Difficult Times

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 14, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Jer 38:4-6, 8-10 / Ps 40 / Heb 12:1-4 / Lk 12:49-53
by Rev. Mr. Barry Welch, Guest Homilist

Jesus makes a very striking statement to His disciples in today’s gospel: “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?  No, I tell you, but rather, division.”  Why would Jesus say this?  Isn’t He all about peace?  We hear so often:  Peace be with you.  One of His titles is Prince of Peace.  Peace is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.  From the Beatitudes, we remember, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”  And yet, He is bringing up division.  Why is it that He says this?  I think there are two primary reasons.

The first is the practical advice He is giving to His followers.  Many of His followers were thinking that they were with the Messiah now.  He was expected to usher in a whole new era of God’s Kingdom.  All the tribes would come back together; there would be peace in the land; the Holy City would be returned.  Serenity, tranquility, harmony.  Everyone getting along, etc.

Jesus lets them know that this is not the way it is going to be.  He says that some will love Him, some will follow Him, some will join Him, but others will not.  Not only will some not love Him, they will also despise those who do.  According to Jesus, that is not His will, but it is the will of those who do not believe, their own free will.  So He is letting His followers know that there will be division, and it will put strain on relationships.

I’ve said in homilies before that the moment you make a big step, a big commitment, a vow toward Jesus Christ, you will be challenged.  Obstacles will present themselves, fear being one of them.  Satan himself, or the lies that he has planted in the world, will be against you, even in your own household and among those you hold most dear.  Jesus is clarifying that for us in this gospel.

Secondly, as is often the case, Jesus also has a deeper meaning when He is saying something, especially if He is saying something that may be a little confusing to us.  His meaning may not be as readily understandable to us today as it would have been to His original listeners.  Jesus is revealing something about Himself as He quotes from the prophet Micah.

Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah, whom Jesus also often quotes.  The general idea with Micah is that he is making a movement in his prophesies and proclamations from judgment, trial, testing, into confidence in God’s salvation.  In chapter 7 of the Book of Micah, the chapter quoted by Jesus in today’s gospel, he starts with this theme of trials and testing.  Here are some excerpts:

“The faithful have disappeared from the land, and there is no one who is upright.…Their hands are skilled to do evil….The official and the judge ask for a bribe….The powerful dictate what they desire and therefore pervert justice….Put no trust in a friend.  Have no confidence in a loved one…. Guard the doors of your mouth.”

Here is the part that Jesus quotes:  “For the son treats the father with contempt.  The daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and your enemies are members of your own household.”

Whenever Jesus or any of the teachers of His time are quoting ancient scriptures, there is a whole theme and message that they are referring to, not just the individual quote.  Up to this point Micah has delivered a theme of trials and tribulations signified by even division within families.

But then, Micah continues: “But as for me, I will look to the Lord.  I will wait for the God of my salvation, my God will hear me.  As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, show us marvelous things.  (The Exodus, pointing to the new Exodus.)  You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.  You will show faithfulness to Jacob and unswerving loyalty to Abraham, as you have sworn to our ancestors from the days of old.”

In no uncertain terms, Jesus, in the message He quotes from Micah, is proclaiming to His listeners, His disciples then, and His followers today, that He is the fulfillment of that prophecy.  He is the one to achieve the new Exodus to the heavenly kingdom.  He is the one to free us from slavery to sin.  He is the one to answer the oath sworn to our ancestors.  He is the one to bring about the hope for salvation.

He is also saying, in this quote from Micah, that before salvation, there will be difficult times.  Before salvation, we will experience that time of trial and tribulation.  The upside-down world despises Him.  Why wouldn’t it despise us as well?

In the gospel today, Jesus reveals that He is ready to purify the world through fire and the Holy Spirit, as predicted by John the Baptist.  The most wonderful part about all of this is that Jesus takes on all of those trials, all of our debts, all of our sins, upon Himself in the baptism of His passion and death, which He said He must endure before the resurrection.  He restores what is broken and beaten.  He reconciles us to the Father.  He recreates us new and brings about salvation.

Before that, however, as we heard in the letter to the Hebrews today, “Let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus.”

Preparedness

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 7, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Wis 18:6-9 / Ps 33 / Heb 11:1-2, 8-19 / Lk 12:32-48
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

One day in 1780, the state of Connecticut was enveloped by a mysterious darkness. The same thought came to all: The Last Day had arrived. In the House of Representatives, members were heard asking for an adjournment, so that they could go home and wait for the Lord’s coming together with their families. The chairman, Abraham Davenport, made a short speech. “Either it is the day of judgment or not. If not, there is no need for adjournment. If it were the day of judgment, I would rather be found doing my duty. I wish candles to be brought.”

Brothers and sisters, the parable of today’s gospel focuses on the unpredictable return of Jesus and our need to be prepared for His return. He is saying to us, Ready or not, here I come.

Normally, when we think of being ready, we usually think of being prepared for the worst that could happen. Locks on the doors in case of thieves. Life jackets in the event of a boat accident.

Isn’t it interesting that most of us believe in preparation for many uncertainties, but not for the most important event of our lives? We carry a spare tire in our car as a preparation for a flat tire. We have insurance in preparation for our death. Fire truck in preparation for a fire. Airline stewards provide pre-flight instruction in preparation for turbulent weather.  And we seek education in preparation for a good job.

Preparation, in our society, is a sign of wisdom. But think about this: Of all the preparations that we make for the things I just mentioned, not a single one is a certainty. Yet we feel compelled to prepare ourselves for them.

The return of Jesus is a certainty. We can never know precisely when He will return or when we will die, but His return is certain. We must constantly watch, being always faithful and ready, so that we may be found worthy to share in the heavenly banquet He has prepared for us.

The question of the parable is not whether or not Christ is coming again, or when He’s coming, or even how He’s coming. The point is being prepared for His coming and ready to receive Him whenever He comes, now or later.

When a family was vacationing in Europe, they found that they needed to drive three days continuously, day and night, to get to Germany. They all got into the car: Mom, Dad, and their three-year-old daughter. The little daughter had never traveled at night before. She was scared the first night in the car, seeing only the deep darkness outside the window.

“Where are we going, Daddy?”

“To your uncle’s house in Germany.”

“Have you been to his house before?”

“No.”

“Then do you know the way?”

“Maybe we can read the map.”

(Short pause.)

“Do you know how to read the map?”

“Yes, we will get there safely.”

(Another pause.)

“Where are we going to eat, if we get hungry before arriving?”

“We can stop at restaurants if we are hungry,” the Dad replied.

“Do you know if there are restaurants on the way?”

“Yes, there are.”

“Do you know where?”

“No, but we’ll be able to find some.”

