is for “They returned to their former way of life”? It is 66, as in Jn 6:66. This was not a clever writing technique by the apostle, John. The Bible did not come with chapters and verses; they were added hundreds of years later by the Catholic Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.)

If the Holy Spirit guided the numbering of the verses, then verse 66 must be important to us. What does it mean to return to our former way of life? For the Jews that day, it meant returning to a life where death was final, and where some religious rituals had become corrupted: things like getting a bill of divorce for practically any reason and stopping financial assistance for aging parents by dedicating that money to the temple (Mt 15:3-6).

Similarly, before Jesus came and established the Catholic Church, the former way of life in Rome and Europe was one of worshipping creation, what we call pantheism and paganism. They also worshipped manmade idols that represented many gods. Under these beliefs, the strong dominated the weak. Men dominated women. The wealthy dominated the poor and abandoned the sick when plagues came through. Wealthy men received an education, not the poor and not women. Sex was an act of domination, not love. Infanticide was common, especially if the baby was female (Hahn 75).

The horror show I just described is why Joshua and the Israelites in the first reading chose the one true God over the many gods of their neighbors. Their neighbors’ many gods demanded sacrifice of them (including of babies for the god Baal).  Their one true God, whom we know as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, sacrificed Himself for our good.

As crazy as the former way of life in Rome and Europe sounds, many of those horrors are happening again as more and more people turn away from the one true God.  Infanticide was common in China when their atheist (no god) government forced the one-child policy on their people. Tragically, infanticide happens in our country too. Also, in our country, the young and the strong can legally kill the old and the sick under the sinisterly named movement “Death with Dignity.” Domination and degradation of women is everywhere and is glorified. Education is trending down, especially for the poor. Marriage is being redefined to be “anything goes,” while traditional families are struggling to survive. Even our fundamental identity as men and women is being redefined and worse, becoming undefined.

The world is moving from order to disorder. One God brings order to the world. Many gods or no-god brings the world disorder or chaos. This is true for the world as a whole, for governments, and for us in our personal life. Even authentic religions that have been around since before Jesus have significant disorder, such as no hope of an eternal life with no more pain and no more tears. These ancient religions often have no respect and love for the poor and weak either. Mother Teresa was once asked by Jansenist priests in India to care for one of their sick priests, because their religion forbade them to do so.

Ok. That is a lot, and it can be disturbing and rob us of our peace. Let’s turn away from the darkness now and focus on the Light. If we want order and sanity and peace in our lives, we must center them on Jesus, the one true God. How do we center on Him?  First, we center our life on Him in the Eucharist.

Henri de Lubac, a French priest and prominent theologian, said it this way, “If we are to grow in love and holiness, we must make the Eucharist the center of our lives, because in doing so, we make Christ the center of our lives. If we receive Christ worthily in the Eucharist and worship Him in Eucharistic adoration, He will fill us with His grace and enlarge our hearts to love and serve more perfectly (Martin 131).”

Here is a story about Jesus in the flesh, in the Eucharist bringing order and sanity and peace into the life of a seventeen-year-old boy, right here in Holy Name of Mary about fifteen years ago. He was a tall altar server who towered over Fr. Sal (inside joke). He participated in parish faith formation, youth group mission trips, DYC, and diocesan retreats. But he found his life to be a struggle and confusing, especially the tension between teenage hormones and Catholic teaching. Know what I mean teenagers, and twenty somethings, and thirty somethings, etc.?

He came to church on Wednesday evening for confession, and afterwards walked into the nave to pray his Fr. Sal penance of one Our Father and One Hail Mary in thanksgiving for God’s forgiveness. On Wednesday’s there is also Adoration, so Jesus’ body in the Eucharist was on the altar in the monstrance.

The young man bowed down his head in prayer, but then heard a Voice say, “Noah, look up. I am right here.”  He blew it off as being his own thought and kept his head bowed down. The Voice came again, tenderly, “Noah, look up. I am right here.”  Noah told me that at that moment, he went from knowing about God to knowing God deep down, as a loving Father who is merciful and who is with him and for him.  This was especially poignant, since Noah had just come out of Confession.

By the way, what Noah experienced could be described as an awakening of the Holy Spirit’s gift of knowledge noted in Isaiah 11, which we all received in the Sacrament of Confirmation. It had been dormant, but Jesus in the Eucharist sent the Holy Spirit to Noah to fan it into flame. In a way, Noah had experienced a theophany.

I asked Noah to explain the Voice. He said it was not a sound, and it was not a thought. I asked him how he knew it was not a thought. He went on to describe it with the same phrase that the woman in my Eucharist story from my last homily used (It is as if the Holy Spirit is at work here 😉).  Remember how the smell of candles by the monstrance brought her back to her grandma’s house and her grandma’s hug and a feeling of safety? She told me that the feelings were “even more intense than when grandma was alive?”  Noah told me that the Voice was “more intense” than a thought. And the Voice did not come as thoughts do; it did not feel like his thought. It came from outside, not from within.

This is how the Holy Spirit moves through the Body of Christ. He speaks to all of us and even uses the same words like “more intense.” Noah and that woman do not know each other and have never met.

Noah and that woman, though, know their answer to Jesus’ question, “Do you also want to leave [Me]?”  They and all of us, say with Peter, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life -this is My body…this is My blood.”  If the homilies are boring, or the music is lifeless, or the people in the pews next to us are cold, we still come faithfully for Mass and for Adoration. In other words, we come for Jesus in the flesh.

We don’t just have a personal relationship with Jesus; we have an intimate relationship with Him. Because it is not just spiritual, but is also physical (flesh and blood) in the Eucharist, it is “more intense” than a personal relationship! That is why today’s second reading is about marriage, the most intimate and intense relationship two human beings can have. In the marital embrace, one man and one woman give themselves to each other mind, body, and soul, withholding nothing including their fertility. This becoming one in the flesh in marriage is a sign of the Eucharist.

At Holy Communion, Jesus, the groom, waits for His bride (us) at the altar and consummates that relationship by entering into us: body, soul, and divinity. The entirety of scripture from Genesis to Revelation builds up to the Eucharist here on earth that we may be at the Wedding Supper of the Lamb at Mass and in heaven when we are born to eternal life. John saw this in a vision and wrote about it in the book of Revelation.

Before their wedding day, the bride and groom go to Confession to empty their soul of disordered things, so that there is room for all the grace and order God desires to pour into their newly married life. So too, we should go to Confession regularly to make room in our soul for all the grace and order our Groom desires to give to us in the Eucharist.

If you have not been to Confession in a long time, you need to go. You are in spiritual danger. People do not just wake up one day and commit mortal sin, wrecking their life and the lives of others. This happens after a thousand small bad decisions or venial sins are committed but not confessed. Confession opens our eyes to our sinfulness, blots out those sins, and protects us from making a terrible mistake.

Here are a few takeaways.

1. To center our life on the Eucharist is to center our life on Jesus (Martin 131).
2. When our life is centered on Jesus, we become free, free from oversensitivity to criticism and from a need for honor, wealth, power, and pleasure.
3. Free from those disordered desires, we have a greater capacity to receive Jesus’ grace so that we can love others as Jesus loves us, unconditionally. St. John Paul II said freedom is measured by our capacity to love.
4. Therefore, when centered on the Eucharist, our life becomes ordered through Jesus, increasing our capacity to love our spouses, our parents, our friends, and, quite frankly, to be better evangelists.

To increase your centeredness on Jesus in the Eucharist, sign up for the next Holy Name of Mary all-night adoration. It begins every fourth Saturday of the month, starting at 7 PM.  Or go to adoration at Holy Name of Mary on Wednesdays between 10 AM and 6:45 PM. If you show up at 5 PM, like Noah in the story, you can go to Confession while you are there, to make as much room in your soul as possible for all the grace Jesus wants to give you. Stay a little longer, and you can even go to Mass at 7 PM, scoring a Catholic hat trick (hockey reference) of grace with these three encounters with Jesus.

If, after all I have shared, you still struggle to see Jesus in the Eucharist, or you start to struggle months from now, then turn to His mother. She always leads us to her Son. Let’s turn to her help now.

Mother Mary, you first held baby Jesus in the town of Bethlehem, which means house of bread, and placed Him in a manger where animals go for sustenance. When we come forward for Holy Communion today, share with us what you saw when you first looked upon your Son in the Eucharist and share with us the joy you experienced at carrying Him again in your body. Amen.

Citations

1. Francis Martin & William M. Wright IV. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture – The Gospel of John. Baker Academic 2015.
2. Scott Hahn. Evangelizing Catholics – A Mission Manual for the New Evangelization. The St. Paul Center 2014.

Eucharistic Revival – Jesus Doubles Down on the Eucharist

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 11, 2024 — Year B
Readings: 1 Kgs 19:4-8 / Ps 34 / Eph 4:30-5:2 / Jn 6:41-51
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

Here we are in week three of our personal Eucharistic Revival on John Chapter 6.  The Eucharist, Holy Communion, Bread of Angels is the source of Christian faith and unity. In honor of this, Father Nixon and I have been alternating preaching. Father preaches on John 6 again on the 18th, and then I will preach on the last passage on August 25.

