Good Shepherd Sunday - Feeding the Sheep

 

Homily for April 30, 2023

Fourth Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday)

To Feed the Sheep

 

            Some of you may remember those old Fancy Feast cat food commercials, where the moist, mouth-watering cat food – teeming with beef and chicken in a savory gravy – was placed in a crystal bowl for the cat to eat. As I would watch those commercials eating my microwaved hot dog, I’d be pretty jealous of the cats. It looked delicious – even from a human point of view!

            To feed a cat such a delicious meal shows a tremendous love for a pet. In fact, whenever we want to show our love for someone we feed them something lavish, extravagant, special. How many hours does Grandma spend cooking in the kitchen for Thanksgiving dinner? Isn’t it special when a friend breaks open a $300 bottle of wine because of your visit? You know you are loved if a person prepares your favorite dish or your best-loved dessert.

            And so when Christ, the Good Shepherd, wants to feed His sheep, does He give us straw or kibble? No, He gives us finer food than that. He gives us the most valuable, precious thing in the universe: His Flesh and Blood. This proves the goodness of this Good Shepherd – He will not just feed us with something to “tide us over,” some leftovers…but He will feed us with His very self.

            In many cathedrals and older churches, you will find carved into the altar an image of a pelican. Why a pelican? It was thought in the middle ages that during times of famine, a pelican would pierce its own chest with its beak and feed its young with its own blood. Our forefathers in faith saw this as a symbol of Christ Who, when His flock was hungry and thirsty, gave us to eat and drink His own flesh and blood.

            So what’s our takeaway? Two things. First, we have to make sure to fill our hunger with the Food that will satisfy us – Jesus’ Body and Blood – and not with the food of the world that will just make us hungrier. If you have a dog, you know that dogs and chocolate don’t get along – a dog will get very sick if it eats a chocolate bar, even though it craves chocolate! Likewise, we may crave wasting our time playing video games rather than praying, or sleeping in rather than going to Mass…but these things do not satisfy us as deeply as the Lord, for whom we truly hunger.

            Have you ever walked out of Mass and thoughts, “Yeah, that was good. I’m glad I went.” Of course! Because the deep hunger in our hearts is for God. But so often we try to fill that hunger with other things: money, pleasure, sports, sleeping in, whatever. But those things don’t truly fulfill us with the lasting joy we’re yearning for. Sometimes when we’re really hungry we just grab a Snickers or a bag of Doritos and it fills our stomachs, but afterwards we regret it and we just feel “ugh”. It’s much more effort to sit down and make a healthy meal, but a well-balanced meal is what our bodies truly crave, and it’s what will make us feel satisfied. Likewise, it’s far easier to play video games than to pray, far easier to sleep in than go to Mass – but a relationship with the Lord is what we truly crave, and the only thing that will satisfy our deepest hunger.

            The second takeaway should be our respect and love for the Eucharist. If Jesus gave us only a symbol of His Body, it wouldn’t mean much. It’s like if I gave you a picture of a steak instead of giving you the steak itself – nice idea, but doesn’t really satisfy us. But the Eucharist is not a symbol of His Body, it is truly His Body Itself. Therefore, we approach this Sacrament like we would approach God! We prepare our souls through Confession, we come to church early and spend some time in quiet prayer, we dress our finest and we kneel to receive Him if we can – because we know Who we come to receive. It’s a Person, not an object – it’s God Himself, not a symbol of God.

            I’ve spoken a great deal about animals and the Eucharist, so one final story. Back in the 1300s, St. Anthony of Padua was going around Italy, preaching in different towns and trying to stir up the faith of the people, which had grown very lukewarm. In one particular town, he was preaching about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. One man in particular began to scoff – “Oh, the Eucharist is just bread! Why make a big fuss over it!” St. Anthony said, “Do you want proof that the Eucharist is truly Jesus? Let’s do a test. Give your donkey no food or water for three days, and we will meet here again in that time.”

            So three days later the man came, bringing his donkey, to the town square. Anthony met him there, holding the Eucharist in a golden ciborium in his hands. At the other side of the town square was straw and water for the donkey. Anthony instructed, “Release the donkey, and we’ll see which way he turns.” The donkey was released, and he first went over to the straw, sniffed it, but didn’t eat. He then ambled over to St. Anthony, and knelt on his donkey-knees in front of the Eucharist. St. Anthony turned to the man and said, “If this dumb beast can recognize Jesus truly present in the Eucharist, why can’t you?” The man – and all the townspeople – were immediately converted.

