Homily for Easter 3 - May 1, 2022

 

Homily for Easter 3

May 1, 2022

Imitate What You Receive

 

            This has got to be confusing. It’s after Easter, so the Apostles know that Jesus has risen – but He keeps disappearing from their midst. After having been with someone every single day for the last three years – then having seen them literally rise from the dead – these poor Apostles must be so confused and wondering: what’s next? What’s our mission? What do we do now that Jesus has risen?

            Because the Holy Spirit has not yet come, they have no answers. So Peter goes back to the one thing he knows: fishing. Jesus appears on shore and performs the same miracle He did when He first met Peter – a miraculous catch of fish. Peter immediately realizes Who it is – and realizes how foolish it is to be fishing when the Lord of all creation stood on the seashore.

            And when he encounters Jesus, what does Jesus offer him? Breakfast! When Jesus reveals Himself, He does so in the context of food – a foreshadowing of the Eucharist.

            Our life can be confusing too. All of us are crazy-busy: school, work, kids’ soccer, chores, doctors’ appointments. And we may also wonder: What’s our mission? And if Jesus is risen, where is He in the midst of our seemingly ordinary life?

            Like in the Gospel, Jesus comes to us humbly – in a meal: the Eucharistic banquet at every Mass. We don’t need to look any farther than this altar to find where Jesus is and what the meaning of our life is. Jesus reveals Himself through food and instructs us to follow Him. But this Food is unique, because it is Jesus Himself - His true Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

            St. John Vianney once said, “There is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us.” What could be more valuable than the True Presence of God? We may say, “Yes, but it looks like bread.” True – it does. But if Jesus says, “This is My Body” – and, as God, Jesus is unable to lie – then this must be His Body. After all, if God could create the entire material universe with nothing but a word (“Let there be light…let there be dry ground…let there be plants and animals”), can He not change bread into His Body with just a word? There are many things we believe without seeing them – I cannot see my mother’s love, but I trust that it is there. I can’t see my soul, but I believe I have one. Likewise, I cannot see Jesus’s Flesh and Blood in the Eucharist, but I know it is true because He said that it is, and He has the power to make it so.

            But receiving His truly Body and Blood is meant to have an effect in our lives. What kind of effect? Well, have you ever been to a dinner that had a ridiculous amount of silverware? When you have six forks and four spoons and three knives, it seems impossible to know what to do! So how do you get out of this embarrassing predicament? You watch the host, then you do as they do. When the host uses that tiny fork for the salad greens, so do you!

            In the same way, we must imitate the One who gives us Himself as food. Jesus excelled in every virtue – so must we. Jesus laid down His life for others – so must we. Jesus lived for God alone – so must we.

            Hence, Jesus’ conversation with Peter. Right after Jesus appears to Peter, Jesus asks him, “Do you love me?” And Peter responds that he does – so Jesus tells him, “Now you must imitate Me. You must feed My sheep, and you must lay down your life for Me.”

            The consequence of receiving Jesus is that we must become what we receive. We have that old saying, “You are what you eat” – and this is so true in the Eucharist! When I eat a hamburger, it becomes a part of me, but when I consume Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, I become more like Him! This is now your goal in life – to give your life to Jesus, and live your life in a way that pleases Him, in union with Him.

            A great example of this is a saint named Blessed Imelda Lambertini. As a baby, Imelda was abandoned on the steps of a convent of nuns, so she was raised by these nuns who loved her as their own daughter and brought her up in holiness. In those days (the early 1300s), it was customary to receive First Communion at age 14, but Imelda truly believed that Jesus was present in the Eucharist and desperately desired to receive Him. For years she would beg the nuns for permission to receive her first Communion, but they kept saying, “You’re too young! Not yet! Once you get older!”

            When she was eleven years old, she was praying during Mass one day, burning with a desire to receive Jesus. As the priest began distributing Communion, one of the Communion Hosts miraculously flew out of his hand, and began to hover right over the head of little Imelda. The priest realized that she was ready to receive Him, so she received her First Communion, and then returned to her pew with a brilliant smile on her face, kneeling down and praying to Jesus Who was now within her.

            The Mass finished, and everyone left the church and went about their daily business – chores, studies, lunch. A few hours passed, and the nuns realized that they hadn’t seen Imelda since Mass ended. They checked all around the convent, and finally found her in the chapel, still praying hours later with a smile on her face. They went up to rouse her – and found that she had died from pure joy. Jesus gave His life for her; and she gave her life to Him.