Remember that we are doing this as our little part of the three-year-long Revival in the United States. As part of your personal Eucharistic Revival, you can go to YouTube and type in EWTN Eucharistic Congress and listen to all the great Catholic speakers that were there. Keep reading and reflecting on John Chapter 6 and try to spend some time in Adoration before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

Today I will focus on how Jesus responds to His followers’ disbelief in the Eucharist by using even stronger words, “I AM the living bread…whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh (Jn 6: 51).”  Next week, Fr. Nixon will preach on how Jesus’ followers began to argue among themselves over this teaching. His disciples asked, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat (Jn 6:52)?”  Jesus answered them, “…my flesh is true food and, my blood is true drink (Jn 6:55).”  And keep in mind that when families and Christians reject Jesus’ teaching on the Eucharist because it does not align with their personal beliefs, unity is lost.  On Sunday, August 25, I will preach on the sad news that because of this teaching, “many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him (Jn 6:66).”

The Eucharistic Congress’s invitation had these words, “Come and find Joy, Healing, Hope, Peace, Unity, Meaning, Revival.”  Those gifts have been true for me personally, and I know from conversations with some of you, they have been true for others too. However, globally, we do not experience unity as Christians. Here is a story about the Eucharist that a parishioner from Holy Name of Mary shared with my wife and me over dinner one evening and that illustrates the rift in Christian unity around the Eucharist. That lack of unity is why Christians, who are not in full communion with the Church Jesus Christ founded, cannot receive the Eucharist.

She grew up in a rural evangelical faith community, learned about the Lord, and was given the gift of faith. However, the children at that church were taught from an infamous tract called the “Death Cookie” that mocks the Catholic belief in the Eucharist. They were also taught to not associate with Catholics and to avoid their teachings.

One of the teachings they rejected was baptism by sprinkling of water on the head. They believed it had to be only by full immersion. This woman’s grandmother, due to her great fear of water, was never baptized.  The leaders of this small rural church were not aware that the first Christians, during the time of the apostles, wrote about the acceptable practice of baptism by sprinkling, in a writing called the Didache. As God would have it, our friend began to date a Catholic boy in high school who told her and her grandmother about baptism by sprinkling water on the head.

Later, her grandmother became ill and was close to death in a hospital.  She asked for a Catholic priest to baptize her. However, her family could not bring themselves to let the priest in the room, and the grandmother died without being baptized. This traumatized our friend, and she began to question what she had been taught. She loved her grandmother so much. She told us, “Whenever I went to visit Grandma, she always had non-paraffin candles burning, and she would envelope me in a hug. I always felt safe at Grandma’s.” More on this story later.  And, yes, it has a Eucharistically-remarkable ending.

I want to take a moment to explain the lack of Christian unity around the Eucharist. Not to disparage other Christian churches, but to help us to avoid teaching that does not come from the apostles, and to better understand why non-Catholic Christians cannot receive Holy Communion in a Catholic church.

Many non-Catholic Christians have communion services in obedience to Jesus’ command to “[d]o this in memory of me (Lk 22:19-20).” But to my knowledge none believes in Jesus’ substantive presence in the bread (His flesh) and wine (His blood), what the Church calls transubstantiation, except for the Eastern Orthodox who have unbroken apostolic succession, same as the Roman Catholic Church.

Some of you may think the Anglican/Episcopalian Church teaches transubstantiation, but it does not. From their Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, Article 28 reads, “Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of bread and wine) in the Supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ, but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture…and hath given occasion to many superstitions.  The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was not by Christ’s ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped.”

Anglicans/Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Presbyterians have similar beliefs about the Eucharist, namely what is called consubstantiation. That is, they believe the presence of Christ is “with, in, or under” the bread and wine. Methodists might say it is a spiritual presence. All four of those Protestant traditions use the term “real presence,” but they mean spiritual.  Some Christians believe Eucharist is simply a fellowship meal to thank God, and some think the bread and wine are purely symbols of Christ’s body and blood. And there are still more variations of Eucharistic beliefs. However, only one of these beliefs can be the truth. The truth is not a something, it is a Someone, Jesus. He said, “I am the truth.” He said the bread is His flesh, and He is God, and what God says is (Barron 503).

Back to the gospel, what did Jesus say? “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world (John 6: 51). One Presbyterian apologist (someone who is defending their beliefs) wrote that Jesus couldn’t be speaking literally because the Last Supper had not yet happened. Notice Jesus’ verb tense though, “The bread that I WILL give…”  It is future tense. Jesus was telling the crowd what he was GOING to do at the Last Supper.

Many of you may have discussed your faith with Protestant family and friends, and that is a wonderful thing. Keep doing this, and remember that you are on sacred ground when you do so. These conversations should be approached with love, patience, and humility.

If you have done this, then you have likely heard them start the conversation with, “We can only discuss this from scripture.”  Why do they say this? After all, the New Testament was not definitively declared until the year 382. A lot of history occurred before that time. What were the Christians doing during those nearly four hundred years? They were passing on what the apostles taught them, and what they passed on regarding the Eucharist is exactly what we believe. Here are three quotes during those 382 years from Bishop Barron’s Word on Fire Bible on the Gospels.

St. Ignatius of Antioch was born two years after Jesus was crucified, and he was taught by the Apostle John who wrote John Chapter 6. Ignatius wrote, “Come together in common through grace, individually, in one faith, and in Jesus Christ…In this way you will obey the bishop and the presbytery (priesthood) with an undivided mind, breaking one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality and the antidote to prevent us from dying, enabling us to live forever in Jesus Christ (Ignatius’s Epistle to Ephesians / Jn 6:50-53).”

St. Justin Martyr was eight years old when St. Ignatius died. In his defense of the faith, he wrote, “We call this food Eucharist…Not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too…the food which has been made into the Eucharist…is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus (Justin’s First Apology / Jn 6:55).”

The teaching that Jesus gave to John that was passed on to Ignatius and Justin did not die with them. St. Gregory of Nyssa, a bishop, was alive in 382 when the twenty-seven books of the New Testament were confirmed by a gathering of Catholic bishops.  He wrote, “The bread again is at first common bread; but when the mystery sanctifies it, it is called and actually becomes the Body of Christ (Gregory On the Baptism of Christ / Jn 6:55).”

Brothers and sisters, our belief in the Eucharist can be proven from scripture AND history, so be at peace about it and give thanks for it. And by the way, studying the writings of the early Church Fathers is what led the great Anglican priest and theologian, John Henry Newman into full communion with the Catholic Church. He is now called St. John Henry Newman.

Back to our Eucharist story. The whole situation around her grandmother’s not being baptized caused her to question what her church taught. Still, she had no intention of becoming Catholic. But she did pepper her boyfriend’s priest with questions about Catholic teachings. Father patiently answered these questions over the course of a year, but she made it clear she had no intention of becoming Catholic. One evening Father asked her, “What exactly is it you want?” Still, she was non-committal.

That evening, however, Father felt moved to do something new. He said, “Follow me,” and he led her through the parish hallways to the narthex. She could see people inside the nave, kneeling in prayer and a decorative gold stand on an altar with the Eucharist held in it. She had never stepped foot inside a Catholic Church. And yet, here she was with a Catholic priest, about to lead her in there while people prayed before the “death cookie.”  From Father’s year of teaching, she knew Catholics believed that the bread was truly Jesus in the flesh, so she knew why people were kneeling in prayer, but this went against everything she had been taught growing up. You can imagine how uncomfortable she was feeling.

Still, she followed Father inside and accepted his invitation to kneel and pray. It was then that she came to believe in Jesus in the Eucharist as taught by Him, John, Ignatius, Justin, and Gregory! The Holy Spirit moved in a powerful way.

The smell of the candles burning before the monstrance brought her back to her grandmother’s home, where she smelled Grandma’s candles burning, felt again her grandmother’s hug, and was overcome by the feeling of safety she always felt there. This is grace, but Jesus is so generous. Not only did she experience these comforting things, but she said the feelings were even more intense than they were when Grandma was alive.

Her grandmother, with her desire for baptism, had led her granddaughter to adoration that night. I can just imagine Grandma, baptized by desire (a Catholic teaching), adoring Christ before the heavenly altar, a vision John wrote about in the book of Revelation, and her granddaughter adoring Him before that Catholic altar where heaven and earth touch (CCC 1259; Rev 8). God is so good.

I thought about our friend when I prayed over today’s Psalm 34, “When the afflicted [woman] cried out, the Lord heard, and from all [her] distress He saved [her] (Ps 34: 6).”  He does the same for each of us every Eucharist. We bring all this baggage and sin to the altar with us, and, in the Eucharist, Jesus takes it away. *

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning with Jesus, John, Ignatius, Justin, and Gregory, and is now with you and me and Father, and ever shall be world without end. Amen.

*The Eucharist removes venial sins, but mortal sin must be removed through the sacrament of Confession.

Citations

1. Bishop Robert Barron. Word on Fire Bible – The Gospels. Word on Fire 2020.
2. Got Questions.org. Copyright 2002-2024. What is Consubstantiation?
3. OrthodoxChurchFathers.com. The Life and Writings of Gregory of Nyssa.
4. Tom Nash. Who Compiled the Bible & When? Catholic Answers 1996-2024. Catholic.com.
5. A Potter’s View. World Communion Theology and United Methodism. September 30, 2015. wtmcclendon.wordpress.com
6. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Transubstantiation. January 27, 2008. OPC.org
7. Fr. Dwight Longenecker. The Death Cookie…Not. 2024 dwightlongenecker.com

Eucharistic Revival – Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 28, 2024 — Year B
Readings: 2 Kgs 4:42-44 / Ps 145 / Eph 4: 1-6 / Jn 6: 1-15
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

Today is the first of five Sundays dedicated to the sixth chapter of John’s gospel, which is Jesus’ teaching on the Eucharist. To place a greater emphasis on the Eucharist, which is the source and summit of the Catholic faith, Father Nixon and I will alternate preaching over these five Sundays. This is our way of participating in the Eucharistic Revival that the United States Catholic Church is in the midst of.