The same dialog was repeated several times during the first night and also the second night, but on the third night, his daughter was quiet. The Dad thought that she might have fallen asleep, but when he looked into the mirror, he saw that she was awake and was just looking around calmly. He couldn’t help wondering why she was not asking questions anymore.

“Dear, do you know where we are going?”

“Germany, uncle’s home.”

“Do you know how we are getting there?”

“No.”

“Then why aren’t you asking anymore?”

“Because Daddy is driving.”

Because Daddy is driving. Yes, brothers and sisters, our Father is driving. We may not know the destination, and sometimes we may just know it as the child knew it – Germany — without understanding what or where it really is. In the road of life that we follow, there are many uncertainties and distractions. We do not know where the road will take us. We do not know when it will end. But one thing is certain: At the end of life’s journey, Our Lord will be there to meet us, to welcome us into the heavenly kingdom, if we have prepared ourselves.

Preparation cannot be a “sometime” thing but living each moment of our life for Jesus. If we can do that, we will be prepared to greet our Master whenever He comes.

How can one be prepared in this matter? If you can still remember when Jesus talks about the Last Judgment, He makes it clear that this preparation or preparedness would be measured by our readiness to serve the people we meet. He said, “What you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do this unto me.” We have to complete the task entrusted to us every day and be at peace with, and at the service of, our neighbor now, to be ready for His Second Coming.

Another way is to be faithful to the life and mission of Jesus, as we await the end time, His Second Coming. Despite criticisms, rejection, pain, and suffering, let us remain faithful to the love of the Father, as Jesus did. Let us fulfill the mission entrusted to us, that is, to proclaim God’s reign to all.

God loves faithfulness and rewards those who are faithful to Him. What is faithfulness? It means keeping one’s word or promise, and commitment, no matter how tough or difficult it gets.  Faithfulness is a character trait of God and one that He expects of us.

May Jesus Christ be praised.

True Wealth

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 31, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Ecc 1:2, 2:21-23 / Ps 90 / Col 3:1-5, 9-11 / Lk 12:13-21
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

An elderly man on the beach found a magic lamp.  He picked it up, and a genie appeared.  “Because you have freed me,” the genie said, “I will grant you a wish.”  The man thought for a moment, and then responded, “My brother and I had a fight thirty years ago, and he hasn’t spoken to me since.  I wish that he would finally forgive me.”  There was a thunderclap, and the genie declared, “Your wish has been granted.”  The genie continued, “You know, most men would ask for wealth or fame, but you only wanted the love of your brother.  Is it because you are old and dying?”  “No way!” the man cried, “But my brother is, and he’s worth about sixty million dollars.” 

Brothers and sisters, in the gospel, a man asks Jesus to interfere and to help settle a problem in the family concerning the division of ancestral property.  He says, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”  In Jewish culture, as well as in many other cultures, to be chosen as mediator is something honorable.  Normally, people would ask someone to mediate because of the person’s good standing in the community.  Jesus appears to decline the invitation and gives the reason for His refusal when He says, “Take care to guard against all greed.  For though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”  The Lord suspects that this conflict about the inheritance is driven by greed, and He does not want to take part in it. 

Brothers and sisters, up through today, many family feuds are caused by a selfish interest in inheritance.   Because of a piece of land or property, siblings give silent treatment to one another, file civil lawsuits against each other, and in some situations, harm or even kill one another. 

To show his disgust with greediness, the Lord tells the parable of the man with the bumper crop, the man who built bigger barns to store up his harvest and secure his comfortable future.  He is called a fool by God.  Why?  What did this farmer do to displease God?  There is no sign that the man is dishonest or that he cheats others in order to gain more. 

However, if we read between the lines of the parable, we can tell that the farmer is wrong on at least two counts.  Number one, he celebrates bountiful harvests without being grateful.  He believes that he is successful in farming because of his own efforts.  Thus, he does not feel beholden to anybody, not even to God.  And second, he depends solely on material possessions for his security and happiness.  He believes that by becoming wealthy, his future is guaranteed.  The farmer in the parable is a fool, because he forgets that all of creation is from God. 

There is nothing that we can claim as our own in this world.  Even personal achievements cannot come without God’s grace.  We should remain grateful to God, because He is the reason for all our being and becoming.  The person who thinks he succeeds through his own effort only tends to become proud and selfish, while he who recognizes that every blessing comes from God tends to become humble and generous. 

Moreover, the farmer is foolish to think that his wealth alone would make him happy.  The experience of so many lonely, rich people is proof that possessions do not guarantee life and happiness.  In fact, there’s more to life than money and material things.  Love, friendship, intimacy, and other Christian values are essential for joyful and meaningful living.

In the days of King Solomon, there lived two brothers who reaped wheat in the fields of Zion.  One night, in the dark of the moon, the elder brother gathered several sheaves of his harvest and left them in his brother’s field, saying to himself, “My brother has seven children.  With so many mouths to feed, he could use some of my bounty.”  And then he went home.  A short time later, the younger brother slipped out of his house, gathered several sheaves of his wheat and carried it into his brother’s field, saying to himself, “My brother is all alone, with no one to help him harvest, so I’ll share some of my wheat with him.”  When the sun rose, each brother was amazed to find that he had just as much wheat as before. 

The next night they paid each other the same kindness, and they awoke and found their stores still full.  But on the third night, they met each other as they carried their gifts into each other’s field.  Each threw his arms around the other and shed tears of joy for his goodness.  And when King Solomon heard of their love, he built the temple of Israel there on the place of brotherhood. 

Brothers and sisters, what does it matter if you have all the riches in the world, but have no real friends?  What does it profit if you manage to get the bigger share of an inheritance, but lose a brother or a sister in the process?  Would not love and intimacy in the family be more important than a piece of property? 

In the first reading, the book of Ecclesiastes tells us that all things are vanity.  When death comes, all of our human achievements, including material possessions and honorific titles, will be left behind.  St. Paul, in the second reading, wisely admonishes that it is better to set our hearts on what pertains to higher realms and not on things of Earth.  What are these higher things that St. Paul is talking about?  What else, but the virtues that Christ our Lord would like us to have, such as love, compassion, generosity, mercy, and forgiveness.  These virtues will accompany us to Heaven, not our earthly honors or possessions. 

How to Pray

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 24, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Gn 18:20-32 / Ps 138 / Col 2:12-14 / Lk 11:1-13
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

In this homily we will look to Mary and Jesus to give us examples of how to pray.

In the year 1450, an Italian Dominican friar named Fra Angelico painted a fresco of Mary and the angel Gabriel at the top of a staircase in a convent in Florence. There is a nearby window that allows the sun to shine on the fresco in the early morning hours, enlivening its colors. Interestingly, the effect is most pronounced around March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation. Well done, Fra Angelico. What does Fra Angelico’s fresco of the Annunciation have to do with prayer?

