Christmas Homily 2016

Christmas Homily

December 25, 2016

God So Loved The World

 

            As World War II broke out in Europe, a young devout Catholic journalist named William Halloran enlisted in the Navy Reserves to fight for his country. He was assigned to the USS Arizona, docked at the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, William was one of the ones killed in action.

            His heartbroken mother, Stella, could have mourned and grieved in silence, or spoken against the terrible war. But instead she spoke up – in favor of the war effort. She began to lead a war bond drive, raising about five million dollars for the construction of a new warship, which the Navy named after her son – the USS Halloran. She then encouraged her other son, Larry, to join the military to fight for the country. Eventually Larry joined the Navy too and was assigned to serve on the USS Halloran, named after his older brother. Larry survived the war and is still living.

            For Stella’s tremendous effort, she was invited to the White House three times, and called a hero – for giving up both of her sons and for sacrificing so much for our country. What would cause this mother to send both of her sons on a mission that led to one of their deaths? Her love for her country must have been great if she was willing to sacrifice those most precious to her!

            Why am I talking about World War II on Christmas? Because as I was reading the story of the Halloran family in a magazine, I was moved by Stella’s example, and realized that what she did was a beautiful parallel of God’s great love for us.

            Consider this for a moment – would you be willing to send your son, your only son, on a mission that would likely end in his death? Most of us would say, no, that is too great a sacrifice! Who could require such a thing? And yet this is precisely what God does. He sends His only Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, the perfect reflection of the Father…and He sends Him on a mission that will lead to death. What could possess someone to make such a sacrifice? Only love of something greater than life – “God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son.”

            What we see here at Christmas is the beginning of that mission. The Son has taken flesh. He has exchanged the glory of Heaven, where His radiance was so bright that even angels had to veil their eyes, and instead became a humble baby. He Who owns all the riches of the universe chose to be born into poverty, without even a house or a bed. He Who can create a universe with just a word chose to become so helpless that He needed to be fed and clothed by His Mother. The mission of sacrificing His life had begun – a mission that would culminate in a complete self-gift on the Cross.

This sacrifice was done out of love for us, pure and simple. The heart of the Father was so grieved that we were separated from Him that He knew He needed to reconcile us. In Jesus Christ, that reconciliation is accomplished. God has bound Himself to the human race forever, now that God has taken flesh and become a man.

So how do we respond? Before William Halloran went off to war, he wrote a letter of resignation to his employer, in which he said, “We who have benefitted [from America] should be willing to sacrifice.” To receive great blessings requires a response.

In Jesus Christ, we are saved. Our response, then, is to live for Him. He gave us His very life, every drop of His blood – can we do any less for Him?

A couple practical ways to make that happen. I run a faith-study for a group of teens in Bethel monthly, and we were talking about the first Commandment last month – “I am the Lord thy God, you shall have no other gods besides Me.” I asked the boys, “How do we know that our lives really worship God, and not make an idol out of something else?” One boy responded very insightfully, “I think a lot has to do with time. How much time do you spend with God?” Very true! Our loving response to God’s infinite love must include spending time with Him – an hour a week at Mass, five or ten minutes a day (at least) in daily prayer, and time spent reading Scripture and spiritual books. He has given us everything – we give Him back our time.

A second way is to conform our lives to His. Jesus Christ was loving, humble, patient, kind, pure…in a word, He was holy. And to life for Him is to live like Him, imitating His holiness. That involves following His teachings, which we can find in the Gospels and in the teachings of the Church. That involves surrendering our will to God and seeking His glory, not our own. That involves making the goal of our lives Heaven, and not riches and comfort and being popular.

God so loved the world that He sent His only Son on a mission that would end with His death. Well, not really – it didn’t end with His death because He arose on the third day. But this mission began here, today, on Christmas morning – the mission of ransoming the souls of men and women from the power of Satan and sin and despair. Christmas demands a response – as the Father loved us and gave us His most precious love (the Son), so in return we ought to give Him our entire lives.

Fourth Sunday of Advent - December 18, 2016

Homily for December 18, 2016

Advent 4

Incarnation

 

            Back in 1995, Joan Osborne released a song called “One of Us” in which she asked, “What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us?” (Anyone remember that song? It did make #2 on the Top 40 back in ’95…). That song always bothered me, and not just because she called God “a slob” – but rather because she was asking a question that had already been answered.

            God DID become one of us. That is precisely what the Incarnation means. God took on human flesh. That means that God was happy, He was sad, He got hungry and thirsty and tired and lonely, God went to parties, God had friends, God played games and laughed, God suffered and was rejected and died. We call Him “Emmanuel” – God with us, as the angel says in today’s Gospel.

            Why is this important? Because there was a fatal wound within human nature. You and I suffer under the effects of sin – original sin, our personal sin, and the sins of others. This wound of sin is a part of our nature – we were made for eternal happiness with God, but our wound has disfigured that. So Christ had to take our nature in order to remake it, refashion it, restore it to its original beauty.

