Christmas 2023 - Christmas is Christ's Mass

 

Homily for Christmas 2023

Christ’s Mass

 

            Back in the early 1800s, a small community of Catholics moved up to Goshen, NY, which at that time was quite the backwoods. They would see a priest only occasionally, as the priest would have to ride horseback amongst many hamlets in the Catskills, some of which were hundreds of miles away.

            However, they were thrilled to have the priest coming for Christmas Midnight Mass in 1847. Although a small congregation, they did the best they could to beautify the church with decorations, candles, and a small handmade manger scene. They all looked forward to the beauty of the Mass.

            But then…snow. A blizzard blew in from the north, covering the village. The people were heartbroken, knowing that the priest would be unable to come for Mass. Nevertheless they made the best of a bad situation and decided to gather in the church at midnight to pray and sing hymns as best as they could.

            The people gathered at a few minutes until midnight, when something quite surprising happened. The bell was rung, and all of a sudden from the sacristy (where the priest prepares for Mass), a priest that they didn’t recognize stepped forth and began the Mass. The people were overjoyed and poured their hearts out to God in gratitude. It was one of the most amazing, solemn, sacred Masses they had ever assisted at. When Mass was over, the priest went back into the sacristy to unvest, and the people waited for the priest to come back out, to thank him and greet him. But as they waited…and waited…and waited, no priest appeared. They went into the sacristy, but he wasn’t there. They then opened the back door – and there were no footprints in the snow. The people were in awe – the priest was clearly an angel of some sort. It was a true miracle, witnessed by dozens – and they were overjoyed that they got to celebrate Mass that Christmas.

            The word “Christmas” itself comes from the Old English for “Christ’s Mass”. It is a holiday that is primarily focused around the Mass and the Eucharist, not the department-store Santa and the fruitcake and the Bing Crosby songs. Consider the connections between Christmas and the Eucharist – Christ was born in the town of Bethlehem – a town whose name means “House of Bread”. He Who is the true Bread from Heaven was laid in a manger – a feeding trough. It is as if He was already making the point that He would be giving us His flesh to eat in the Holy Eucharist!

            Consider, further, the vulnerable love we see in both the Eucharist and the Divine Infant in the manger. In both cases, God purposely makes Himself small and defenseless. He wants so desperately to be near us that He is willing to hide His glory and place Himself at our mercy. His desire to be one of us led to Him taking flesh; His desire to be one with us leads to Him taking the appearance of bread, although it is truly His Body. Just as He was willing to risk rejection, loneliness, and suffering while living on earth, so He is willing to stay in our tabernacles night and day, alone and forgotten, because of His burning love to be close to His people.

            So as we look at this beautiful manger scene – and perhaps you have one in your home – never forget that the same Jesus Christ, God-made-man, is not just a figure constrained to history. No, He is truly alive today – not just in some distant heaven, but in every tabernacle in every Catholic Church in the world, and at every Mass in the Eucharist.

            Never has it been more fitting to sing that Christmas song: O Come, let us adore Him. Yes, the angels and the shepherds and the magi came to adore Him two thousand years ago in Bethlehem. But we have the privilege of adoring Him tonight, truly present in the Holy Eucharist - and not only tonight, but every time we come to Mass – Even when it’s not Christmas, it’s always Christ’s Mass.

Advent 3 - The Mission of the Messiah

 

Homily for Advent 3

December 17, 2023

The Mission of the Messiah

 

            Many people think that “Christ” is Jesus’ last name (“Hello, Mr. Christ!”). But it is not – Christ, Christos in Greek, means “The Anointed One” – it is the Greek translation of the Hebrew “Messiah”. In the Old Testament, three types of people were anointed with oil – priests, prophets, and kings. Christ was anointed, not with oil but with the Holy Spirit, into all three roles – He was the priest who offered His Own Body upon the Cross; He was the ultimate prophet in that He spoke on behalf of the Lord; and He is the King of the Universe.

            And our first reading tells us of Christ’s “mission statement”, as it were. Why did He come as man? What was His mission?

            First, to “bring glad tidings to the poor and heal the brokenhearted”. Notice His mission isn’t to make the poor rich, or to take away suffering. It was to give meaning and purpose to suffering by freely embracing it for our salvation.

            All of us are poor in one way or another. All of us have crosses, struggles, brokenness. I have yet to meet a single human being who is perfectly put together and doesn’t make mistakes. Oh, we fake it a lot and show the world our happy-face, but there is a deep poverty inside us – and this is good because it is a place where the Lord can enter. He doesn’t want to fill our poverty entirely, because then we lose our need for Him. So instead of taking it away, He brings glad tidings – the good news that suffering has value, that it can be united to His Cross, that it will all be redeemed.