While reflecting on this fresco in a papal audience, St. Pope John Paul II said that Mary represents the model of the Church in prayer. He said she was probably praying when Gabriel came to her home in Nazareth. Being immersed in prayer enabled her to receive Gabriel’s message and to say yes to God’s plan. John Paul II went on to say that “Mary represents the model of every expression of our prayer life. In particular, she teaches Christians how to turn to God to ask for his help and support in the various circumstances of life” (General Audience, Sept. 10, 1977). How so?

In the Annunciation, Mary models for us the form of prayer known as Lectio Divina, which means divine reading. If you only hear silence when you pray and just feel like you are talking to yourself, Lectio Divina would be a great way to turn that prayer monologue into a dialogue with our Heavenly Father.

There are five steps to Lectio Divina prayer: 1) Read a passage from scripture; 2) Reflect or meditate on it; 3) Pray; ask God what that passage means for you; 4) Rest and be quiet, listening for His response; 5) Act on what God placed on your heart. Let’s look at how Mary models Lectio Divina during the Annunciation event.

In the Annunciation, step one of Lectio Divina occurs when Gabriel, God’s messenger, speaks to Mary. This is like our hearing God speak to us while we read scripture. Mary then “ponders what sort of greeting this might be.” That is step 2, reflecting on God’s word. In step 3, Pray, she speaks to Gabriel, asking “How can this be, since I have no husband?” After speaking, she listens to Gabriel, which is step 4, being quiet and contemplating. It is only while listening that Mary hears Gabriel tell her God’s plan for her life. Finally, in step 5, she acts on what God placed on her heart, going in “haste” to help her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist.                       

Mary is a model of prayer and indeed the last time we see her in scripture, she is at prayer with the newly formed Church (Acts). She and Joseph taught Jesus how to pray, and we best learn from His example (CCC 2598-2622). It starts with His frequenting the synagogue, where He focused on the word of God, and in the temple, where He focused on the Holy Sacrifice (CCC 2599). In both cases He did so in community with other believers. What He did in the synagogue and the temple is perfected and fully experienced by us at every Mass.  To pray like Jesus then, we should go to Mass frequently.

In today’s gospel, notice that, after seeing Jesus pray, His disciples ask Him to teach them how to do so (Luke 11:1). Regarding this passage, the Catechism says, “By contemplating and hearing the Son, the master of prayer, the children learn to pray to the Father” (CCC 2601).  How did Jesus pray?

The Catechism tells us that Jesus prayed before decisive moments in His life, including before His baptism, before His passion and death, and before choosing the Twelve apostles (CCC 2600). To pray, He sought solitude, often at night, and often after caring for many people, such as feeding the 5,000 and healing “many who were sick” (CCC 2602 Lk 5:16, Mk 1:35; 6:46).

Wouldn’t you have loved to be able to listen in while Jesus was praying? Fortunately, He let us do so on a few occasions. In two of them, He began by thanking God, acknowledging Him as Father and Lord (CCC 2603; Mt 11:25; Lk 10: 21-23).

I’ll share one of those. Before raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus says, “Father, I thank you for having heard me” (Lk11:41).  This teaches us that God hears our prayers, and we can and should thank Him in faith before we receive what we asked for (CCC 2604). King David expresses this truth well in today’s psalm, “On the day I cried out, you answered” (Ps 138:3). In that same prayer before raising Lazarus, Jesus added, “I know that you always hear me,” which implies that Jesus prayed often (Lk 11:41).

To help us remember what Jesus taught us to pray and in what order, there is an acronym, ACTS. The “A” stands for Acclamation or Adoration. The “C” stands for Confession of your sins. The “T” stands for Thanksgiving, and the “S” stands for Supplication, which is asking for what you and others need.

Like the Lord’s Prayer in the gospel, ACTS starts with Acclaiming or Adoring God, “Hallowed be thy name.” This is important for two reasons. One, we were created for praising God and are most at peace when we are doing so. And two, it grows our humility to acknowledge God is almighty, and we are not. Confessing our sins also grows our humility and opens us up for Him to heal us. Thanksgiving helps us remember the grace and gifts we have received. This in turn strengthens our faith that God has heard and answered our prayers before and will do so again. With our faith strengthened, we can confidently enter into Supplication.           

Here is an example of prayer from my life. This was fifteen or so years ago. My lung disease was flaring up, it was around midnight, and I was coughing, trying to clear my airways. Suddenly, the stuff in my airways lodged, and I could only take very short breaths. I was scared and called the emergency line for the pulmonology clinic, which I had never done before and have not done since. The doctor told me to go to the ER. I fell on my knees in the dark and started to cry in my tiredness and fear and prayed to Jesus to help me. I then got up and started to dress to go to the ER when the blockage unexpectedly broke free.

The blockage turned out to be what is called an airway cast. It was a perfect mold of the inside of my airway, about an inch long and solid. It’s a miracle that it broke loose. Coincidence? There is more. The next day I was symptom free, no fever and no congestion. Normally I need an antibiotic to recover after an infection like that. Jesus didn’t just clear my airway as I asked, He healed the infection too.

What was notable about that prayer? I completely surrendered to Christ. There was not a shred of pride between me and Him; I was helpless. I prayed with all my heart, fully aware of how dependent upon Him I was. 1 Cor 12 comes to mind, “for when I am weak, then I am strong.” Psalm 116 also comes to mind, “I was helpless, but He saved me.” Jesus heard me, and He cared, and He healed me. He is that way with everyone who asks, seeks, and knocks.

We can’t have an intimate and fulfilling relationship with our spouse without regular, undivided attention and conversation, so too with God. And just as regular and meaningful conversation with our spouse is an act of love and brings happiness and joy and gives us strength to meet the challenges of life, so too conversation with God in prayer builds our relationship with Him. You may think you are too busy for conversations with God like that between Mary and Gabriel, but when you make time for prayer you will start noticing that everything else works out just fine.

I’m going to let the member of the Holy Family who never spoke have the last word. The scripture says Joseph was righteous, meaning he was aligned with God’s will. And not once, and once would have been impressive, but twice, God speaks to Joseph in his dreams. Surely these things are the result of Joseph having a rich prayer life. He didn’t just pray, though. After God spoke to him in his dreams, immediately after waking up, Joseph did what God asked of him. In doing so, he saved those he loved.

Mary and Joseph, pray for us. Jesus, thank you for hearing us and perfecting our prayer before your Father. Heavenly Father, thank you for caring. Amen.

Waiting on, Waiting for

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 17, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Gn 18:1-10a / Ps 15 / Col 1:24-28 / Lk 10:38-42
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

There is a story about three prisoners on death row, who were asked for their last wish.  The first one wished for pizza.  It was given to him, and then he was executed.  The second one asked for a steak.  It was given to him, and then he was executed.  The third one asked for cherries.  When the guard told him that cherries were not yet in season, he replied, “Well, that’s all right, I can wait.”