The big moment of the Eucharistic Revival occurred July 17-21, in Indianapolis, Indiana, the first National Eucharistic Congress in eighty-three years. Tens of thousands of on-fire Catholics gathered there to “encounter the living Jesus Christ, be healed and unified by His Real Presence, and to be sent out “for the life of the world (Revival).”

The prophets of our time gathered with them, Bishop Barron, Fr. Mike Schmitz, Sr. Miriam, James Heidland, Fr. Josh Johnson, Matt Maher, Bishop Andrew Cozzens, Jackie Angel, Sr. Josephine Garrett, Fr. Boniface Hicks, Jonathan Roumie, and Deacon Larry Oney and Fr. Dave Pivonka who led tent revivals at HNM, and many of your other favorites. Leading up to the Eucharistic Congress, four Eucharistic processions, walking with Jesus in the Eucharist from the north, south, east, and west collectively processed 6,500 miles to Indianapolis. Their procession paths formed the shape of a cross, blessing our entire nation.

I am challenging all of you to make this Sunday and the next four a personal Eucharistic Revival. Read and pray over John 6 while asking the Holy Spirit to reveal what the Eucharist means for your life. My license plate, by the way, is John6, because it is so essential to our faith, to bringing people to Jesus in His Catholic Church, and to His making all Christians one in His body again, as He intended from the beginning and as it was for over 1,500 years. Here is a trailer for John 6.

1. In this Sunday’s gift, we sit with the five thousand Jesus fed from a few loaves.
2. That miracle points to next Sunday, August 4, when Father Nixon will preach on the passage where Jesus tells the people that Moses didn’t give their ancestors manna from heaven, but His Father. He then tells them, “I AM the bread of life (Jn 6:35).”
   2. a. Side note. In this gospel Jesus refers to Himself with the name God gave for Himself to Moses in the burning bush, “I AM (Exodus 3:14).” Jesus is God. That is fundamental to understanding the Eucharist, for what God says, is.
3. In the passage on Sunday, August 11, I will preach on how Jesus responds to His followers’ disbelief with even stronger words, “I AM the living bread…whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh (Jn 6:51).”
4. On Sunday, August 18, Father Nixon will preach how Jesus’ followers begin to argue among themselves over this. The people asked, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat (Jn 6:52)?”  Jesus answered them, “…my flesh is true food and, my blood is true drink (Jn 6:55).”  (Pay attention on how when we reject the Eucharist, we lose unity. Unity among Christians and unity within our families.)
5. Finally, on Sunday, August 25, I will preach on the passage where we hear the sad news that because of this teaching, “many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him (Jn 6:66).” Think about how sad it is that these people, so hungry for God, were fed by Him but rejected His teaching because it did not fit their personal beliefs, so they returned to their unmet hunger. Jesus asks the twelve if they will reject Him too, and Peter responds for all Catholics down through the ages, saying in all humility, “You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God. (Jn 6:68-69).”

Ok, you have seen the trailer, now you are ready to start streaming Episode One, today’s gospel. Once I have spoken about the theology, I will share a local Eucharist story related to today’s gospel and wrap up with how to apply the theology and the story to your life.

Notice what Jesus did with the five barley loaves that the boy had. John wrote, “Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them (Jn 6:11).”  Matthew recalled the same miracle this way, “Taking the five loaves…and looking up to heaven, [Jesus] gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then He gave them to His disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people (Mt 14: 19).”

Matthew emphasized the priesthood with the disciples distributing the bread to the people. By the way, Luke and Mark also emphasized the priesthood. However, John, in his profoundly Eucharistic chapter 6, emphasizes that the bread comes from Jesus by having Him give it to the people.

One more detail that ties the passage to the Eucharist when we look at the spiritual meaning. What did Jesus ask them to do when all had eaten? “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted (Jn 6:12).”  What does Father have me do after all of you have eaten the Bread of Life? He has me gather all the leftover Eucharist and place it in the Tabernacle to feed others during the week. And as for the fragments and crumbs, I meticulously wipe them out of the bowls, into the chalice with water and any drops of Jesus’ precious blood that are left as well. Then I consume them “so that nothing [sacred] will be wasted.”

By the way, when the deacon is doing this, the priest quietly prays, “What has passed our lips as food, O Lord, may we possess in purity of heart, that what has been given to us in time may be our healing for eternity.”

That wraps up the theology of today’s gospel; here is the Eucharist story. As I reflected on the left-over fragments in the gospel, it evoked a memory of First Holy Communion at Holy Name of Mary this year. Father became ill during Mass, before consecrating the bread and wine. While he was being cared for, I led the congregation in praying the rosary. Once Father was safely on his way to the hospital, I went to the tabernacle and opened the ciborium while a parishioner finished leading the congregation in praying the rosary. The ciborium was about half full, and it is a small ciborium.

The church was beyond capacity with all the families, extended families, and friends of the First Holy Communicants. Accordingly, we told the congregation there was not enough Eucharist for everyone, and in my mind, I imagined that only the children, their immediate family and a few others would receive until we ran out. I gave the children and their families the Eucharistic bread and then began to give it to others, breaking the Eucharist to feed as many His Body as I could. It bears repeating that every pew was packed. The narthex and the cry room were full. People were standing, because all the extra chairs were used. Yet, after everyone was fed His body, like the scripture says, “some [was] left over (2 Kgs 4:44).”  God is good.

Please don’t leave here and email the bishop that Deacon Mark said he multiplied the Eucharist like Elisha and Jesus multiplied bread. 😉 My point in sharing that story is that when we give what we have been given by Jesus, especially when we take a leap of childlike faith and give without prior warning and with no preparation, there is always enough of whatever we are giving. Jesus told St. Paul His grace is always enough. That is why he sent out his disciples with no money, no food, nor extra tunic (Mk 6:8-9).

Here is some guidance on what you can do with what the Holy Spirit has placed on your heart this morning. We go to Mass to receive the Eucharist, yes, but Mass isn’t just about getting. It is also about giving (Sri Podcast). During my training to be a deacon, it was made crystal clear that as wonderful as the grace is of preaching from the altar, it is what we do after we leave the altar that makes our preaching effective.

Dr. Sri, in his Revival podcast said it this way. Jesus didn’t hold anything back on the Cross. We are to be like Him. Don’t hold back in giving of yourself.  Peter Kreeft, in his reflection on this gospel, wrote that “All spiritual goods…multiply when shared (Kreeft 606).” Love, hope, and joy come to mind. My personal experience is that material goods also tend to be enough when shared.

So, after coming to the altar to receive Jesus’s body and blood, you must go out into the world and give away whatever Jesus has given you. No matter how meager it is, be confident in giving it to whomever He asks. In doing so, you will know the joy and strengthening of your faith that comes from experiencing firsthand Jesus’ abundant grace. Amen.

Citations

1. Dr. Ed Sri. Hallow Eucharistic Congress Podcast. July 2024.
2. Peter Kreeft. Food for the Soul. Reflections on the Mass Readings. Cycle B. Word on Fire 2023.

Joy of Living in Communion With the Trinity

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
May 26, 2024 — Year B
Readings: Dt 4:32-34, 39-40 / Ps 33 / Rom 8:14-17 / Mt 28:16-20
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

Before there was YouTube, Scott Hahn, and the Catechism, I was asked to teach 9th grade faith formation. It was a small college parish that had few resources and, accordingly, I wasn’t given a book to teach from. I knew very little about my faith like most 20-something Catholics in the early 1990s. One evening, one of the 9th grade boys told the class that the Trinity is nowhere in the Bible. In my ignorance, I was incapable of saying, “Yes, it is,” and then showing him, much less leading him to the joy of living in the Trinity. I pray in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit that I can do that for you now.

I am going to show you where the Trinity is in the Bible, and how the scriptures present the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as one God in three Persons, equal in power and knowledge, all existing for all time, uncreated with no beginning and no end.  Once we have that firm footing, I will give some pastoral guidance on living in communion with the Trinity, especially for teenagers.

If I was teaching that 9th grade class today, I would show that teenage boy where the Trinity is in the Bible. Jesus’ use of the Trinity at the end of Matthew’s gospel, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…” was not brought up out of the blue by Matthew (Mt 28:19). He reveals the Trinity at the baptism of Jesus in chapter 3:16-17, saying when Jesus (the second Person of the Trinity) came up out of the water, the Spirit of God (third Person of Trinity) descended upon Him in the shape of a dove, and then the voice of the Father (first Person) says He is well pleased in His Son (Mitch, pg. 371). Sooo, when someone says the Trinity is not in the Bible, you can show them Matthew 3 and 28.

I’m guessing, though, that teenage boy, in the annoying way teens can excel at, would say, “Hey Mr. De La Hunt, look at the first reading where Moses tells the people, ‘The Lord is God…and…there is no other (Dt 4:35).’ It doesn’t mention Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”  Worshiping only one God, which is called monotheism, set Israel apart from all other nations in its day, and they fiercely defended this belief. To this day, the Jews’ belief that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit cannot be one God, is said by some to be the biggest stumbling block for their embracing Jesus Christ as the Messiah.  The confusion and unbelief are understandable. The Trinity is not easy to wrap your head around. It took the Church over three hundred years to articulate the doctrine (Mitch, pg. 371).