            There was an ‘80s and ‘90s rock-and-roll star named Jim Carroll, whose band’s first album in 1980 was called “Catholic Boy”. Right after its release, he was interviewed on the old Tom Snyder show, and they asked him, “Why did you name your first album Catholic Boy?” He replied, “Because I’m Catholic.” He went on to explain, “Catholicism is the only religion to truly deal with suffering.” He told about how he had to accompany his friend who was dying of leukemia, and he felt totally helpless – much like Mary, at the foot of the Cross, had to helplessly watch Her Son broken and in pain. Catholicism isn’t afraid of suffering and death – it redeems and transforms it. So, Christ came to bring glad tidings to the poor – to tell us that our poverty is precious and valuable as it sanctifies us and unites us to Christ’s Cross for the salvation of souls.  

            Second, Christ came to “proclaim liberty to captives and release to prisoners”. Obviously this doesn’t mean to literally open jail doors – but rather to free those who are imprisoned by sin. Sin makes us slaves. Think about those sins that you wish you could be free of, but still find yourselves trapped in – a quick temper, a sharp tongue, a struggle with lust, the cycle of unforgiveness…we are not free if we are a slave to sin. But it was precisely for this freedom that Christ set us free!

            Back in the 1940s, a young Frenchman named Jacques Fesch was on a bad path. He got fired from successive jobs for laziness, abandoned his wife and daughter, and started to live a criminal lifestyle. At a certain point, he robbed a bank, and as he was getting chased by the police, shot and killed an officer. When he was finally arrested, the judge ordered the death penalty for him. At first, his prison term was filled with anger and vitriol – God must not exist if He would allow Him to fall into such sin and be locked in a prison!

            Initially, he refused to allow the chaplain to visit him. But the chaplain was persistent, and slowly he began to become friends with Jacques. The condemned man’s lawyer, too, was a devout Catholic, who prayed frequently for his client. Pretty soon, Jacques began to examine his life and consider how deep his sinful chains were. He experienced a gradual but deep conversion, as he began to beg God for mercy.

            Towards the end of his life, he began to read spiritual books, receive the Sacraments as often as he could, and keep a spiritual journal. He wrote, “This is not a prison cell – this is a monastery” – because he spent all day in prayer in his cell. He apologized to all those whom his actions had hurt, and was so prepared for his execution that he remarked to the chaplain, “Just think, in a few short hours I will be seeing Jesus!” He is now actually on the path to canonization! It took him his entire life, but he finally realized that true freedom wasn’t doing whatever you want, but submitting your life to the sweet Kingship of Christ. Four stone walls weren’t limiting his freedom – rather, he found freedom when the Lord had removed the chains of his sin. If your soul is trapped in the bonds of sin, run to Confession, and experience the freedom of His Mercy.

            Finally, to “proclaim a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God.” The same word in Greek means both “favor” and “grace” – He comes to offer the saving grace that opens the gates of Heaven. Imagine Jesus Christ Himself as a leather purse full of the most precious commodity – grace. He descended from Heaven to distribute that grace to men and women. It was on the Cross, however, when His Sacred Heart was pierced, that grace flowed out – and now that the leather purse has burst, men and women have the opportunity to fill themselves with the endless sea of grace that continually pours out from the Heart of Christ. I hope this isn’t disrespectful, but I think of a pinata and how kids go crazy when it is burst asunder. Likewise, when the floodgates of grace were burst asunder on the Cross, we ought to have that same excitement and fervor in filling our souls with grace! The Sacraments, the Word of God, and daily prayer attach us to the many streams of grace that flow from the Heart of Christ. And when Satan wants to accuse us of our sins, we show Him the grace that we have received – and thus are “vindicated by our God” as the Prophet says. Past sins cannot condemn a man who has washed his soul clean in Confession and fed his soul with the Eucharistic Lord.

            And that is why this is Gaudete Sunday – the Sunday of joy and rejoicing. All of our readings have that theme – rejoicing! Not because we’re going to get presents in ten days…not even because the family is coming in from out-of-town. Rather, our joy must be supernatural – the joy that comes from knowing our lives are given worth and meaning, our ancient bondage to sin is finally ended, and the fountain of supernatural grace has been opened to us – all because Jesus Christ came to save us.

Advent 2 - The Second Coming of Christ, Part 2

 

Homily for December 10, 2023

Second Sunday of Advent

The Coming of Christ, Part 2

 

            Last week I spoke about the return of Christ. We know He is coming soon, but as St. Peter reminds us in the second reading, “Soon” does not necessarily mean within the year, or even within our lifetimes. But when He does come, what can we expect? We see three elements of Christ’s Return within the readings today.