In today’s gospel, Jesus reminds us about the value of waiting, and the ways of waiting.  Martha was the one waiting on the Lord, while Mary was the one who waited and listened at the Lord’s feet.  Martha was busy and anxious serving the Lord, while Mary was still and calm, listening to the Lord. And in the end, Jesus tells us that Mary has chosen the better part.  

There are a Martha and a Mary in each one of us.  In prayer, may we be given the wisdom to know who we really are and what we should be, as we follow and serve the Lord.  Mary sat beside the Lord at His feet, listening to Him speak.  Martha, burdened with much serving, came to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?” 

The gospel also introduces us to two women:  Martha, the perfect host, and Mary, the perfect disciple.  They are both eager to serve Jesus, but they go about it in different ways.  

Martha is the perfect host.  She prepares the house for Jesus and His disciples.  She cooks the food and serves everyone because she thinks they are tired and hungry.  She has no idea that Jesus comes, not to be served, but to serve. 

That is why Martha is so upset, so preoccupied with preparing nice food.  She becomes anxious and even snaps at Jesus for allowing Mary not to help her in the household chores.  But Jesus gently rebukes her.  “Martha, Martha, you fret and worry about so many things, but just one thing is needed.  Mary has chosen the best portion.”  Mary listens to Him, learns from Him, experiences His presence, and occupies a place that only men should have – sitting at the foot of her master – in order to learn and be taught. 

Actually, Brothers and Sisters, we also experience this.  When we invite someone to our house, after we greet them and welcome them, sometimes we leave them alone for some time while we continue to prepare their food.  For example, we may give them photo albums to look at, or give them magazines to read, or the remote control for them to watch television.  Like Jesus, our visitors didn’t come for a free meal; they came to be with friends.  They came to be with us. 

On the other hand, Mary is the perfect disciple.  She sits beside the Lord at His feet, listening to His instructions and teachings.  She seems to know instinctively that there is need for only one thing:  to listen to the good news that Jesus brings. 

This might be the reason that God created us with two eyes and two ears, but only one tongue.  He wants us to speak less, but see and listen more, especially in our hearts.  God cannot speak to a noisy heart.  Second, the heart must be obedient and submissive.  God cannot speak to a heart that denies, rationalizes, or postpones.  Third, the heart must be open, so that all the deepest concerns and chambers can be reached and cleaned.  In the same way, God cannot clean and heal a heart that is closed tight. 

It does not mean that Jesus did not appreciate Martha’s hospitality, but He chided her for being so anxious and upset about many things.  She forgot a very important element in her relationship with Jesus.  That is, to allow time to listen to a friend, a beloved, and most of all, to her Lord and Savior. 

Brothers and Sisters, we can discern from the action and reaction of Martha and Mary in serving the Lord their different forms of spirituality.  With Martha, we have an active form of spirituality, while for Mary we have the contemplative spirituality.  It is a combination of prayer and action and reflection which we need in our lives as Christians.  Action and contemplation are not viewed as opposing forms, but complementary. 

We are drawn to the danger of too much activity; we work and work as if there is no tomorrow.  We are so involved in our apostolic activity, outreach programs, and looking for money, but we miss giving attention to enlivening our relationship with God, family, and friends, and listening to them. 

If we have given so much time to work, we must also in the same manner, have time for prayer, meditation, reading scripture, and the Eucharist.  All of us are a bit of Martha and Mary.  We are both body and soul, and we must keep both in balance.   We must give each of them its due.  Jesus does not need people who work for Him; He needs people who do His work.

Lastly, let us pray that the Lord may teach us the value of being prayerful, hopeful, and joyful in waiting. 

Always Pursuing Us

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 10, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Dt 30:10-14 / Ps 69 / Col:15-20 / Lk 10:25-37
by Rev. Mr. Barry Welch, Guest Homilist

Today I would like to share my take on Bishop Robert Barron’s take of one interpretation of The Good Samaritan parable.

A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.  What is Jerusalem, and what does it represent?  Jerusalem is the holy city.  It’s where the temple is, and where God resides.  It represents our eternal home:  the New Jerusalem.  It also represents communion with God.  Paradise.  Heaven. 

A man was going down from Paradise to Jericho.  What is Jericho?  Jericho historically is an immoral, pagan city.  It’s decadent and selfish, separation from God. 

What happens on this trip from Jerusalem to Jericho?  There is a fall.  The man falls, because Satan, in the form of robbers, robs this man of his innocence, strips man naked.  Instigated by Satan, sin is introduced, and man is near death, wounded, beaten, lifeless. 

Does any of this sound vaguely familiar?  Paradise, bad choice, fall from communion with God, instigated by Satan. It sounds a lot like the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, doesn’t it?  Adam and Eve’s choice of sin cast all mankind on this path. 

What comes after the Fall?  What happens next?  The man is lying there, paralyzed by sin.  A priest comes along.  He represents the law.  The priests give sacrifices and holocausts.  But abiding by laws is impossible for us.  We can never be perfect for those laws.  We will always come up short. 

Next a Levite comes by.  He represents the prophets, who call out man’s moral decay, greed, worshipping of false gods, falling further from the law in both the spirit of the law and the word of the law.  But man doesn’t listen to prophets.  His heart is hardened.  Prophets, you remember are often ignored and sometimes killed. 

So we have man fallen.  The law and the prophets pass by and then, along comes the Good Samaritan.  I propose that the Good Samaritan represents Jesus, the true hero of this story.  Like Samaritans of that time, Jesus was hated and despised and rejected.  Jews hated Samaritans.  And yet, He is moved by compassion for fallen man.  He approached the victim.  That’s precisely what God does in the incarnation.  He enters His creation.  He approached man by becoming man, becoming one of us in order to heal what was broken.

The Samaritan poured oil and wine over the wounds and bandaged them.  He gave man the Sacraments:  Oil of Catechumens to cleanse and heal from sin in preparation for Baptism, Chrism Oil that strengthens us in the Holy Spirit, and the Oil of Anointing to heal our bodies and souls.  Also wine, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant at every Mass.

What happens next?  The Good Samaritan lifts up the fallen man and brings him into an inn and cares for him there.  What is the inn?  It’s the Church.  That’s where we all come to be made whole, to heal our wounds.  That’s why we’re here, to heal. 