Fortunately, one of the greatest biblical preachers on the Trinity was a fiercely devout and highly learned Jew, St. Paul. When he was still going by the name of Saul, he was persecuting Christians, because they were calling Jesus God. But when Jesus removed those scales from Paul’s eyes in Damascus, Paul saw Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as that one God of whom Moses spoke (Acts 9:18).

In today’s second reading from Paul’s letter to the Roman church, he tells the Christian community that they have received a “Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. (Rom 8:15-17).” This wasn’t the only place Paul invoked the Trinity while spreading the Good News.

In chapter 13 of his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul greets the people with words that Father greeted you with at the beginning of the Mass. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you (2 Cor 13:13).”  Sounds pretty Trinitarian. I could also show that 9th grader 1 Corinthians 12, Galatians 4, and 1 Thessalonians 1. Oh, if only I had Curtis Mitch’s and Ed Sri’s Catholic bible commentary when I was in my twenties. Hopefully that young man kept pursuing the truth.

All I have proven, though, is that a devout, fiercely monotheistic Jew came to see a Father, a Son, and a Holy Spirit. But you are excellent at debating and call me on it. You rightly say, “Deacon Mark, you must prove all three are God.” Ok. Let’s start with the easiest one. God is God, creator of heaven and earth and all that is visible and invisible. The Old Testament, like today’s first reading with Moses and today’s Psalm speak to this.

You smile, confident you will disprove the second Person of the Trinity, asking, “What about Jesus? To be God, you must have existed for all time, be uncreated, no beginning, no end. But Jesus was born of a woman.”  John’s gospel best speaks to Jesus being God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him…And the Word became flesh and lived among us. It is God the only Son (Jn 1:1, 10, 14, 18).”

At this point, I want to defend Our Lady, that “woman” who gave birth to Jesus. I would be remiss to not mention that Mary was declared the “Mother of God” at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. But it wasn’t only that gathering of bishops who believed that. A crowd of the faithful waited in the streets for them to affirm what they already believed. And they celebrated joyfully when Mary, mother of Jesus, was affirmed as Mary, mother of God the Son.

Your confident smile falters, but you recover and move on to the third Person of the Trinity. You, with noticeably less bravado, say, “Jesus says the Father will send the Holy Spirit, and He even breathes the Spirit onto the apostles (Jn 14:26; 15:26; 20:22). For all three to be God, they must all three be equal in power and knowledge, which is to say in omnipotence (all powerful) and omniscience (all knowing). Doesn’t sound like the Holy Spirt is equal, because He is always being sent.”

The Deacon smiles at you, so happy that you are seeking truth. He encourages you to open your Bible to 2 Corinthians, where Paul writes, “No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God (2 Cor 2:11).”  God’s thoughts are infinite, so for the Spirit to comprehend God’s thoughts, the Spirit must also have infinite knowledge or omniscience. Next, the Deacon shows you 1 Corinthians, where Paul calls our body a “temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19).” The Deacon says, “Only God can have a temple, so the Holy Spirit must be God (Tim Staples).” Finally, the Deacon turns to Acts 5 and reads, “But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? . . . You have not lied to men but to God.”  Like St. Paul, St. Peter, also a Jew, saw God and the Holy Spirit as the one true God of Israel. (A shoutout to Catholic Answers for this paragraph.)

Now we know some of the scriptural basis for the Most Holy Trinity, but how do we live this deep theological mystery? First, and foremost, we never, ever miss Mass. If we are healthy enough to go to the grocery store or out to eat, we are healthy enough to go to Mass. Dads and Moms, do not let any of your children miss Mass due to camping or beach trips, band, or dance, or soccer, or volleyball, or AP class projects. Why?

First, we have a desperate need to receive our Lord’s body and blood. But also, we should do so because it is the most powerful way in which we live within the communion of the Trinity. We worship God the Father, offering the one sacrifice of Christ the Son, through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Trinity makes our Catholic worship perfect. And remember that God is a communion of Persons in the Most Holy Trinity, so to worship in the Trinity, we need to do so in communion with others, the Trinity making us into a holy, mystical communion.

Let’s put some blue jeans on this. When we are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, God makes us part of His family. Teenagers, since we started this homily with a teenager, I am coming back to you. Know that our family is where we discover who we are. There is a memory helper or pneumonic for this, RIM which stands for Relationship, Identity, Mission. This applies to your natural family, but also to your supernatural family, the Trinity.

Teens and twenty somethings too, I know you are in a very challenging time in life between becoming an adult and knowing the path God wants your life to take. This time brings to your mind heartfelt questions. Who am I? Where is my place in this world? What strengths, talents, and capabilities do I have? Should I go to college? If so, what should I study? Should I get a job instead, so I can receive training from my employer? If so, what type of job should I pursue? Am I to get married? If so, how will I find the right person? If not marriage, should I check out consecrated religious life? Holy Orders?

You will find the answers within your supernatural family of the Trinity. Back to RIM. Relationship: pursue your relationship with the Trinity in prayer (daily), the Mass (at least weekly), and Confession (often). Identity: Being close to the Trinity will help you to learn who you are and what gifts you have. Mission: Now that you know who you are, you can go on mission with the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of the Father, and your communion with them through the Holy Spirit. They will work with you and show you the way.

It is not as easy as it sounds, though. You will need patience and trust. God tends to show us one step at a time. Our job is to stay in Relationship with Him (prayer, Mass, Confession) so we can see that next step and trust Him by taking that step. Joseph is a helpful model here. He was given one step at a time, and he took them.

Remember how God came to Joseph and told him to take Mary as his wife, and oh by the way she is already pregnant, and the child is God. Wow. What does Joseph say, “Yes Lord.”  Then, in the middle of the night, God wakes up Joseph and tells him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt. No one wants to be woken up in the middle of the night, much less to drop your life and move to a new one in a strange place. Joseph, said, “Yes Lord.”  And when God told him, a short while later, to move back to Israel, Joseph took that step too.

One could say this about Joseph. “By being united to Jesus and animated by the Spirit of love and obedience, [Joseph knew the] joy that is perfect and complete, a joy that comes only from participating in the divine communion (Jeff Cavins, Hallow).” Jeff Cavins spoke of this joy using the words of the prophet Nehemiah, “The joy of the Lord (Trinity) is your strength (Neh 8:10).” He went on to say, [our joy] is not just a fleeting emotion but a deep and abiding reality that comes from communion with the Trinity.

Final words. Whether we are born into an amazing family or a broken one, or in a place that is fantastic or one that is dark, or have built a successful life or made a hot mess of it, none of those things define us! What defines us is our baptism, for from that day onward, we call the most-high God Father, and Jesus who is the King of the Universe, brother, and the Holy Spirit, the love that flows between them, counselor, helper, and guide. The Psalm today, unbeknownst to the author, was written about us, the baptized. “Blessed the people the Lord (Trinity) has chosen to be His own. Our soul waits for the Lord, who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O Lord, be upon us who have put our hope in you.”  Lord, grant us the grace we need to order our lives to be in communion with You who are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Citations

Jeff Cavins Daily Reflections on Hallow, May 11, 2024. He references the Catholic Commentary of Sacred Scripture which I used to describe Joseph’s living in the Trinity.

Tim Staples – Catholic Answers. Simply Google Catholic Answers on the Trinity. You will see “Explaining the Trinity” by Tim Staples dated June 20, 2014, at catholic.com.

Curtis Mitch and Edward Sri. “Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, The Gospel of Matthew.”  Baker Academic 2010.

Mary in the Annunciation

Fourth Sunday of Advent 
December 24, 2023 — Year B
Readings: 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16 / Ps 89 / Rom 16:25-27 / Lk 1:26-38
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

It is still Advent, but in case I don’t see you at Christmas Eve Mass today, Merry Christmas, Maligayang Pasko, Feliz Navidad, Joyeaux Noёl, Buon Natale, and Wesołych świąt.

Holy Name of Mary parish is dedicated to Jesus’ mother, Mary, and on this Fourth Sunday of Advent we enter into the first joyful mystery of her most holy rosary, the Annunciation. As a deacon in a Marian parish, how can I not center the homily on Mary, when Luke centered the beginning of his gospel on her “who was with child (Lk 2:5)?” Interestingly, Matthew starts his gospel centered on Mary as well and, though John waited until chapter two to introduce Mary, chapter one prepared for her grand entrance at Cana, with Mary as the Queen Mother, asking her son, Jesus the King, to help the young married couple.

In a predominantly Protestant area, we can feel uncomfortable speaking of Mary, even to the point of fearing mentioning the name of our parish. Peter Kreeft said that “[non-Catholic Christians] object to our Catholic devotion to Mary because they think it detracts from our adoration of Jesus.” He added, “In fact, it is exactly the opposite: the more we love Mary, the more we love Jesus, and the more we love Jesus, the more we love Mary (Kreeft 82).”  Along those same lines, to try to put non-Catholics at ease with honoring Mary, someone once said, “You cannot love Mary more than Jesus does.”

But Peter Kreeft upped the ante and tied having a relationship with Mary to discipleship, to following Jesus. He wrote, “Jesus gave us Mary, when He said to St. John, the only disciple who stayed with Him at the cross, “Behold your mother” (John 19:27). So if we, like John, want to be Jesus’ disciples, if we want to be as close to Jesus as John was at the cross, then we must be close to Mary, because Jesus gave us Mary (82).”