            The first is called the Last Judgment, or General Judgment. At the end of time, every soul that has ever existed will gather in the presence of the Lord, and He will reveal every single consequence of every choice we have made, for good or for ill. The secret prayers, the hidden acts of charity, the private thoughts of judgment, the hidden sins will all be revealed, and we will be able to see how we fit into the beautiful, mysterious plan of God’s Providence.

            Occasionally here we receive a glimpse into such things. I went to seminary with a fellow classmate named Clinton, who complained about everything – the food, the teachers, the buildings – literally nothing was to his liking. His room was next to mine, and we frequently would spend time together, but it gets old being with such a downer all the time. One day we were hanging out and he was complaining, as usual, and I was so frustrated that I said, “Clinton, I’m fed up with listening to your complaints. I’m going to the chapel to pray.” He said in response, “Okay, please pray for me.” I shot back, “No, you go pray for yourself.” Later that day I felt bad about my snappy response, so I apologized, and it was all good. But fast-forward three years. He was preparing to be ordained a priest and he said to me, “I just wanted to thank you for saving my vocation.” I had no idea what he was talking about, so he explained, “Remember that time you told me to go and pray for myself? I took it seriously. I realized I was so miserable in seminary because I wasn’t developing a real personal relationship with Jesus; I hadn’t been seriously praying. So from that day forward I began to pray, and it saved my vocation.” I was amazed at how a comment, which was probably rude and unkind, ended up impacting the trajectory of his life! At the Last Judgment, all will be revealed – all of the consequences of our sins and good deeds. Nothing will be hidden on that day – which is a bit unnerving, and prompts us to live as men and women of integrity, knowing that even our inmost thoughts and secret actions will be known by all!

            Our Scriptures also reveal that this current, broken world will be destroyed, and in its place will be a new heaven and earth. It is not merely mankind who is broken – because we are called to “have dominion” on the earth, we see that it, too, is fallen due to our sin. This is where natural disasters, cancer, and all sorts of disorder springs forth. But at the end of time, God’s new creation will be the earth as it was meant to be, with order and beauty unimaginable.

            We sometimes see glimpses of this in the lives of the saints. For example, in a small town called Gubbio in Italy, there was a wolf that was terrorizing the people. He had attacked many of the townspeople at night and killed several. The people petitioned St. Francis, who was nearby, to help them somehow. St. Francis, after several hours of prayer, received an inspiration from the Holy Spirit of what to do. He went out to the wolf’s lair, and called out the wolf. The wolf came forth growling, and Francis made the sign of the Cross over it and knelt on the ground to speak to the creature eye-to-eye. “Brother Wolf, why must you strike fear in the hearts of these good townspeople, who are made in the Image of God? If they promise to feed you daily, will you live in peace with them?” According to eyewitnesses, the wolf placed its forepaw in the outstretched hand of St. Francis to seal the deal. Francis then preached a sermon to the people, saying, “If we have been filled with fear from the jaws of this beast, how much more ought we fear the eternal and fearsome jaws of Hell!”

            From that time on, the wolf became a welcome friend in the town. When the wolf died some years later, it was actually given a reverential burial in the town’s church. Recent archaeological excavations did find the skeleton of a large wolf beneath the floor of that church! This is such a beautiful example of the order returning to the natural world through the sanctity of a saint – and the entire universe will experience such peace at the end of time.

            A final reality that will occur with Christ’s coming will be the resurrection of the body, which we profess in our creed. It is in and through our bodies that we practice virtue or vice, that we do good works or sin. Hence, our bodies will be reunited with our souls to share in the glory of Heaven or the sufferings of Hell. This body, so broken and weak and frail right now, will someday be made new – to rejoice eternally or to suffer everlastingly. If we use our bodies for God’s glory here, we can expect a reward from Him in eternity. How beautiful it will be to see the Face of Christ with our eyes, to hear the songs of angels with our ears!

            For centuries, people eagerly anticipated the coming of the Messiah – the one who would finally break the ancient curse of sin. And, although it took a while, God remained faithful to His promise in a way we could never have expected – He would send, not a prophet, but His only Son to die for us! In the centuries since, we have eagerly awaited the second coming of Jesus Christ. We can have the same confidence that, no matter how long it takes, God will be faithful and finish His work, bringing all of creation to its exalted and redeemed state. With Christians throughout the ages, we cry out, “Marantha! Come Lord Jesus!”