Man is lifted up, brought to the inn, cared for, and then Jesus pays the bill.  Jesus pays the bill for man, stripped bare, fallen and injured from sin.  Jesus takes our place, and He is stripped bare, falls three times, is injured and beaten and left for dead.  There’s nothing man can do.  There’s nothing man can pay to save himself.  It’s Jesus who pays what we owe—on the cross.  That’s why we have a crucifix prominently displayed on the altar, one turned toward the priest to remind him and us that He became the victim.  The victim offered on this altar is the same that was offered on the cross, to free us from the captivity and injury of sin.  He took man’s place and until He returns, He leaves his bride, the Church, over which the gates of hell will never prevail.  Here generations continue to be healed and continue to give Him praise, worship, thanksgiving, and love for removing our debt, a debt impossible for us to pay. 

We love you, Lord Jesus.  We thank you, Lord Jesus.  Heal us, Lord Jesus.

Sometimes when you’re trying something new, barriers arise, especially if you want to do something good and follow Jesus.  Stumbling blocks occur and sometimes we make mistakes on our way.  We get discouraged in this new path that we’ve taken.  Frequently we revert back to whatever we were doing before.  Whatever we used to do is easier and more comfortable. 

That’s exactly what the disciples in today’s gospel were doing.  Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”  That’s what Peter had done his whole life before he started this three-year ministry with Jesus.  All of the things that happened in Jerusalem—Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion—were just too much for Peter and the other disciples to take.  They decided to go all the way back home and go fishing.  Did they catch any fish?  No.  They fished all night long in the dark and did not even catch one fish, until someone came along to help them.  Who was that?  Jesus. 

They left this life with Jesus to go back to fishing, but Jesus didn’t leave them alone to figure things out for themselves.  He pursued them.  He followed them to where they were.  Remember, after Jesus was crucified, everyone ran away, because they were frightened.  Peter, the leader of them all, denied Jesus three times.  Afterwards, when they are afraid and locked in a room, Jesus appeared in spite of the locked door.  He didn’t leave them alone.  “Peace be with you,” He said.

But Thomas wasn’t present at that time, so the next week, Jesus came back again and said to him, “Thomas, look at my wounds.  Feel my side and believe.”

Now they’ve left Jerusalem and returned to Galilee, walking a distance of one hundred miles.  Jesus followed them there and found them fishing.  Jesus found them, not in the dark, but in the morning light.  Jesus was constantly pursuing them.  Jesus is constantly pursuing us.  He wants us to turn and follow Him.  He had asked the disciples to follow Him when He first met them.  They dropped all their nets, got out of their boats and followed Him.  Then in today’s gospel, He’s asked them again.  His final words are, “Follow me.”

There is a children’s book called “Runaway Bunny,” that was very well-loved in my own household.  There is a little young bunny in the story, who decides he’s going to run away.  His mother tells him if he runs away, she will run after him, “for you are my little bunny.”  The little bunny comes up with all of these ways in which he plans to avoid his mother.  For example, he says, “If you run after me, I will become a fish in a trout stream.”  But the mother says, “Then I’ll become a fisherman and catch you.”  Then he says, “If you become a fisherman, then I will become a rock, high on a mountain.”  The mother says, “Then I’ll become a mountain climber and climb up to you.”  Another example is when the little one says, “I’m going to become a crocus in a hidden garden.”  Mother replies that she will become a gardener and live there as well.  Finally, the little bunny says, “Shucks!  I might as well stay where I am and be your little bunny.”  And the mother says, “Have a carrot.” 

Why am I telling this story?  I’m just going to say this line: “And Jesus said, ‘Have some fish. And bread.’”  Perhaps the disciples said, “We might as well stay with You and be Your disciples.”  Jesus is constantly pursuing, just like mother bunny. 

Jesus found the disciples fishing in the morning.  Once they recognized Him, they left their lives that they had gone back to and gathered around Jesus for a meal.  We also have come out of our normal lives and have gathered around Jesus for a very special meal.  We are going to have bread also, which will be transformed into His body.  Do we recognize Him?  Remember, the disciples did not recognize Him at first either.

In the gospel today, the words, “charcoal fire,” are used.  There are only two times in all of the scriptures where these words appear.  One of them is when Peter was denying Christ three times.  The slaves in the courtyard were warming themselves by a charcoal fire.  The second time is in today’s gospel, when Peter is affirming his love for Christ three times.  We are grateful that Peter returned to being a disciple, since he became our first pope.  Through him, our Church has come through hundreds and hundreds of years to today. 

Even now, Jesus’ mercy and love are going to be passed on to everyone here.  In Communion, He feeds us.  When we eat this transformed bread, that transformed bread transforms us.  We become a temple of Jesus Christ. 

When you come forward for Communion, think of Peter at that beachside barbecue, being asked, “Do you love me?”  In your “Amen,” think of Peter’s response and answer, “Yes, I love You.” 

A New Day, a New Life

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 26, 2022 – Year C
Readings: 1 Kgs 19:16b, 19-21 / Ps 16 / Gal 5:1, 13-18 / Lk 9:51-62
by Rev. Jay Biber, Guest Celebrant

This was a week like no other, with the big elephant in the little living room: major cultural shifts.  And to many of us, what came down from the courts is not necessarily friendly.

There were three decisions that came down from the high court.  The first one was about the second amendment. The second sort of gets blocked out, about faith in education.  It was a case brought from the state of Maine, in which the county agreed to pay for public or private schools, as long as there was no religion involved.   Parents challenged the decision that no religion could be involved.  The court’s ruling stated that as long as a full education was offered, public funding could be used regardless.  So, we’ve all learned that it’s very important for Catholic parents to keep a close eye on education.

The third one on Friday has to do with the whole culture of life.  I think of all of your prayers that have been going up for these forty-nine years since January of 1973, for an end to abortion and to respect the dignity of every human being from moment of conception to moment of natural death.  That’s the first right, after which all other rights follow.

The Supreme Court decision does not mean an end to abortion.  It was more of a judicial thing that says we took a case forty-nine years ago that was not settled law.  In fact, it overturned state law for most of the states in the country and almost guaranteed an ongoing controversy.  And so it returns to the states, for those of us who consciously wish to establish that culture of life in which every life is welcomed.

When I visit the nursing home and see the person whom I once knew in the prime of life, ranting and incontinent – no, you’re not a vegetable!  You’re never a vegetable; you’re a human all the way to the end of your natural life.  We don’t interfere with that.  And you are human from the moment of your conception.

So, it’s up to us going forward, because in Virginia nothing has changed between Thursday and Saturday.  To work for that right to life is still what lies before us.  It has just been brought back to the state level now.  The feeling was that the judiciary had been too activist – they had taken too active a role in what should have been up to the people at the polls to decide, not the unelected judge, so it wasn’t a constitutional issue.

I have the sense that you are probably getting hammered by those who know you are Catholic, because not everybody out there is friendly to what we stand for.  Like in the early Church, in some ways we stand alone.  I hope to give you a couple of things that you can say, because I don’t want to see you unequipped or defenseless.  I want to see you with some words that you can believe in.