Dr. Kreeft’s words are worth reflecting on. To be a disciple who will stand and face death and a seeming loss of all hope like John looking upon Jesus dying on the cross, it is most helpful to have Mary, the only perfect disciple, at your side like he did. For John must have realized that no matter how much sorrow he felt at that moment, it was not as deep as Mary’s, looking upon her only child dying in agony. Yet despite the awfulness of it all, neither Jesus’ suffering, a mocking crowd, nor the threat of mighty Roman soldiers could tear her from her Son’s side. When she told the angel Gabriel, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word,” she meant it for better or for worse (Lk 1: 38).

From the moment of her freewill consent, she became the Christ Bearer, the Mother of God. How did she prepare to bring Jesus into the world? First, she set out to care for someone in need, her cousin Elizabeth who Gabriel told her had conceived a child in her old age (Lk 1:39-56). Second, she and Joseph patiently suffered in faith and hope, traveling eighty miles or so from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Mary suffering in discomfort, probably riding a donkey, being so near to giving birth. Joseph, hurting from a longing to take her suffering upon himself, but only able to give her his tender care. Joseph suffering from not being able to find her a comfortable room in which to give birth, and Mary suffering from having to give birth away from the comfort of her home and friends (Lk 2: 1-7).

But as He always does, God brought them great joy and consolation when they thought they could endure no more pain and anxiety. Mary shows us the way to live our lives in faith and trust in God’s plan for us. This side of heaven, our journey will entail suffering and pain at times, but with Mary, we can bear it patiently, with great hope, and even joy. The hope and joy she brings to us is her Son.

In The Lord of the Rings movies based on the books of devout Catholic J.R.R. Tolkien, the battle between despair and hope, darkness and light is vividly displayed in rich symbolism for the cause for Mary’s hope. One depiction takes place at a great battle called Helm’s Deep (The Two Towers). The battle begins in darkness and rain, and the enemy vastly outnumbers the free people. They fight with valiant hope, but eventually wear down and accept that death is their fate, that evil will triumph over good and darkness over light. But then, they look to the east, to the rising sun, and grace descends upon them in the form of friends and an angelic figure, dressed in white, charging down a high hill to their aid.

In a second depiction, an even greater battle is taking place, and the situation is even more hopeless. A great white, stone city (think of it as your soul) is under siege and burning (The Return of the King). The city’s caretaker has fallen into despair from listening to the enemy’s voice more than to the voices of wise friends.  As he walks in a somber procession to “die as he chooses,” the camera blurs out that hopeless scene and focuses on a single white flower that was barely noticeable in the foreground. The white flower was a sign, long awaited, that the city’s true king had returned and would restore the city to its former grandeur.

And so, here we are on the last Sunday of Advent, some of our suffering being voluntary from extra prayer, fasting, and charity, and some from the burdens and sorrows of life that weigh upon the young and old, rich and poor, strong and weak alike. If we bear our suffering and burdens with Mary, we will see what she saw in Bethlehem: hope in the newborn Savior, and hear what she heard from the shepherds about angels’ appearing in light with a message of peace. At every Mass, we, like those in Tolkien’s story at Helm’s Deep, look to the east.  Catholic Churches, whenever possible, are oriented such that the altar is set in that direction.

In our suffering and worries, we look to the altar. We hear Father call to us, not to despair in the cares of this world, but to “lift up our hearts (Roman Missal Preface).” And then a little while later, he encourages us to, “Behold the Lamb of God,” and we look up, to the east and see Father, clothed in white like that angelic figure at Helm’s Deep, holding the rising Son, Jesus come to save us (Roman Missal The Order of Mass). Notice that to look upon the Eucharist is like looking upon the white flower in Tolkien’s white city. It is both reminder and reality that our long-awaited King has returned and will restore our soul to the grandeur God made it for from the beginning. Jesus did this for His mother from the moment of her conception, which is why the angel Gabriel called Mary by the title, “full of grace (Lk 1:28).”

I am going to close this homily with a poem that Peter Kreeft shared, entitled “Jesus and Mary.” It illustrates how knowing Mary helps us know her Son, especially in graces God sends to us and most especially in the Eucharist.  Don’t get lost in all the words but hang on to the ones that touch your heart the most.

Body of Christ from Mary’s body;

Blood of Christ, from Mary’s blood.

Jesus the bread, Mary the yeast;

Mary the kitchen, Jesus the feast.

Mary the mother by whom we are fed;

Mary the oven, Jesus the bread.

Mary the soil, Jesus the vine;

Mary the wine maker, Jesus the wine.

Jesus the Tree of Life, Mary the sod;

Mary our God-bearer, Jesus our God.

Mary the silkworm, Jesus the silk;

Mary the nurse, Jesus the milk.

Mary the stem, Jesus the flower;

Mary the stairway, Jesus the tower.

Mary and Jesus, our castle entire;

Mary the fireplace, Jesus the fire.

Mary God’s ink, Jesus God’s name;

Mary the burning bush, Jesus the flame.

Mary the paper, Jesus the Word;

Mary the nest, Jesus the bird.

Mary the artery, Jesus the blood;

Mary the floodgate, Jesus the flood.

Mary and Jesus, our riches untold;

Mary the gold mine, Jesus the gold.

(Kreeft 82)

Mary, our mother, ask your Son to enable us always and in all circumstances, to remember to look east so that the Star of Joy and Hope may rise in our hearts and minds, every week being an Advent and every Sunday Mass a Christmas for us. Amen.

CITATIONS

J.R.R. Tolkien. “The Two Towers” and “The Return of the King.” New Line Productions, Inc. 2002-2003.

Kreeft, Peter. “Food for the Soul; Reflections on the Mass Readings, Cycle B.” Word on Fire 2023.

The Catholic Church. “The Roman Missal.” Catholic Book Publishing Corp., N.J. 2011.

Charity Does Not Sin

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
November 26, 2023 — Year A
Readings: Ez 34:11-12, 15-17 / Ps 23 / 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28 / Mt 25:31-46
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

Here, on the doorstep of the season of Advent, we pause and meditate on the solemnity of “Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.” He has absolute sovereignty over all creation, for He created it.  And yet, in four weeks we enter the mystery of His becoming man, born in a stable, no crib for a bed, His dad a blue-collar worker and His mom a teenage girl.  From now until Christmas, we walk from today’s discomfort at the foot of His judgment seat to the joy and peace of His manger in Bethlehem. These are the poles of our spiritual journey and the religious road between them is called Advent.

I encourage you to make a resolution for Advent that will be your gift for Jesus at Christmas. Consider making a different holy resolution each day or week of Advent.  One I recommend is to find a quiet time to listen to St. Mother Teresa’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech on YouTube and ponder it in prayer. Hearing the voice of a great saint is a precious gift.

I listened to her speech early one morning, and it cast a familiar Bible verse in a different light for me. In morning prayer that day, I read this beatitude: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God (Mt 5:8).”  I always interpreted this as meaning something along the lines of, “If you live a holy life with Jesus, you will go to heaven and see God.” In her speech Mother Teresa shared stories of the poor in an intimate and tender way, and as I listened, that beatitude led me from the foot of Jesus’ judgment seat to the side of His manger. You might say I had an epiphany.

We will come back to Mother Teresa’s speech in a bit, but now let’s meditate on the scriptures.  Just as there is a dichotomy between Christ King of the Universe and Christ in a manger, there is one between the Old Testament readings where Jesus is a good shepherd and the last two where He is a king and judge (Kreeft 778).  How are they connected? As our shepherd, He leads us in how to live for the day we will be judged.

In Ezekiel 34, God says, “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep…I will seek the lost, bind up the crippled, and I will strengthen the weak (Ez 34:16).” Jesus is judge, but He does not sit back and wait for us to succeed or to fail, relishing the day He will judge us. On the contrary, in Psalm 23 He says He will “lead [us] in paths of righteousness (3).”  Why? In the verse before that He says He desires to “lead [us] beside still waters, [to] restore [our] soul (Ps 23:2).” One could say that He leads us in how to do good things that restore our soul for our day of judgment, but how is that related to still waters?

Ever look at a pond or lake in the stillness of the early morning, when the water is perfectly flat? It acts as a mirror, reflecting the trees and the sky, and somehow that reflection is more beautiful to us than if we simply looked directly at the trees and sky. So it is when He “restores our soul.” When we take up our cross and follow Him, loving our neighbor, we are at peace, and He restores our soul. It is then that our restored soul becomes like still waters, reflecting Jesus’ love. Others can read about His love directly, but it is more impactful when they see it reflected in us.

Leaving the comfort of the first reading and psalm, we move to the discomfort of the second reading: “Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power…until He has put all His enemies under His feet (1 Cor 15:24-25).”  Who is under His feet?  His enemies, yes, but in today’s gospel we are; everyone is.

In the gospel He is sitting up high on His throne which is also the judgment seat (Mt 25:31-32).  He moves one hand and many are moved to His left. He moves His other hand and some are moved to His right (Mt 15:33).  Those on the right to eternal life in the kingdom prepared for them and those on the left to eternal punishment (Mt 15:34, 46).

How will He judge us? If there is a judge, then there must be a law to judge by. Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment; love one another (Jn 13:34).”  May God have mercy on those who say we do not need works to get into heaven and then cherry pick verses, out of context, to support their wishful thinking. St. Paul called Jesus’ new commandment a law writing “…love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law (Rom 13:8).” Jesus gives us the consequences of breaking that law. In Matthew 7 He said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven (21-23).”