            Jesus is a Good Shepherd, and He feeds His flock with the greatest of all foods – His very Flesh and Blood in the Holy Eucharist. Today, you will become a full member of His flock by partaking in this awesome Food that God Himself gives to you.

Divine Mercy Sunday - Breathing New Life

 

Homily for April 16, 2023

Divine Mercy Sunday

Breathing New Life

 

            When Jesus rose from the dead, He wasn’t merely resuming His old life. He could walk through locked doors; His wounds could no longer cause Him pain. It was, as Pope Benedict XVI put it, “an entirely new mode of being” – He is still human, but living a life that is truly exalted and no longer subject to the vagaries of this world.

            For you and I who are “in Christ” through grace, we too are invited to live a new kind of life. Jesus greets His Apostles twice with the word “Peace” which in Hebrew would have been “Shalom” – which means far more than just peace. It meets “wholeness, fulfillment, restoration.” When He lives in us through grace, it’s not just “life-as-usual-with-Jesus-sprinkled-on-top.” Rather, we are changed from the inside out – our entire orientation is directed Heavenward.

            The Protestant reformer Martin Luther used to use the faulty image of a snow-covered dung hill. He would say that due to our sins, we were no better than a pile of manure, but that Christ’s holiness covers over us like snow covers a pile of dung, so that when God looks down He only sees the brilliant white of Christ and not our misery. But that is NOT what we believe as Catholics. We believe that Christ’s mercy doesn’t cover us from without, but transforms us from within. We are really restored to that original holiness, fulfillment, wholeness that we had in the beginning, before sin enslaved the human race.

            Consider: when Jesus appears to His disciples, He breathes on them. I don’t know how good His breath would smell – after all, He had been dead for three days. But why does He do such a seemingly strange action?

            Well, when is the other time that God “breathes” in Scripture? It was during the Creation of Adam – He formed Adam from the clay of the ground and “breathed” the breath of life into his nostrils. So the breath of God brings us to life. Hence, when Jesus imparts to His Apostles the power to forgive sins, He is giving them the power to bring the spiritually dead back to life!

            But as He does so, He gives them the Holy Spirit. In Hebrew, the word “ru’ah” means both breath and spirit – so to restore sinners, spiritually dead, to life requires that the Spirit of the Living God return to their soul! He is inviting us to breathe the air of Heaven with the life of the Spirit within us.

            After breathing on them and imparting His Spirit, Jesus gives His Apostles – the first priests – the ability to forgive and retain sins. If we have become a new creation in the Image of Christ, we must abandon the old creation in the image of sinful Adam.

            But wait, why did Jesus give His Apostles the ability to retain sins? Can a priest refuse to forgive a sin? Yes – but only if a person is unrepentant. I have refused absolution four or five times in my priesthood, but only when a person was clear that they didn’t want to change their life. For example, if a person were to say, “Yeah, I got drunk last weekend at a party…but I’ll probably do it again at the party next weekend,” then the priest would usually ask, “Are you really sorry, then?” Or if a person is living with their boyfriend/girlfriend outside of marriage and has no plans to change the situation, then one might wonder if they are truly contrite. Repentance is the necessary prerequisite to the forgiveness of sins and the new life of grace. Confession is not a “get-out-of-Hell-free” card, but a chance to become a new creation in Him – and this requires a desire to live like a new creation.

            And this is precisely the power of God’s mercy, which we celebrate this weekend. Mercy takes an old creation and, through the Sacraments, breathes the new life of grace into them, that they may live like new creations, redeemed in Christ. Being a new creation in Christ doesn’t mean losing our personality, our gifts and talents and passions, or even our struggles – it means that we offer all of those things to Christ for Him to live and move through us.

            I think of the great example of St. Ignatius of Loyola, who struggled greatly with sin but whose mercy turned Him into an instrument of grace for millions. As a young man growing up in Spain, Ignatius was fascinated with tales of knighthood and daring. He became a knight, mainly to win the ladies, and fought valiantly – and even arrogantly. Not an evil man, but one who was completely wrapped up in his own vanities and pride. One day in battle, his leg was shattered by a cannonball. It was a long recovery, but when he finally got better, he found that his one leg was shorter than the other, so he walked with a limp. Concerned that he could no longer dance well – and therefore couldn’t win over the ladies – he asked the doctors to re-break his leg (without anesthesia!) so that it would heal properly. This time, he was laid up in a hospital run by nuns. Since this was the late 1500s and TVs hadn’t been invented yet, he was bored with the endless days of recovery, so he asked the nuns for some romance novels to pass the time. Obviously the nuns had no such thing, so they gave him a book about the Lives of the Saints.