            My friends, Jesus isn’t hard to find – He is hidden here, beneath the appearance of the small Eucharistic Host – so small and hidden because He wants to live in the hidden depths of our poor, small souls. As He gave us His life to become our Food, let us give Him our lives, that we may become His saints.

Homily for Second Sunday of Easter - April 24, 2022

 

Homily for Easter 2

April 24, 2022

In His Will Is Our Peace

 

            Our world needs peace, doesn’t it? We’ve got war in Ukraine, violence in the Holy Land, division in our own country and on our own streets. Where is this peace that Jesus promised us?

            Pope Francis recently reminded people that “war begins in the heart before it ends up in the world.” If we wish to have a world at peace, it must begin with each individual soul at peace. But are you at peace? If I asked most people, I’d bet they’d say no. They might talk about conflict with their spouse or mother-in-law, troubles at work, health problems that keep us up at night worrying…where is this peace that Jesus comes to offer?

            Many of us would define peace as “having no troubles or conflict”. But is that what the Gospel shows us? The disciples are in a locked room, terrified and confused. Their best friend, the one they thought was the Messiah, had been brutally crucified three days ago, and they were afraid the authorities would want to kill them next. But then they found out the tomb was empty – what happened? Was the Body stolen? What was going on? They had all sorts of inner turmoil and external threats…and then Jesus shows up, and they rejoice. Nothing externally had changed, but now Jesus was present. So peace isn’t the absence of conflict…it is the presence of Jesus. When Christ comes, the problems become manageable because they encounter the One Who has conquered everything, even death itself.

            So if peace is the presence of Jesus even in the midst of our chaotic lives, how do we obtain that peace? Three insights.

            First, live in peace with God. Notice that Jesus’ very first gift when He returns is the forgiveness of sins – getting reconciled to God is the first step to inner peace. Just last week a mother sent me the picture of her son right after his first Confession, and he was absolutely beaming – a soul cleansed of sin is a soul at peace. Live as men and women of integrity – no double-lives, no hidden sins, but everything (even our struggles) brought before the Lord’s mercy in prayer and in Confession – and there will be great peace.

            Second, surrender to the will of God. The great Italian poet Dante, who wrote the Divine Comedy, had a beautiful line in his famous work: “In His will is our peace.” A lot of times our lack of peace comes because we don’t want to accept life’s challenges as part of God’s plan.

            I have told the story of St. Maximilian Kolbe, the Franciscan priest who sacrificed his life in Auschwitz to save another man’s life. When he and his Franciscan brothers were arrested and put into a train headed for the death camp, he famously said with a smile, “Courage, my sons. Don’t you see that we are leaving on a mission? They pay our fare in the bargain. What a piece of good luck! The thing to do now is to pray well in order to win as many souls as possible.” How could he be of good cheer when he was headed to his death? Because his life was so completely surrendered to the will of God that he could be at peace with whatever happened.

            We lack peace when we insist upon our own plan. We plan a day at the beach, but it rains – so we get angry and frustrated. We have an appointment to keep, but we run into a traffic jam, and our tempers flare. We want our kids to be quiet, but they keep jumping all around, so we lose patience. But what if we saw these inconveniences, setbacks, sufferings as part of God’s will and surrender to it instead, asking “Where is God in this? Where is He leading me? What is He trying to teach me?”

             There is a beautiful, powerful story told by Fr. Karl Goldmann, an Army chaplain during World War II who was imprisoned along with his brigade in a Prisoner-of-War camp. One of his fellow soldiers was a man who really wrestled with the faith – he would meet with Fr. Goldmann after hours and question him endlessly, searching for the truth. One day, the sad news came to the camp that this soldier’s hometown had been bombed heavily and his whole family, wife and kids, were found dead in the rubble. The soldier, upon hearing the news, went back to his barracks…but a few hours later, no one could find him. Everyone feared that he had killed himself in despair and sorrow. Fr. Goldmann joined in the search for the soldier – and much to his surprise, he found the man in the tent that had been serving as their makeshift chapel. He had flung himself on the altar and was gripping the crucifix as if his life depended on it. Fr. Goldmann compassionately approached the man and asked him if he could pray with him. The soldier responded, “Yes, Father. I need you to help me pray those words from the Our Father: Thy Will Be Done.” Together, they recited the Our Father for hours together, until the man could say those words with complete serenity of heart: “Thy Will Be Done.” He walked out of the chapel-tent with a sorrowful but peaceful heart – having surrendered everything to God.