Long ago, as early Christians, we separated ourselves, often at the cost of life and limb, from the Roman Empire, and it was remarked upon by commentators and historians, that all these Christians don’t want to abort their children and they don’t expose their children.

What was common under the Roman Empire was that children who weren’t wanted were put out where the animals were, or in the forest, or on the roof overnight.  Of course, many of them didn’t survive.  That was called exposing, and if they survived, the family would often take them back.  Christians didn’t do that.

And I suspect that it was because we were taken from all walks of society, and we recognized that since Christ came for all, and since all were made in the image and likeness of God, and that since Christ had taken on flesh, that means that I have to treat their lives with enormous respect.

I always love first confessions.  You know when the kids come in, and some of them have very keen consciences, and some not so much.  But I always remind them that God loves you and that you are not here by accident.  You’re not some cosmic waste; you’re here for a reason (although they may not know it yet), but you’re not here by accident.  And so, it opens us up early on, hopefully.  From the beginning we stood apart, regardless of how the empire went, and regardless of how the empire goes now.

This is in the future and I don’t have a crystal ball for you.  Whatever happens, we’ll stay the same.  Now we think it’s a great way to live.  It is profoundly liberal, because it says there’s room for you.  We don’t know how we’re going to put that extra plate at the table, but there’s room for you.  That’s the best of the word “liberal” – an openness to the unexpected, an openness to what God’s doing that I may not be completely in touch with.

So, not only do I go back to the beginnings of things, I go back to when my own life began, which wasn’t the day that I appeared to the world in August of 1947.  I’m guessing it was around Thanksgiving time the year before when my life first began inside my mom.  She didn’t know I was there.  Dad didn’t know; I guess God was the only one who knew.  But what I know now that I didn’t know then is that even at that point, I was a person.  I had a right to life.  I was a human being.  And now we know scientifically that I even had my own DNA.  My mother was the one who carried me, but I wasn’t her, I wasn’t a part of her in that sense.  I was dependent on her, but I was not her; I was somebody different.  And that’s what we keep saying – the baby is somebody different, and the baby deserves that protection.  We speak of the baby because maybe our first experience of faith was to think of a baby, because babies are voiceless.

A number of different numbers come to mind as I reflect back.  The number 49.  The number 43.  The number 95.  Forty-nine years ago, when I had just quit the seminary, I had been in for ten years – high school, college in Rhode Island, where I am from, and then over to Belgium for my graduate work for three years.  Times were sort of wild in 1972; it was a crazy, crazy time.  I said to myself that I had too many reservations, so I left the seminary, stayed in Europe after being in Belgium for three years where it was always cloudy and gray.  I needed to clear out the cobwebs, so I hitchhiked down to the south of Spain and worked there for six months, got some sun, and then hitchhiked up to Switzerland where I waited on tables in the Alps and was a ski bum for six months before coming back to the states.

It was during that time that the Roe ruling came down.  Of course, it was not on my radar, so I knew nothing about it.  I only heard about it later on, and life has a way of coming full circle. After a business career I was drawn back to the priesthood, and I moved from Boston down to Virginia and was ordained here.  There I became involved in the Pro-Life movement, because once I began to think about it, I said, “This can’t be.”

And on a day like today, I think of those in parishes throughout the world who are praying.  I think of all those Marches for Life rarely covered by the news media and the longest peaceful protest in history.  All those people who said, “This ain’t right.”  In a culture that doesn’t have an attention span of 49 seconds, this is 49 years and that March for Life becomes like a great family reunion every year.  It’s sort of like Woodstock without the dope – it’s the same average age as Woodstock was.  There’s a sense of ‘we need to be here.’  And of course, now that is reversed and sent back.  I think of all the people who have gone before us during those forty-nine years and those whose prayers, in this respect, have been answered.

Think of the number 43.  There was no long history, no constitutional right to abortion.  It was a very activist decision because the laws of 43 states were changed by this, overnight.  And that was hard to swallow.  So, this time around, the court says it is not constitutional – it must be taken back to the people.

I think of the number 95, for it was 95 years ago, not far from here in Amherst and Charlottesville – that the Supreme Court case was Buck v. Bell, dealing with involuntary sterilization of imbeciles, feebleminded, and people who were ‘less.’  It was the eugenics movement.  It eventually got exported to the Third Reich.  The eugenics movement – some lives are worth more than others – who would breed and who wouldn’t.  And that Supreme Court, perhaps the most illustrious of all time, came down to permit it.

All the way up to the 60s, thousands were victims of involuntary sterilization, and that Supreme Court consisted of luminaries.  Former President Taft was on it, and perhaps the most well-known of all Supreme Court justices, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louis Brandeis.  This is a list of the greats, and they came out 8 to 1 in favor of eugenics.  Now it had to get overturned and was overturned in the 1940s, when we saw what it wrought.  But the one dissenter, which sort of struck me, was the one Catholic justice.  He was raised not in the lap of luxury, not with a silver spoon, but in a log cabin in Minnesota with ten other kids in the family.  Somehow, he knew.

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and I feel very inadequate.  The first time around we didn’t have the words; we didn’t know what to say.  Perhaps when you get confronted, maybe we can begin to get the words now.  What I always ask is if a baby is a baby is a baby, and I was who I was before my mom knew I was there.  Science tells me that.  I wasn’t part of Mom in that sense.  I was who I was.  The other thing I say is when you look at much of this back and forth is that nobody talks about Baby.  And I simply say, “Who speaks for Baby?”  You’d expect Mom to be the one to speak for Baby, but if not, we will.  Keep Baby at the center of the conversation.

Listening to today’s gospel, I would say put this on my tombstone.  Where he says to Jesus, I will follow you wherever you go.  And Jesus says, “Foxes have dens and the birds of the air have their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest His head.”  That to me, is the great romance of the priesthood, or trying to follow Christ, I think for all of us.  To eventually let go of all the little props and little securities that I need, and to turn myself over completely to Him.  Where the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head, there is no security but Him.

This is a chance for us to move forth, to say no, we think a culture of life is a great thing, and yes, we may have to revise the whole sexual revolution.  We may have to revisit that and say that it was not such a great idea.  Look at a lot of the results.  Now we may have to go back and do a lot of work, but the battle is always Christ’s, and so may we be graced with all the fruits of the spirit in going forth.

With Us Always

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
June 19, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Gn 14:18-20 / Ps 110 / 1 Cor 11:23-26 / Lk 9:11b-17
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

I read this story told by Archbishop Fulton Sheen: that, during China’s 1911 republican revolution, in response to the earlier Boxer Rebellion, anti-Catholic militants seized a Catholic parish.  They confined the parish priest to house arrest, so from his rectory window, he witnessed the desecration of the church. He knew that there had been thirty-two consecrated Hosts in the tabernacle.