Those words made some uncomfortable, so they tried to negotiate with the King of the Universe. Here is how that went. “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name? Did we not drive out demons in Your name? Did we not do mighty deeds (miracles) in Your name?” Jesus responded, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers (Mt 7:22-23).”  Prophecies, exorcisms, and miracles are all good things, and God allows even sinners to perform them, for they are good for His people. But if one does those things without love for their neighbor, then doing those things does not fulfill the law.

That leads us to today’s gospel, which is the conclusion of several Sundays of warnings from Jesus about the end of time. The last two weeks we heard about the virgins running out oil for their lamps and being locked out of the wedding banquet. And about the servant who did not give his master a return on his talents and so was cast out into darkness weeping (Mt 25:1-30).  Jesus saved the most disturbing warning for last. Disturbing, because He spells it out for us today. He clarifies what the symbolism was for the oil in the virgins’ lamps and the servants’ talents.  He points out those ever so serious sins that lie hidden in our conscience like a copperhead snake amidst some leaves.

The sins I speak of lead us to another good Advent resolution.  Examine our conscience for sins of omission, those acts of love we failed to do. Jesus gives us an examination of conscience in today’s gospel. “When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you (Mt 25:38-39)?”  And the King of the Universe replied, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me (40).”

A good examination of conscience is free of excuses. Excuses did not work well for the miracle workers who were without love. Here are some questions you can turn into Advent resolutions. Have I introduced myself to a new parishioner or to a new neighbor and welcomed them? Have I gathered up the extra coats, shoes, and clothes in my home and given them away?  Have I helped feed the hungry? Is prison ministry on my heart, and if so, how can I act on it?  Could you bring your children or a friend to visit a nursing home?  Is there someone who is sick that you can go and pray with or help with their chores that are going undone?

If you are still feeling comfortable because judgment day sounds so far off, then listen to these somber words from the Church.

“The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in His second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith. The parable of the poor man Lazarus and the words of Christ on the cross to the good thief, as well as other New Testament texts speak of a final destiny of the soul—a destiny which can be different for some and for others (CCC 1021).”

“Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ [King of the Universe]: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven — through a purification or immediately — or immediate and everlasting damnation (CCC 1022).”

So when will you die? I have been surprised at how many of my high school classmates I have outlived. They were so much healthier than me. Our particular judgment can come at any time. In the first verse of the gospel next week, Jesus says, “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come (Mk 13:33).”

Now we are in the proper frame of mind to turn to Mother Teresa for guidance and hope. In her Nobel prize acceptance speech, her stories of seeing extraordinary goodness in the poor shed new light on Jesus’ words, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God.”  What does “pure of heart” mean? St. Angela Merci kept the answer simple, “Charity does not sin.”  When, with love, I welcome the stranger and visit the sick, my heart is pure in that moment. It is free of sin.

My epiphany while listening to Mother Teresa’s stories of the poor was that, when I am lovingly caring for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned, I am pure of heart and I…see…God.  I see the person, but in them the King of the Universe is looking back at me.  And in that sacred moment, I travel the Advent road from Jesus’ judgment seat in heaven to the manger in Bethlehem where our King joins us in all our suffering.

Have mercy on us, oh King of the Universe, and send us Your Spirit to lead us from the fear of Your judgment seat to the hope of Your manger. Amen.

CITATIONS

Kreeft, Peter. “Food for the Soul; Reflections on the Mass Readings, Cycle A.” Word on Fire 2022.

Mother Teresa. Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech. YouTube.

Catholic Church. “Catechism of the Catholic Church.” 2nd ed., Our Sunday Visitor, 2000.

Give to God What is God’s

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 22, 2023 — Year A
Readings: Is 45:1, 4-6 / Ps 96 / 1 Thes 1:1-5b / Mt 22:15-21
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

The Church has done her usual wonderful job of choosing a collection of readings that help us enter into the gospel with the right frame of mind. Isaiah tells us God is Lord and “there is no other” (Is 45:5). In Psalm 96, King David, fresh from bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, writes, “Declare His glory among the nations.…The Lord reigns” (Ps 96:3,10).  In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he wrote, “He has chosen you; for our gospel came to you in power and in the Holy Spirit…” (1 Thes 1:4).  So the right frame of mind is that Jesus, who is God, is the King of the Universe and we are His people, made so by the Holy Spirit.

King David points out God’s kingship in today’s Psalm, declaring that He reigns. Where is God’s throne? It is in heaven, yes, but Jesus also reigns in our very bodies.  Paul, in 1 Corinthians 6:19, says God made our bodies into a temple of the Holy Spirit. Thus, Paul can say to the Thessalonians that they received the Gospel in the Holy Spirit. That Jesus made our bodies into temples is a key to today’s gospel.

Let’s use our imaginations and enter into this gospel by composing the scene. Return to this scene whenever your mind starts to wander. Jesus is in the great Temple of Jerusalem, the greatest religious structure in the kingdom of Rome. Its area would cover 35 football fields and it is several stories tall. The stone walls are thick, with some stones weighing several hundred tons. “Its appearance is radiant with polished marble and gold adornments.” (Mitch/Sri, 302) Jews, Gentiles, and priests are bustling about. The air is filled with many voices and other sounds, and the smell of smoke and incense. You are there, taking a seat to listen to the famous rabbi, Jesus, speak.

If you recall, the next thing we need to do before we unpack the gospel, is to ask Jesus for the grace we desire to receive from this encounter with Him. And today, Jesus tells us, through the lips of his enemies, what that grace is. The disciples of the Pharisees asked Jesus, “Tell us, then, what You think” (Mt 22:7).  In other words, we want the grace of interior knowledge of Jesus’ mind and heart; knowledge not written in the book but given to us by grace through the Holy Spirit.

Now, we play out the scene. Jesus is standing at the top of some steps. We are sitting at the front of the crowd at the base of the steps, eager to hear what He has to say. We have heard of His time in the temple, verbally jousting with the priests and elders. He has really started to stir things up. Knowing that, we are not surprised when some disciples of the Pharisees arrive, pushing their way through the crowd, brushing by you, and walking up a few of the stairs, but staying lower than Jesus.

What does surprise us is that they are accompanied by Herodians, traitors who have consorted with the Romans! The Pharisees’ disciples start lavishing praise on Jesus, but you can tell by the look on their faces, it is not sincere.  “Teacher, we know that you are true, and teach the way of God truthfully, and care for no man; for you do not regard the position of men” (Mt 22:16).  You have to admit, though, that what they said really is how you see Jesus. But then comes their trap, which in your opinion, is so predictable of that group. “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”  Oh no. You want to yell out to Jesus, “Do not answer that question. It is a trap.”

You know that if He says do not pay the taxes, the Herodians will have him arrested and tortured for instigating a tax revolt (Mitch/Sri, 285.) If He says pay the tax, He will look like a Roman sympathizer, discrediting Himself in the eyes of the Jews. (Ibid.)  But then you recall how He has handled Himself before today, and you get a knowing grin on your face. This is going to be good.

Jesus asks the Pharisees’ disciples for a coin that pays the tax, and they give him a Roman denarius. Hypocrites, you think to yourself. They carry coins for taxes like everyone else!  Those coins have an image of Caesar with the blasphemous words, “Son of the divine Augustus” on one side and “high priest” on the other. (Mitch/Sri, 286) Sure enough, Jesus says, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites” (Mt 22: 18)?  And then He sets their heads spinning. After they tell Him the image on the coin is Caesar’s, He tells them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” (Mt 22:20-21).

His adversaries leave in stunned silence, brushing by you on their way out.  While triumphantly smirking at them, you suddenly remember the grace you asked for and get up the courage to raise your hand and to ask Jesus a question. “Lord, I get that paying our taxes does not compromise our duty to God, but tell us what it means to repay to God what belongs to God?” (Mitch/Sri, 286)

Jesus begins to explain, and you and the crowd grow silent again, glad that Jesus sent the hypocrites packing. He looks at you with fondness and His gaze fills you with warmth and joy. He says, “The Roman denarius bears Caesar’s image, so it belongs to him and should be returned to him.” But, looking at you, He asks, “What is it that belongs to God? Hmm?”  You kind of freeze up and your mind goes blank. You can feel the crowd staring at you. Jesus does not want you to feel embarrassed, because He sincerely loves you. He loves that you pushed your way to the front row. He loves you for not falling for the lies and games of the hypocrites.

To help you, Jesus asks you another question. “Who did God make in His image?” You smile, look around smugly at the crowd and answer, “Me! And all of us” (Gn 1: 26).  Jesus smiles with a chuckle, and says, “You have answered well.”  Someone behind you gives you a congratulatory pat on the shoulder. But then you notice Jesus staring at you looking for more. And it hits you and you shout, “Since our body bears God’s image, we must return it to Him. He is our King, and we owe Him all that we are and have! (Mitch/Sri, 286) Jesus opens His arms and makes an emphatic, “Yes!”  And then you realize that He has given you the grace we asked for, “Tell us what You think.”

To quote my boss, how do we put blue jeans on this? In other words, how do we simplify putting into practice returning to God our very self? First, we must examine our life and ask ourselves, “Where am I holding back giving myself to God because of my lack of faith?”  If you are not sure, then look for where you have fears or concerns or worries or anxieties or insecurities or, if you have none of these, then pride.

These are often revealed by your self-talk or inner voice saying, “I am too young. I am too old. I am too poor. I am too busy. I am too tired. I am not smart enough. I am not holy enough. I am too sinful. I am good right here.” Notice all these statements have something in common. They all use the words “I am.” A lack of faith can cause us to try to bear our burdens or to perform good works without God who is the great “I Am” (Ex 3:14).