            In reading these lives, he was struck with amazement. St. Francis, St. Dominic, the early martyrs – these lives were far more heroic than even his secular novels about knights and adventures. It struck him that there was no reason why he couldn’t follow their example and live completely for Jesus Christ. When he finally left the hospital some months later, he was a changed man – so the first thing he did was get to Confession, to put his worldly and sinful ways behind him. Walking out of that Confessional, he was restored, changed, transformed – by the power of God’s mercy.

            He went on to found the Jesuit religious order, which had a very military-like flair: soldiers for Christ, to do battle against sin and Satan through discipline and rigor. God had kept all of Ignatius’ unique gifts and purified them of his selfishness and pride, and ended up using them for Christ’s Kingdom.

            God desires your shalom: your restoration, your healing, an abundant new life in you. He arose from the dead to raise you from spiritual death; He imparted the forgiveness of sins and the freshness of the Spirit so that you could live as a new creation. All we need to do to obtain God’s mercy is ask for it in Confession, and commit to living for Him Who lives forever and ever.

Easter - Defeating Death By Death

 

Homily for Easter Sunday

April 9, 2023

Defeating Death By Death

 

            Once there was an ancient city that had a dragon problem. The dragon lived in a cave outside the city walls but would frequently sneak into the town at night (as much a dragon can “sneak”) and capture a sleeping inhabitant for its meals. The townspeople, naturally, were terrified of the dragon, and they sent out messengers far and wide to see if any brave knight could come and defeat it.

            Several knights came, in full battle array with swords and shield and gleaming armor. But each knight, when approaching the dragon’s lair, would be hit with a blast of fire from its mouth and inevitably be roasted to a crisp. Time after time, a knight would try to slay the dragon, declaring, “This time I shall be victorious!” But time after time, the knight would be defeated. The townspeople started to despair and wonder if anyone could defeat this dragon.

            Then, one day, a surprising man arrived. He offered to try to kill the dragon, but the people noticed that he carried no sword, no shield, and no armor. In fact, he didn’t look like a knight at all – just a regular old poor man, dressed simply and humbly. The townspeople told him, “You can’t try! You’re too weak, you have no armor!” The man simply responded, “Exactly – the dragon will never suspect who I am and what I can do.”

            The townspeople were so amazed at this man’s courage that they all followed him, at a distance, as the man approached the dragon’s cave. The dragon, smelling his next meal, came out and saw that the man was unarmed. Without hesitation, the dragon gulped him down in one bite.

            The people were once again disappointed, and they trudged back to town, having lost all hope that this dragon would be destroyed.

            But a little while later, whispers and news began to spread throughout the town. “The mysterious man is back! He didn’t die!” Much to everyone’s surprise, the man was walking through the town square, completely unharmed. Everyone approached and said, “How did you do it? How did you slay the dragon?”

            The man smiled and explained, “It was easy. The dragon could only be defeated from within. It saw me as an ordinary man, but I held a secret weapon beneath my simple exterior. Once I was within him, I could easily pierce his heart and slay him.” And he showed everyone the diamond dagger that was beneath his ordinary robes. The dragon, in its greed and hunger, swallowed the only one who could destroy him from within!

            And this parable is exactly what happened at Easter. Death and the grave have an insatiable appetite – always lurking on the fringes of our everyday lives. Throughout human history, various sages and philosophies tried to escape death or find meaning in it. The ancient philosopher Epicurius said that death was inevitable, so just enjoy life as much as we can. Humanists say that death is annihilation – we cease to exist. The Stoics said that since death is a part of life, we ought to embrace it with gratitude. Eastern religions believe that death will lead to reincarnation, until we reach the point of Nirvana where their consciousness would be dissolved into the universe. But no one, anywhere, has claimed to defeat death or triumph through it.

            Until a Man walked among us, a Man who was more than a Man. He appeared humble, simple, unassuming – merely one of us – but hidden beneath the simple exterior was the power that created the universe from nothing. As a Man, He was subject to death, but as God, He was immortal. When death, with its insatiable appetite, swallowed Jesus Christ, the grave did not know that it would be to its own defeat. The grave had consumed the Immortal One; death had claimed the Unconquered One.