An eleven-year-old girl was praying at the back of the church, and the guards either did not see her or else paid no attention to her. She returned to the church that night and made a holy hour and then consumed one of the sacred Hosts, bending down to receive Jesus on her tongue.

She continued to return every night, making a nightly holy hour and consuming one sacred Host. On the last night, the thirty-second night, unfortunately a guard was awakened. After she consumed the sacred Host, he chased her, grabbed her, and beat her to death with his rifle.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen became aware of her martyrdom while he was a seminarian. He was so inspired by her sacrifice that he promised to pray a holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament each day for the rest of his life.

Brothers and sisters, the eleven-year-old girl could have had no idea how she would influence a future bishop, who would in turn influence millions of people and promote Eucharistic adoration. We also have no idea how our witness and sacrifices influence other people.

Today we are celebrating the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. This feast reminds us that Jesus gives His very own body and blood, so that we might live in our faith and alive in our deeds. If we do not live in our faith and alive in our deeds, this is because the Body and Blood of Jesus are not part of our food.  So let us not deprive ourselves of this most important ingredient of our earthly life.

When Catholic converts are asked to talk about the reason why they converted to the Catholic faith, for most of them, one of the main reasons is their discovery of the truth about the Holy Eucharist. When they learn that the Eucharist is not merely a symbol, but Jesus Christ Himself, given to us in the form of bread and wine, they begin to experience a deep spiritual hunger and longing for it.  Our Catholic faith taught us that the Eucharist is Jesus Christ Himself.

Through the Eucharist, Christ becomes physically present in the church, keeping His promise that He would always be with us, until the end of the world. And, because the Eucharist is preserved in the tabernacle, we can be with Him any time we want, just like the eleven-year-old little girl in the story that I heard.

Whatever our spiritual condition may be, today’s feast of the Holy Eucharist is the greatest banquet of all. The greatest sacrifice of all. The very source and summit of our whole Christian life. This is the feast of us all, because Jesus is present in the Eucharist, and He is the Eucharist Himself, awaiting us all.

He is here for the child who receives his or her First Holy Communion, for Catholic converts, and for the lifelong believers like us Catholics. He is here for those who cannot receive him sacramentally: the little children, for the non-Catholics who are mysteriously drawn to the Eucharistic banquet.  Some people or friends we know who are in the catechumenate program show love for the Eucharist and continue to attend Mass every week, even if they cannot receive Holy Communion, and they continue to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

He is here for the sick people who cannot join us in this Eucharistic celebration because of their situation. That is why the Church reserves consecrated Hosts in the tabernacle, so that the Eucharist can be brought to the sick and the faithful who can worship the Blessed Sacrament outside of Mass.

So now the question is: How can be apply this belief of the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist into our lives? There are so many suggested ways how, like Eucharistic devotion and participation in the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament as our thanksgiving, reparation, adoration, and petition to Christ, present with us in the Blessed Sacrament. We can also spend a few minutes after receiving the Eucharist in silent thanksgiving. We can visit our Lord preserved in the tabernacle.  There, we can silently speak with Him about anything we please.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church sums up Eucharistic devotion in the words of Saint John Paul II: “Jesus awaits us in the sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet Him in adoration, in contemplation, full of faith and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease.”

So Brothers and Sisters, in a few moments, when we receive Jesus in the Eucharist, let us try to remember our faith, not only in the Real Presence in the Host, but also Jesus’ real presence in us.  That is why we are here, and that is why Jesus nourishes us, so that we can also nourish others.

At the end, let us remember this: If we celebrate the Eucharist with faith, we shall be transformed into what we eat. We shall become Christlike and be true to our name, “Christians.”

May Jesus Christ be praised.

Understanding the Trinity

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
June 12, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Prv 8:22-31 / Ps 8 / Rom 5:1-5 / Jn 16:12-15
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

The truths of our Catholic faith are too often these days being denied or being twisted. Therefore, this homily on the Trinity is focused on teaching. My hope is that you might hear something you can share to defend the faith if need be.

Father began Mass today, as always, in the triune God’s name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In a few moments we will profess our faith in the Creed, which is trinitarian.  “We believe in one God, the Father…We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God…We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son (Jn 15:26). With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.”

The Eucharistic Prayer is Trinitarian. Father Nixon calls down the Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine, and through the Holy Spirit they become the body and blood of Jesus Christ, a perfect offering to the Father.

We are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And how about the Trinity in these words which, if you are not familiar with them, you need to go see Father after Mass.

“God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Yes, that is the prayer of forgiveness for our sins at the end of Confession. Just as we are baptized into the Trinity, we are restored to our baptismal innocence in the Trinity in Confession.

The Most Holy Trinity is everywhere in our Catholic faith. It is like Sharp Top in Bedford, where no matter what street you turn down, you see it.  This is why in paragraph 234 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, this astounding claim is made,

“The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in Himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them.  It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the ‘hierarchy of the truths of faith.’”

The “the central mystery of the Christian faith?!”  The “most fundamental and essential teaching?!”  Dr. Brant Pitre, a brilliant Catholic scholar, said he would have guessed that those titles of primacy would go to Jesus on the Cross or the Resurrection.  Why are they applied to the mystery of the Trinity? Because it “is the mystery of God in Himself.”

We Christians love a good mystery, especially we Catholics. The Holy Spirit dwells in us, giving us a sense of that which cannot be proven or seen. We are not like the intellectual atheist who thinks if you cannot prove something in a laboratory it doesn’t exist. While some of the most intelligent and powerful people admit they cannot define what a woman or man is, the least educated person who has the Holy Spirit within them has no problem doing so. Christians filled with the Spirit can also tell you what marriage is.

Marriage is possibly the sacrament that best gives us the best mental image of mystery of the Trinity, which is probably why marriage is under attack from many fronts. The husband loves his wife, and the wife loves her husband. Their love for one another is so strong and pure that it brings forth a third person.  Likewise, God the Father loves the Son, and the Son loves the Father, and their eternal love is so great that it becomes an eternal He, the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Marriage is not a perfect analogy as the husband, wife, and child are not one as God is one, but it helps.

Bishop Barron says this is why Jesus spoke so forcefully about marriage, and why the Church has protected it throughout history. It is such an important sacred sign. Bishop Barron goes on to say that “libertarians through the ages have fought against the supposed uptight moralism of the Catholic Church. But human beings always surround precious things with laws, restrictions, and prohibitions” (Barron Gospels p. 120).