            Back in the mid-1800s, there was no cure for the disease of leprosy. Those who contracted that disfiguring, deadly disease were sent away into leper colonies in order to die in isolation, surrounded only by those who have that disease. The Catholic Church was moved to help, but had trouble finding volunteers who would go work with the lepers. Many people wanted to help from afar, but who would go and actually live with them – live like them – to offer them medicine and aid?

            Finally, a Dutch priest named Fr. Damien de Veuster volunteered to go. He traveled from Holland to the Hawaiian island of Molokai, where the largest leper colony was located. For sixteen years he ministered to them – he brought them medicine, cleaned their ulcers, ate food with them. Unlike many others who wanted to give help from afar, Fr. Damien was willing to get his hands dirty and actually live with the people. Eventually he succumbed to leprosy himself, dying in 1889. He is now St. Damien of Molokai, one who put love into action.

            In the same way, Jesus did not come to save us from afar. His name, “Jesus”, means “God saves” – His mission is to save us. But not by sitting on a distant throne, giving us instructions. No, He knew that He needed to become one of us – to heal our human nature from the inside out. Just as St. Damien was able to win the hearts of his people by living alongside them, so Jesus Christ lived alongside us in every way. He was truly human in every way, but without sin.

            What does that mean, practically? When we suffer, we are often tempted to say, “God, You don’t know what I’m going through!” You don’t know what I’m going through when I have physical pain! When I’m lonely! When I’m afraid! When I lose someone close to me! When my family doesn’t understand me! When my life doesn’t make sense! We are always tempted to cry out, “God, where are you? You don’t understand!” But the Incarnation means that He does understand – because He has been there. There is nothing we can go through in this life that Christ hasn’t gone through. Are you grieving? So did Jesus. Are you tired? So was Jesus. Are you in pain, afraid, lonely? So was Jesus. He entered into the mystery of humanity – ALL of it, the good, the bad, the ugly – so that He could redeem it.

            We hear that word a lot – “redeem” – but what does it mean? Well, let’s look at another thing we redeem – coupons! My mom used to clip a lot of coupons; I remember often seeing her going through the paper, seeking to save 50 cents or 75 cents on boxes of cereal or pounds of meat. A coupon is something that, in itself, is worthless – it’s just a piece of paper. But if you redeem it – if you bring it to the checkout counter at the store – it becomes valuable, as it saves you money.

            Jesus came to redeem us – take our lives, our joys, our sorrows, our relationships, everything - from being meaningless to being richly valuable in the sight of God. Now, because Jesus took on flesh, our daily activities have meaning, because, united to Him, we are able to become saints by them. Going to school or work, when united to Christ, can help us grow in holiness. Suffering, when we offer it up to the Lord, becomes a means of sanctification. Our struggles become opportunities to grow in virtue. Everything we do becomes a “living sacrifice”, a small step along the path to holiness, because in Christ our lives have been redeemed. Our lives have gone from “meaningless accidents of chance” to “meaningful, because we are loved and destined to love.”

            All of this is possible only because Jesus took on flesh, entered into the messiness of the human condition, and redeemed it, elevated it, and made it holy!

Third Sunday of Advent - December 11, 2016

Advent 3

December 11, 2016

Our Need for God

 

            Last week as I was walking back from St. Benedict’s along Cove Rd. while praying the Rosary, a car pulled up beside me and the passenger side window rolled down. A woman leaned out the window and said, “You’d better be praying hard. Lots of crazy stuff happening in the world today!” Then she rolled up the window and the car drove off.

            That’s a theme I hear regularly – people who are concerned about the state of the world in which we live. There’s a lot to worry about: the economy, the breakup of families, terrorism, getting sick, corrupt politicians, and so much more. Back in October, TIME magazine ran a cover story about the steadily-increasing rise in teenage depression and anxiety – attributing the cause to be increasing pressures at school, social media bullying, and broken families. But I would attribute it – and a lot of our own anxieties – to a lack of faith in God.

            We were not made to live life on our own. If we were on our own, we would literally be at the mercy of so many forces beyond our control – our boss could fire us, we could get sick and die, we could get our identity stolen and lose all our money. Without faith, all of that becomes just meaningless suffering. But with faith, we are in the hands of a merciful God. Negative things can happen, but He brings great good out of them for those with faith.

            Thus, the encounter of today’s Gospel. Let’s break down this story a bit. First, John the Baptist tells his disciples to ask Jesus if He is the Christ. Whoa, wait a minute! Didn’t John already know? Of course he did – he is the one who pointed out, “This is the Lamb of God!” when Jesus walked by, and who was ashamed to baptize the Lord because he insisted the Lord should baptize him instead. Clearly John knew who Jesus was! Then why did he tell his disciples?

            The key is, he wanted his disciples to become Christ’s disciples. They were still hanging around John, when John wanted them hanging around Jesus. John’s role was to point everyone to Jesus, because the answer to the desires of every human heart is Jesus.