            And so, death was defeated by death – the grave was conquered by a dead Man. When Jesus Christ walked out of the grave on Easter morning, He showed the world that there is One stronger than death – the power of God.

            Which has a profound impact on us. Death is among the most feared realities in the world (actually it’s second only to public speaking, which means that people would rather die than give a speech!). But for those who are in Christ – who believe in Him, who are united to Him through Confession and the Eucharist and prayer, who life for Him in their daily lives – we have nothing to fear. Because, through grace, Christ lives in me. The One Who conquered death, Who triumphed over the grave, is actually, substantially living in the souls of believers. And if death couldn’t claim Christ for its prize, then it can’t claim Christ-filled souls either.

            What good news it is that death was defeated by the death of Christ; that the seemingly-final grave has finally been overcome! And those who live in union with Christ will also trample on death when the time comes, and live forever in Him.

Holy Thursday - Once We Were Slaves, but Now We Are Free

 

Homily for Holy Thursday

April 6, 2023

Once We Were Slaves, and Now We Are Free

 

            Every year when our Jewish brethren celebrate Passover, there is a custom for the youngest child in the room to ask a very poignant question: “Why is this night different than all other nights?” The adults then go on to re-tell the story of Passover, and what God did for them thousands of years ago in Egypt. They share the unleavened bread and eat the Passover Lamb, in remembrance of the lamb’s blood that had been put on their forefathers’ doorposts so that the angel of death would pass over them and strike only the Egyptians.

            But when Jesus sat down to this Last Supper, His people were in a much deeper slavery than mere physical bondage in Egypt. Since the ancient curse had fallen upon mankind, we have been slaves to our sin, under the oppression of the Evil One who was the ruler of this present darkness. To embrace an exodus from this darker slavery would take another spotless, unblemished male Lamb – but one that could pay back an ancient debt that had kept us bound. This Lamb of God sat at table with His friends, willing to become the priest and victim – offering Himself in His Body to His Father.

            In the original Passover, the lamb that was sacrificed, whose blood was put upon the Jewish doorposts, was then roasted and eaten, so that the people might partake of the sacrifice. So it is with the New Lamb of God, Whose sacrifice must be received, consumed, and eaten. Hence, He leaves us with the gift of His Body and Blood – that we may apply His Sacrificial death to our souls.

            In fact, the early Church Fathers called the Eucharist the “medicine of immortality.” Just as Adam and Eve’s sin came through eating disobediently, our remedy comes through eating out of obedience – as Our Lord told us to “do this in remembrance of Me.” But this idea of remembrance isn’t just calling to mind a past event. Rather, the word in Greek (anamnesis) means to make present a historical event. Jews to this day believe that they are mystically participating in that first Passover in Egypt every time they celebrate their Passover meal. We, too, believe that every Mass mystically makes present the once and final Sacrifice that saves us – Christ’s death on the Cross. This is why we use an altar, not a table…this is why I’m a priest, not a minister…because what we attend here makes present the sacrifice, in an unbloody way, of Calvary.

            When the Jews celebrate Passover, they drink from the chalice four times, to celebrate the four promises that God makes to the Moses: “I will bring out…I will deliver…I will redeem…I will take.” Jesus chose the third cup to turn into His Blood – the cup that is received with the word, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.” This cup was often known as the Cup of Thanksgiving – the word “Thanksgiving” in Greek is “Eucharistia” – and Christ transformed it from symbolizing redemption to actually causing redemption through its link to His death. But, according to Scripture, Jesus then left the Passover meal unfinished, as He left the Upper Room and went to the Mount of Olives for prayer. Why did He leave it unfinished?

            Because the Passover only began in the Upper Room with the Last Supper. It is finished on the Cross. As He hung upon the Cross, He cried out, “I Thirst” and a soldier offered Him some wine in a sponge – the Fourth Cup, which memorializes God’s promise that “I will take you as My People.” Upon receiving this Fourth Cup, Jesus cries out, “It is finished!” Not just His life – but the Passover, and even more, the entirety of the promises and covenants of Israel are finished on the Cross. He then breathes His last, and from His side comes forth the blood and water which symbolize the Eucharist and Baptism – the two Sacraments that constitute His Bride the Church. Truly “He has taken us as His people” by uniting all of humanity in a bond so strong that it can never be broken. That ancient bondage which held us back from union with God has been destroyed, our slavery has ended, and a new hope has dawned in the sacrifice of this perfect Passover Lamb.

            So why is this night different than every other night?

            Because once we were slaves, but now we are free.