If we flip these words around, we will see how silly our lack of faith is:

Too young for I Am? We have teenage saints. David was around fifteen years old when God anointed him to be a king.

Too old for I Am? Simeon, ready to die of old age, announced Jesus as the Messiah.

Too poor for I Am? Mary and Joseph were poor. Jesus was born in a barn!

Too busy for I Am? He keeps the universe in motion. He is the Lord of time and will help you find more.

Too tired for I Am? He does not sleep.  He spoke to me about this gospel before the sun rose.

Not smart enough for I Am? He makes the simple wise. St. Peter, a fisherman, in his first attempt at preaching brought three thousand to the Lord.

Not holy enough for I Am? He freed Mary Magdalene from seven demons and the sinful behaviors caused by that, and she went on to proclaim His resurrection to the twelve apostles.

Too sinful for I Am? St. Augustine wrote one of the world’s first autobiographies, candidly sharing his sins of fornication and careerism in his book, Confessions. Today, he is quoted throughout the Catechism and studied by Catholics and Protestants alike.

Our King protects us, guides us, and strengthens us. He loves when you return to God what is God’s by rendering your children to I Am in Baptism, your sins to I Am in Confession, your body, heart, and soul to I Am in Holy Communion, bowing your head to I Am in Confirmation for impartation of the Holy Spirit, rendering your tired and sick body to I Am in Holy Anointing of the Sick, rendering your best friend to I Am for His blessing of your Marriage, and rendering your sons and husbands to I Am in Holy Orders!

What more does I Am need to do for us to trust Him enough to render to Him what is His…which is you and me? Give Him yourself, your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your husband, your wife, your children, your classes, your job, your retirement, your virtues and your vices. This is how we render to God what is God’s. We give Him our good and our not so good.

Oh Great I Am, you are King of the Universe, and we render to you our very selves and ask that you reign in our bodies, your temple. Amen!

Citations

The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. Ascension Publishing 2018.

Curtis Mitch & Edward Sri. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, The Gospel of Matthew. Baker Academic 2010.

Banish Envy and Rejoice in the Success of Others

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 24, 2023 — Year A
Readings: Is 55:6-9 / Ps 145 / Phil 1:20c-24, 27a / Mt 20:1-16a
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

Today’s readings give us a message of hope in God’s love and mercy. No matter how badly or how often we choose sin, He is always, to quote King David (who wrote today’s Psalm 145), “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness” (Ps 145:8-9). However, today’s scripture passages are also a challenge. I’m going to focus on Jesus’ challenge to accept God’s justice and to reject envy when it seems unfair to us.

In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah encourages the “scoundrel and the wicked” to turn to God, for He is “generous and forgiving” (Is 55:7). Isaiah lived at a time when Israel earned what it was getting, which was a collapse of its culture and exile under Babylonia. Nevertheless, he encouraged his people to repent and return to God. Why was he kind to them? For the same reason we all should be kind to the lost, because he had a similar experience to the one we can have at every Mass if we remain spiritually awake.

Around the year 740 BC, Isaiah “saw the Lord sitting on a throne.…Seraphs were in attendance above him…And they called [out], ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord’” (Is 6:1-3). Isaiah said, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts! Then one of the seraphs flew to [him] holding a live coal [from the altar] …and touched his mouth with it, saying as he did so, ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed, and your sin is blotted out’” (Is 1:5-7).

Isaiah had experienced God’s unmerited grace from the heavenly altar while still a sinner. The hot coal that touched his mouth was a foreshadowing of Jesus in the Eucharist which we, too, receive from an altar that heaven touches. And like Isaiah, we know our uncleanness, but we trust that our sin is forgiven. Isaiah prayed, “Woe is me” in his conversion moment. We pray, “Lord I am not worthy…”  Isaiah’s experience formed him in humility and in awe of God’s kindness and mercy; so too, should our Holy Communion.  Isaiah’s conversion awakened compassion within him, helping him to accept God’s generosity and justice. Keep his experience in mind as well as your experience at Holy Communion, as we meditate on the gospel.

Recall St. Ignatius’s way of drawing near to God in scripture. You start by composing the place to center your mind, so it does not wander. Just prior to Jesus’ parable today, Matthew tells us that Jesus “left Galilee and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan” and that “great crowds followed Him, and he cured them there” (Mt 19: 1-2).  To the twelve apostles and this crowd he tells today’s parable. Place yourself in this scene, caught up in the excitement of the crowd that hangs on this miracle worker’s every word.

Step two in this Ignatian exercise is to name the grace you want to receive from this encounter with God in the gospel. Maybe the grace we could ask for today is for Jesus to reveal where our heart and mind need further conversion.

Step three is to play out the scene. Jesus is telling a parable for the “kingdom of heaven,” saying it is like a landowner who went out to hire workers for his vineyard. Imagine you are a hard-working laborer and devout Jew listening to him.

We are intrigued by the story, wondering what Jesus is going to teach us by this parable. He says that the landowner went out about every three hours, from dawn until 5 PM, hiring laborers. As an ancient Jew, you know that a day’s wage is one denarius. So, when the landowner tells the laborers he hired at 9 o’clock, “I will give you a just wage” (Mt 20:4), you expected they would get less than those hired at earlier in the day.

However, the first paid were those hired at 5 o’clock, one hour before quitting time, and they received one denarius! Good for them, you think! You are excited to hear what the landowner is going to pay those who were hired at dawn. You are all for higher pay for laborers. But then you find yourself angry and aggravated that they also received one denarius. What the what?!  You side with the laborer who complains how he worked all day and bore the heat, but still was paid the same as those hired late in the day. This is, in our eyes, an injustice. How quickly we forget Isaiah’s words that God’s ways are “so high” above ours.

Sitting there among the crowd, listening to Jesus, we recall the grace we prayed for when He began to preach, “Jesus, reveal where my heart and mind need further conversion.” Jesus continues his parable telling us how the landowner gently chastises the grumbling laborer. “My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Are you envious because I am generous” (Mt 20: 13-16)?

Ah, there it is. Jesus gives us the grace we asked for. He suggests we are envious. Envy is one of the seven deadly sins. Does it lurk anywhere in my heart and mind? What is envy? The catechism shares that St. Augustine called envy “the diabolical sin…from it are born hatred, detraction (gossiping about someone’s serious sin), calumny (making false statements about someone), joy caused by the misfortune of neighbor, and displeasure caused by their prosperity.” (CCC 2539)

Let’s do an examination of conscience around envy. When a recent convert or revert surpasses us in his pursuit of Jesus or seems to gain a higher position in the parish to which we have belonged much longer, are we envious? If so, confess it. When a political figure or celebrity, co-worker, or classmate that we cannot stand falls from grace, do we enjoy that and share their misfortune or sin in gossip with others? If so, confess it.

Now, with social media there are many opportunities to fall into the sin of envy. Sin harms us and envy is no exception. It robs us of happiness and can cause us to become depressed or anxious. A youth counselor said when parents request she treat their child for anxiety or depression, before she will treat them, she has them put down the cell phone for six months. She says the majority of their anxiety is healed simply from doing that. So, with social media in mind, are we envious of someone else’s home or popularity or beauty or talent or career or spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend? If so, confess it.

The catechism reminds us that “the 10th commandment requires that envy be banished from the human heart.” (CCC 2538) So how can we combat it or “banish it from our heart?”  We strive for humility. St John Chrysostom gave us one description of this, preaching, “Would you like to see God glorified by you? Then rejoice in your brother’s progress and you will immediately give glory to God.” (CCC 2540)

Whether we are average in every way and daydream about being amazing, or we are brilliant and talented and think we must do remarkable things to earn love and respect, we are in the same trap. This trap tempts us to the sin of envy, which at its root, is a desire to be great in the eyes of others, or as Deacon Barry said, “To be somebody.”

So, how do we think of ourselves as little, yet do so in a way in which, while we are smaller, we are stronger? In which we do not need the love and adulation of others, yet feel more loved and affirmed? Spoiler alert on the answer. There is no Harry Potter magic spell that makes this happen instantly. Healing our ego by shrinking it is a paradox that takes time living in faith, hope, and charity to achieve. But the peace and joy and freedom we gain are worth the effort!

Here are some ways to banish envy. Build up others every chance you get, especially in those ways a person does well, but probably has not thought about: “Good job getting your family to Mass every Sunday.” “I appreciate the questions you ask in class.” “You are so good with the elderly, or you are so generous with your smile.” “Thank you for working for our family today, even though you were exhausted.” “Dad, thank you for taking care of Mom even though she can no longer return your love.” “I love how even though you just came into the church this past Easter, you are finding ways to participate in our parish!”

Spiritually, we combat envy with regular prayer, all the better if coupled with meditation on scripture. Here are a couple of verses that remind you that you are somebody. From Isaiah 43, “I have called you by name…you are precious in my eyes,” and from Psalm 139, “I praise you because I am wonderfully made.”

If those are too sugary for you, enter into the scene of Jesus on the cross and ponder and talk to Him about one of his last seven utterances. In your browser type, “Last Seven Words on Hallow” and you get a wonderful meditation on them. Here are a couple of His last seven.  To all us sinners, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” and to the good thief who comes to “work in the vineyard” at the very end of his life, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

From the cross, Jesus, who is paradox incarnate, makes the small feel big and the big feel small. In doing so, he banishes envy from our heart. Do beggars envy other beggars? If not, can fellow beggars of God’s love and grace envy one another? When our hearts are full of gratitude and our spiritual fuel tank is filled, there is no room for envy or any other sin.