            Finally, a third way to find peace is to extend mercy and compassion to others. Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, the day on which our Church honors Christ’s abundant mercy poured out for us on the Cross, as we see in the image behind us. Divine Mercy has three parts, as easy as A-B-C. A – Ask for God’s mercy. B – be merciful to others. C – completely trust in God’s mercy. That “B” part is essential. St. Paul writes in Romans 12, “As far as possible, live in peace with all men.” And one of Jesus’ Beatitudes is “Blessed are the Peacemakers”.

            There’s a wonderful story of St. Francis, who was so on-fire with love for Christ that he traveled to Egypt with a desire to convert the Muslim sultan there, who was in the middle of fighting the Crusades. As he approached the palace, the Islamic guards thought he was a crusader, so they beat him to a pulp and sent him away. The next day he came back, showing them that he had no weapon. But, suspicious, they beat him up again. A third time Francis came back, and was beaten again. Undaunted, he went a fourth time – and this time the guards were so curious about the fact that the holy man had forgiven their unjust beatings that they asked him what business he wanted with the Sultan. St. Francis simply told them that he wished to convey a message of peace. Surprised, the guards let him in, and the Sultan received him with kindness. Francis preached to him about Jesus, and although the Sultan didn’t convert, he was so impressed with the man’s peacefulness and evident love that he sent him away with many gifts and gave him safe passage back to Italy. The power of living at peace with all!

            Do you want peace? It is one of the gifts that Jesus gives His Apostles on this day. Interior peace means living our life reconciled to God in Confession, with no hidden sins; peace means accepting all things as part of God’s loving will; peace means seeking to love our neighbor, even our enemies. Once we have peace within our souls, we will have peace in our troubled world – not merely the absence of conflict, but the presence of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

Homily for Holy Thursday - April 14, 2022

 

Homily for Holy Thursday

April 14, 2022

Self-Gift

 

            A few years ago, I had the privilege of leading a father-son pilgrimage to Rome. The youngest kid to come with us was a 13-year-old named Daniel, who is one of the most sincere followers of Jesus I’ve ever met. During the trip, Daniel came down with severe illness – migraines, throwing up, exhaustion, the whole nine yards. It was really rough. One afternoon he was feeling so lousy that he stayed back in our hotel with a chaperone while the rest of us went to say Mass over the tomb of St. Claire. Right after Mass, I wanted to hasten back to the hotel to check on Daniel, so I gathered up all of my Mass items – vestments, Mass kit, books for Mass – and the pile was bulging as I walked into the hotel.

            I came into the room and saw Daniel just lying on the couch, completely wiped out. I said to him, “My gosh, Daniel, how are you feeling?”

            He looked at me and said, “I feel terrible…do you need help carrying that?”

            Here was someone in his sickness, at his lowest point, not thinking of himself but thinking of others. And so it is with Jesus.

            There are times when it is enjoyable to do service. I’ve been on many service trips with teens where we paint houses and work in soup kitchens, and it’s really rewarding and fun to hang out with friends and serve others. But to serve others when it costs something – that is true self-giving love.

            Consider Jesus. He is an hour away from His arrest, on the eve of His torture and crucifixion – and He knows this. His mind must have been occupied with anxiety and fear. This would be the time when He would need comfort, when He should be looking to His Apostles for a kind word or for them to serve Him. The rest of us would be thinking about ourselves at this moment – but instead, He takes off his cloak and thinks only of His Apostles.

            Both of the events that this night celebrate have the same core: self-gift. We see His self-gift in His service, and we see His ultimate self-gift in giving His Body and Blood in the Eucharist. This is truly the Feast of Self-Gift.

            John Paul II often defined love as “self-gift”. It is giving of oneself when it costs, but in doing so, we find what we were made for. John Paul II once said, “Man can only find himself in a sincere gift of himself.” The entire point of Jesus’ earthly life was to give of Himself – in service, in the Eucharist, and ultimately on the Cross. The entire point of our earthly lives is to give of ourselves – to God in sacrifice, to others in service. And in laying down our lives, we find what life is truly all about.

            Jesus tells us that He did this act of service so that we would have an example to follow. So let us resolve to follow His example and give when it costs. Pray when it is difficult. Do chores around the home when we’d rather be on our phones. Smile at someone we’d rather not smile at. Don’t give the poor your surplus, but make a real sacrifice for them. Follow Christ no matter what the cost.

            Mother Teresa summed it up best when she said, “I have found the paradox: when we love until it hurts, there is no more hurt, only more love.”