            And who is Jesus? What was His mission? Was it, as our Gospel lists, to give sight to the blind, healing to the lame, hearing to the deaf? All of those things were for one purpose only – to bring others to faith that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is less interested in providing free health care than He is in providing faith in Him! Ultimately the free health care is nice, but it doesn’t solve the deeper thirst of our souls – thirst to know God!

            Pope Benedict in his book, “Jesus of Nazareth”, asks a very important question – what did Jesus come to bring? He answers that Jesus came to bring God. In fact, we call Him “Emmanuel” – God with us. When we see Jesus Christ, we see the Face of God. We understand that we are loved by Him, we come to know who we are and what our purpose is in life (to become holy and spend eternity with God).

            My friends, John’s prophetic role is the same as ours. John said, “He must increase; I must decrease.” John existed to glorify God and to lead others to Him. We, too, should glorify God with our life and lead others to Him.

            We’re probably smack-dab in the middle of Christmas shopping season. But why would you buy someone a new tie and neglect to give them the faith that leads to eternal life? Bring souls to Christ – through your prayers, your example, and sharing what your own faith in Christ means to you. The world needs hope, so the world needs Jesus Christ – He is the only hope for the salvation of the world!

Advent 2 - December 4, 2016

Advent 2

December 4, 2016

Clean House

 

            A man was going about his daily business in his house when, all of a sudden, he heard a knock at the door. Upon opening it, imagine his surprise to find that Jesus Himself was standing there! “May I come in?” the Lord asked.

            The man was flabbergasted, and stuttered his response, “Oh…uh…of course, please, come in!” The man began to quickly think about all the rooms he needed to clean before Jesus could see them. He ushered Jesus into his living room and nervously said, “Please, make yourself comfortable. I just need to prepare for your visit.”

            So Jesus sat down on the couch, and picked up a magazine laying on the coffee table. Immediately the man grabbed it out of His hand, embarrassed at how impure it was. “Oh, Jesus, this isn’t the type of thing You should be reading,” he said. Instead he handed him the Bible, which was crisp and pristine – obviously never opened. “Here, read this instead.”

            The man went into another room to start cleaning, when he heard the TV on. Coming back into the room, the man was horrified to see that Jesus had turned it on – it was showing the last TV show the man had watched – and he was embarrassed to have Jesus see it! He quickly turned it off and told the Lord to stay just in this one room.

            He went into another room and prepared to clean, but he heard a creak and a crash. Hurrying back, he saw that Jesus had opened a closet which was a wreck – dirty, full of trash and garbage. Again, the man was embarrassed, and he started to show Jesus to the door. “You know what, Jesus, perhaps it’s better if You come back later. I have some cleaning up to do beforehand!”

            What if Jesus came to visit your house? What if He came to visit the house of your soul? Would it need some cleaning? Are there closets full of stuff – memories, bad decisions, hidden sins – that are so dark and ugly that you couldn’t let Him see it? What about your senses – have you replayed on the TV screens of your mind and imagination things that you would gladly show Him? Or would we be embarrassed to let Him into every part of our house – all our thoughts, emotions, words, actions?

            We are often so busy this Advent season, preparing for Christmas, that we don’t think of Advent as a time of repentance. But that is precisely the message that John the Baptist preaches in the Gospel. He is the prophet who prepares the way for the Lord precisely by calling all to repentance. The Lord cannot dwell in a soul that is still dirtied by sin.

            Of course, it is only through His grace that we are able to repent at all. But we must cooperate with that grace, and abandon our sins.

The Pharisees prided themselves on being sons of Abraham, thinking that their bloodline and their genealogy was enough to save them. But John deconstructs their pride and says that God can even make sons of Abraham out of rocks! They were not imitating Abraham’s faith or his righteousness. They were sons of Abraham by blood, but not in their actual lives – where it really counted!

Likewise in today’s world, some people believe that they are saved simply by being a Catholic. But being a baptized and confirmed Catholic cannot save us – even being a Sunday Mass-goer cannot save us – if we still cling to our sins and prevent the Lord from invading our life! We may be Catholic in name, but are we followers of Christ in reality? That requires living the type of life Christ offers – a new life, far from sin, seeking Him alone.

So – let’s start by taking advantage of Confession! And not just confessing the same things over and over, but really examining our lives and asking Christ into those “dark closets” that we’ve kept hidden for so long. We have to want to change – and He will change us. We have to want a friendship with Him – and He will become our most intimate friend. If we just go through the motions, nothing will happen – we must genuinely seek Him, and we will find Him.

I hated cleaning the house for visitors. I always got stuck with the vacuuming job, which I hated, because our house was never that dirty and it seemed like my vacuuming never made much of a difference. But, of course, I realized that a clean house shows respect for the dignity of our guests, even if it was just our aunts and uncles. A clean soul shows respect to the Divine Guest who resides there.

As we consider what parties to have this Advent season, we will be cleaning our houses for guests to arrive. But the whole point of this season is to remember the coming of THE GUEST – Jesus Christ – Who dwells in our souls through grace. Only a clean soul is a fit dwelling place for the Lord!