Our Lady was free from envy because she was full of grace, so let’s seek her intercession:

Mary, you were a poor teenager in a small town, a humble handmaid, friend of the elderly neighbor, a wife and then a widow, a mother who lost her son, and our mother. By your Son’s gift, you were “full of grace,” leaving no room for envy.  Pray for us lowly ones here that we may see our greatness through your Son’s eyes so that we are free to rejoice in others’ blessings. Amen!

Citations

The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. Ascension Publishing 2018.

Curtis Mitch & Edward Sri. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, The Gospel of Matthew. Baker Academic 2010.

Simon, Though Weak, Is Made the Rock

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 27, 2023 — Year A
Readings: Is 22:19-23 / Ps 138 / Rom 11:33-36 / Mt 16:13-20
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

Thank you, Jesus, for calling Simon to be the Rock upon which the Church would be built! Jesus called him this before Simon had gained Christian courage or fortitude at Pentecost. He called him the Rock knowing that just moments later He would chastise him, saying, “Get behind me Satan.” He called him the Rock while knowing Simon would one day deny Him three times when He needed Simon the most.

Hang on to that thought a moment; we will come back to it in the second half of this homily. But now, let’s use a powerful prayer-centering technique from St. Ignatius of Loyola and place ourselves in the gospel scene. This is a time for you to use your imagination in a holy way that God intended. Once you have the image in your mind, go back to it whenever your mind wanders. It will help you stay centered. You can do this any time you pray with scripture.

Jesus and the twelve were in Caesarea Philippi, a mostly Gentile area with a temple to the ancient Greek god, Pan. There is a large spring there, which helps form the headwaters of the Jordan river. The spring makes the area lush with greenery. The area is mountainous with brown, grey, and orange-streaked rock all around.

Imagine Jesus and the twelve and you stopping underneath the shade of some trees and sitting on some of those rocks common to that area. There is a breeze cooling us off after our long walk from Galilee.  Jesus sits on the largest of the rocks and begins to speak to us. Place yourself in this scene next to a disciple, except Peter. If your mind wanders, recall this scene and where you are sitting.

Jesus asks, “Who do people think I am?” We have all heard different things. Then He asks, “But who do you say that I am?”  Before any of us can think it through, Simon says, “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.”  Jesus tells him that neither his intellect nor that of others came up with that answer, “[B]ut it was revealed to you by my heavenly Father.” And then Jesus stuns us who know Simon’s weaknesses, saying, “I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church…I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.”

You lean over to the disciple you sat next to and ask, “Why did Jesus call Simon by the name Peter?”  He replies, “When God changes a person’s name it is because He is giving them a new mission and a new authority. God did this with Abraham and Sarah who became the father and mother of the nations.” You suddenly realize God did this with Peter who becomes the first Pope. Pope is Latin for papa or father; Peter is to be the Father of the Church to which all nations belong (Cavins Session 15).

You ask the disciple, “What does it mean that Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven and that what he binds and loosens will be done in heaven too?” The disciple lightheartedly ribs you, saying, “You should have paid more attention to the first reading from Isaiah 22,” and he winks at you.  He goes on, “Jesus was using the same language used by Isaiah. In Isaiah, a royal steward, Shebna, is removed from power and the keys were given to Eliakim. Stewards were the most powerful person in Israel under the king (Mitch_Sri 209).”

You tell him, “I learned in Adult Faith Formation that the power to rule in the king’s absence is denoted by keys that represent the office, not the person, and therefore this power or office can be handed down to successors (Cavins). There are some in my time who say that Peter had primacy among the twelve, but that it ended when he was martyred. They are wrong. The bible and historical records prove them so.”

The disciple asks you, “In your time, do you know what authority Jesus gave Peter?” You Google Catechism 553 and read to him while he looks curiously over your shoulder at the cell phone. “The keys are a symbol of his power to open the gates of heaven to men; ‘to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgements, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church.’” Not to be outdone by a machine, the disciple one ups Google and adds, “Jesus was using an ancient Jewish idiom or figure of speech of binding and loosing whereby rabbis exercised teaching and juridical authority (Mitch_Sri 211).

You tell him, “I heard in Fr. Mike Schmitz’s Catechism in a Year podcast that the authority of the pope and the college of bishops that we call the magisterium is vitally important to our faith. First, because authority must exist if we are to learn to be obedient like our Master, the one sitting on that tall rock over there, of Whom it was said, “Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered and, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him (Heb 5:8-10).” The disciple animatedly adds, “That is why we must teach our children to be obedient. We cannot be their buddy all the time. If they do not learn to obey their earthly mother and father, how will they learn to obey their heavenly Father through the Church?”

You emphatically agree, mentioning that, “Obedience to the Church is important to ensure the teaching of Jesus is not distorted by a constantly changing worldly culture or our own passions or brokenness. For example, there are Christians who now believe baptism is not necessary for salvation despite Peter’s writing later that, “[B]aptism now saves you (1 Pt 3:21).” End of the scene. Now let’s shift from the theology of today’s gospel to its spiritual meaning for our lives.

Recall that at the beginning of the homily I thanked Jesus for selecting Simon as head of the Church. Here is why. Prior to his being confirmed in the Spirit at Pentecost, he would sink in the water for he had little faith. He would tempt Jesus to avoid His Passion, prompting Jesus to say those words I mentioned earlier, “Get behind me Satan.” In the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter would fall asleep multiple times while Jesus prayed alone in agony. While Jesus was on trial, Peter denied his friendship with Him three times.  Despite knowing all this would take place, Jesus called him “the rock” before Pentecost.

So here is the question we all must answer, “Where is Jesus calling you to be a rock, but you resist His call because you feel unworthy, inadequate, ignorant, weak, too busy, too old, or too young?”

We know our past and our weakness almost as well as Jesus does, but we do not know as well as He does our strength, and especially not how strong we will be in the future by His grace. When He calls you to be a rock for a friend, for your spouse, for your children, for your students or patients or customers, for the poor, or for this wonderful parish, you can trust He knows you better than you know yourself.

What about when you fail after He calls you to be a rock for someone or something? Again, Peter shows us the way. In his fear and confusion after Jesus’ arrest, he continued to follow Jesus as best he could, albeit at a distance. By doing so, when Peter hit “rock bottom” (pun intended), denying Jesus three times, he was still near enough to Jesus to receive His saving grace, His divine glance. Across the high priest’s courtyard, Peter saw how Jesus looked at him and the healing and conversion of heart began with Peter’s holy sorrow falling as tears.

When you feel the frustration and hopelessness of your repeated failures to do God’s will or the confusion from being deep in darkness and despair from the natural evil of serious illness or the death of a loved one, or addiction, or the uncertainty of a new season in life like retirement, keep following Jesus. We do that by following Him in prayer, adoration, Confession, and Holy Communion. In those moments, even if we are not feeling strong in faith, we are close enough to see how He looks at us.

His glance, His gaze starts the healing and strengthening that enables us to fully receive the grace of our Pentecost, Confirmation. And this awakening to the power of the Holy Spirit within us transforms us from being unstable in doubt to being a rock in faith. But we still must move and act.

Here is my personal testimony to this truth, and this is for the glory of God. When I was six years old, Jesus called me a rock, if you will, in the happy moment of my first Holy Communion when I was asked to read one of the readings. It meant a lot to me at that time in my life. But then life happened. My dad lost his way, which led to my losing my way. I didn’t go to Mass or pray or think about God during my teenage years. Yes, Jesus brought me back to the Church through marriage, but I still was filled with self-doubt, worsened by sin and the baggage from those years, without an awareness of Him.

Fast forward to 2016, before I began the process of becoming a deacon, Jesus asked me to be a rock for my brother, Kevin, who was dying of cancer in home hospice and who was estranged from the Church. I had no medical training and no hospice experience.  I tended to lose control of my emotions when those around me were experiencing strong emotions. Furthermore, I was the baby of my family, the youngest of five.

Through unmerited grace, I found the courage to fly to New Orleans to care for Kevin. As it turned out, his condition was direr than the doctors thought. The six weeks of life they thought he would have were only to be one. Throughout that week, in a somewhat surreal way, I was pondering the inner strength and joy I was experiencing. And I was quietly amazed that everyone turned to me, the normally overly emotional baby of the family, for strength and hope when they were overcome by fear and sadness.

A day or two after Kevin died, as we were in the midst of funeral planning, I received a text from my brother-in-law. He is a thinker, a cardiologist, so his opinions are something you pay attention to. I’ll never forget his few short words, which, looking back on it, were surely those of Christ. “Mark, you are the rock of your family.”

So again, I encourage you to rethink whatever person or cause or need for which Jesus has asked you to be a rock. And in a few minutes, before you come forward for Holy Communion, look for that divine glance as Father elevates Jesus before us and pray with a renewed faith, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”  And maybe add in the quiet of your heart, “I will be a rock for whomever and whatever as you wish Lord.”  St. Peter, once weak, but now the rock, pray for us. Amen.

Citations

The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. Ascension Publishing 2018.

Curtis Mitch & Edward Sri. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, The Gospel of Matthew. Baker Academic 2010.

Jeff Cavins & Sarah Christmyer. Matthew – The King and His Kingdom. Ascension Press 2011.

Fr. Mike Schmitz. Catechism in a Year. Podcast on Hallow App 2023.