I have to this point spoken of the Trinity in our prayer, sacraments, and worship. Where, though, is the Trinity in scripture? Recall that in John’s gospel he wrote that, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  Now, let’s look back at “the beginning.” In Genesis, chapter 1, we see God (1st Person) speaking His Word (2nd Person) and a “mighty wind” (3rd person). In Genesis, then one might ask, “Are we seeing three gods?” No, for in Deuteronomy 6:4, it says, “The Lord is our God, the Lord alone,” so there is only one God.

In the first reading from Proverbs, which person of the Trinity is seen with God? It is Jesus, the 2nd Person of the Trinity. “God from God, light from light, true God from true God.” Proverbs says about Jesus, “from of old I was poured forth, at the first, before the earth.” Sounds a lot like what we read in Genesis and in John’s gospel opening. Like God, Jesus has no beginning; He is eternal. To contrast, consider that our souls are not eternal, they are immortal. The distinction is that our souls will have no end, but they did have a beginning when God placed our soul in our mother’s womb.

Where can we more clearly see the Trinity in scripture? Bonus points for you if you said Jesus’ baptism. In Luke’s version, the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus, and a voice from heaven says, “You are my son…” (Lk 3:21-22).  One could argue that the voice called Jesus, “Son”, not God. But we have already established Jesus’ eternal existence through John’s gospel opening and the scene in Genesis and today’s reading from Proverbs. There is more evidence though.  Jesus called himself “I am,” the name God gave for himself to Moses (Ex 3:14; Jn 8:58, 18:5). Also, after an official called Him “good”, Jesus asked him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone” (Lk 18:19). Thus, using a traditional Hebrew teaching method, Jesus affirmed that He is God.

Is the Holy Spirit God? Reason suggests yes. We baptize in the name of God the Father and God the Son. It follows that we baptize in the name of God the Spirit too. In today’s gospel, Jesus says the Holy Spirit “will guide you to all truth” and “declare to you the things that are coming” (Jn 16:13). Thus, the Holy Spirit is omniscient, and only God is omniscient or all knowing. The unity of God the Father and God the Spirit is pictured in today’s second reading from Romans. Paul tells us that God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5). The infinite love of God cannot be poured out through a finite spirit. The Holy Spirit is infinite, the same as the Father and the Son.

When I started doing research for this homily, the very first thing I clicked on from the internet turned out to be the heresy that Jesus is not God. It was written by someone calling himself a Unitarian. I was struck by how poor his argument was. It was mostly personal conjecture. His argument was disconnected from any tradition, like a tiny boat being tossed about in the ocean with no sail or anchor. He did not reference any great thinkers or saints.

Our Catholic faith is not that way. The same things I am teaching today on the Trinity, St. Athanasius called the “ancient tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church.” He said that in the 300s. It is fitting then that I, a deacon in 2022, close by quoting St. Athanasius, a bishop in the 300s, who was quoting St. Paul, an apostle writing to the Corinthians just twenty some odd years after Jesus’s resurrection. “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in everyone (1 Cor 12: 4-6).”  God is good.

Come, Holy Spirit

Pentecost Sunday
June 5, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Acts 2:1-11 / Ps 104 / Rom 8:8-17 / Jn 20:19-23
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

There is a story about a young boy who went to the store on his bicycle to buy something, but there was no place to park his bicycle.  He decided to go to a nearby church and make a request to the parish priest and, of course, the priest granted his request without any hesitation.

The boy asked, “Father, is it safe here?”  He needed to ask, because he was concerned that someone might steal his bicycle.  The priest replied, “Of course.  The Holy Spirit will keep watch over your bike.   But first, let us go inside the church and pray.”  They knelt down, made the sign of the cross, and the boy said, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son.  Amen.”  The priest interrupted him, “My son, you forgot the last part ‘and of the Holy Spirit.’”  The boy said, “We should not disturb the Holy Spirit, Father.  He is watching over my bike.”

The Holy Spirit does not keep watch solely over bicycles.  Rather, He keeps watch over everything and everyone, especially over the disciples, including ourselves, whom Jesus leaves behind as He returns to the Father.  At the Last Supper Jesus tells them that He will send a gift from the Father, the greatest of all gifts, and that is the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Scriptures tell us that fifty days after the Exodus, Moses received the ten commandments from Yahweh at Mount Sinai.  Yahweh presented them to His people, and the people pledged faithfulness to all that Yahweh expected of them.

We Christians celebrate Pentecost fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus.  It is the feast day of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the Church, for Jesus sent His spirit over the disciples to empower them to live by His word.  That is why we are celebrating the Solemnity of the Pentecost today, the giving and coming of the Holy Spirit as a gift from the risen Lord.  Pentecost, in Greek, means the fiftieth day, that is, the fiftieth day after Easter, or the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Actually, the Holy Spirit had already been given to the disciples when Jesus appeared to them after the Resurrection.  He breathed the Holy Spirit on them by saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  Do not be afraid.”  But still, they remained sad, and afraid that what happened to Jesus Christ might also happen to them.  It was only after fifty days that the apostles finally realized that the Holy Spirit had descended upon them and they became courageous.

We, too, receive the Holy Spirit during our Baptism and Confirmation.  But why doesn’t it change our lives as it changed those of the apostles?  Why do we behave, in many ways, like those that are unbaptized, or pagans, as if we never received the Holy Spirit?  I guess the answer is because the Holy Spirit inspires us to do good things, but in the long run it is up to us to accept, ignore, or reject His promptings.

So now the question is, who is the Holy Spirit?  We know that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Blessed Trinity.  He’s the love of the Father and the Son, present within God the Father and God the Son throughout all eternity.  When we want to describe Him, however, we have difficulties, for we cannot see Him.

The original word in Greek, can express the idea of breath, wind, or spirit.  Before the world was created, a strong wind blew over the water.  There was no life yet on earth.  Nevertheless, the earth was covered by God’s presence.  Even though we do not see the Holy Spirit, we are all aware that He is at work in our lives.  We cannot see the wind, and we do not know where it comes from or where it is going, but we see its effects.  The leaves on the trees rustle in the breeze.  Trees are toppled by its fury.  The wind gives speed to a sailboat and produces sound when blown into a musical instrument.

Our Church reminds us today that Pentecost represents God’s gracious, enabling presence at work among His people. This presence enables them to live their lives according to His teachings.  It is also a day to celebrate hope:  a hope that suggests that a knowledge of God, through the Holy Spirit, is working among His people.

The event also celebrates a newness, a renewal of purpose through the Holy Spirit and a mission and calling as God’s people.  Most of all, the day is a celebration of God’s ongoing work in the world which emphasizes the gifts of the Holy Spirit and provides a tremendous opportunity for churches to use this sacred sign to call for a renewal through the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

In closing, please join me in praying this prayer to the Holy Spirit:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of Your love.
Send forth your spirit and they shall be created
and You shall renew the face of the earth.  Amen.