Fifth Sunday of Easter - April 24, 2016

Homily for April 24, 2016

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Nuptial Orientation of Salvation

 

            In a far-off land lived a good king who was very rich and handsome. He had the choice of having any girl in the kingdom for his wife. But in his kindness and compassion, he fell in love with a very poor, rough, plain-looking peasant girl. He wanted to win her heart, so he sent tokens of love to her, wrote letters to her, sent her gifts and told her about the joys she would have when she was finally queen. The girl tried to love this king she had never met – she sometimes wrote back, and sent him a few tokens of love in return. But the gifts she could offer were insignificant – the king would send the girl gold and diamonds, the girl would send the king dried-up flowers or clay figurines. A lot of times the girl was so busy she would forget to respond to the king’s love, and sometimes she started to fall in love with other boys in town. It was as if she preferred her poverty and filth to the riches that were promised to her! But the king was patient, and continued to love her despite her unfaithfulness. Finally, after a long waiting period, the king sent for the girl. Imagine the joy that the poor girl would have felt as she steps into the palace for the first time, when she is given a fine robe to wear instead of rags, when she is seated at a banquet overflowing with rich foods, instead of coarse bread to eat and muddy water to drink! Then imagine what it would be like to finally meet the King, the one whose patience and love is everlasting and unconditional, and to know that she is securely his for eternity!

            This is the description of Heaven that we hear in our second reading from Revelation. Heaven is like a bride coming to meet the Groom, like a wedding feast – an analogy used from the very beginning of Scripture until now!

            Consider this – the very first people that God creates are a married couple. He did so because this would be a metaphor for God’s great love for His people! God swore covenants with Israel, as a husband vows a sacred covenant with his wife. The essence of God’s covenants were that He would belong completely to His people – He would be their God, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in heath, for richer or poorer. And likewise, Israel would remain faithful to God. But Israel broke the covenant and started worshipping other gods – a type of spiritual adultery!

            So Christ needed to swear a new covenant and prepare for Himself a new Bride. Just as Adam’s bride came from his side as he slept, so when Jesus slept the sleep of death on the Cross, His side was opened, and from His Heart came forth blood and water – baptism and the Eucharist – the two Sacraments that are the cornerstone of the Church! Jesus’ bride is you and I – souls that are made holy and pure through baptism and the Eucharist, through repentance and acceptance of the Word of God. Just as a husband and wife become one flesh, when we receive the Eucharist, we are becoming “one flesh” with God.

            Let’s be honest – a lot of us have a very boring view of Heaven. Most people think Heaven is where we sit around on clouds, playing harps all day. There really isn’t much to do and it sounds quite dull, but hey, it’s better than Hell so we might as well go to Heaven. But that’s a terrible way to view Heaven!

            Yes, it’s true that there is no suffering or pain, and that all of our physical and emotional illnesses will be cured. Yes, it’s true that we’ll be reunited with our loved ones. But the greatest joy of Heaven is called the Beatific Vision – we will finally see God face-to-face and be united with Him forever. It’s like the girl in the parable, who finally meets the King and becomes his wife – we will finally meet the One who has been giving us gifts, trying to get us to fall in love with Him, sending us letters and messages to tell us how much He loves us.

            But all of this is hard to put into words because, as St. Paul writes, “no eyes has seen, no ear has heard, nor has a human mind ever conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.” Think of it this way – imagine the most beautiful thing you have ever seen: a sunset, a painting or picture, the face of someone you love. Now, try to describe that scene to a blind man. There are simply no words that can do it justice. Likewise, we must trust that the Beatific Vision – seeing God – will be more than we can ever imagine.

            Only those who respond to God’s invitation will enter Heaven, however. God will never force anyone to accept His love. For many people, it’s easier to enjoy the dirt and filth of this world than seek after the promised glory of the next. It’s kind of like this – when you were a baby, your life revolved around baby bottles and sleeping and playing with blocks. Not a terribly thrilling existence, but it was all you knew. If someone tried to tell a baby about how delicious pizza is, or what it’s like to play soccer, or how delightful it is to fall in love, the baby will simply be confused. It’s beyond their ability to comprehend! So it is with many people – you have been promised a share in the glory of the Son of God, but many people prefer to remain slaves to their passions or slaves to the devil.

            So rouse yourself – because Heaven awaits! Christ revealed our destiny – to be fully united to God forever in unspeakable joy. Even if you don’t fully understand what that means, trust that it will be awesome (in the truest sense of the word!) and make it your goal. You were not made to be slaves to this world – but sons and daughters of the King!

Fourth Sunday of Easter - April 17, 2016

Easter 4

April 17, 2016

Jesus Shepherds Us Through the Church

 

            The year was 451, and a debate was raging all across the ancient world. They were debating about whether or not Jesus was truly divine and human. Perhaps, some said, Jesus was not human at all – He was just God walking on the earth appearing to be a human being, as if he were a vision or something.

            This debate grew so intense that the Church decided to call a council. Over 600 bishops met in a town in modern-day Turkey called Chalcedon. For days – weeks – they discussed and debated this question, but could come to no conclusion. Finally, they wrote to Pope Leo I, who had been unable to attend due to illness, and asked him what he thought. He wrote back a long letter – called the Tome of Leo – declaring that Jesus was both truly God and truly man.

            When the bishops heard the letter read aloud, they all cried out, “Peter has spoken through Leo! Peter has spoken through Leo!”

            These bishops recognized that Jesus continues to shepherd His flock through the Church. Consider this – today’s Gospel features Jesus speaking about how He is the Good Shepherd, and the sheep hear His voice. There are many ways to hear the Lord’s voice – through the Scriptures, through our private prayer, through music or nature or other people – and all of these are valid. But how do we know that what we are hearing is truly the Lord’s voice, and not the voice of the world, or our own imagination, or the voice of the Evil One?

            We look to the Church. The Church has been given a gift called infallibility – that when something is constantly, consistently taught from the beginning, we can have confidence that it comes from the Lord. The Lord still shepherds us today through the Church.

            Why is this important? Because, as human beings, we are weak and prone to error! For example, Jesus said in Scripture that “if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.” Does that mean we should literally take a knife to our hand? But Jesus also said that we must “eat His flesh and drink His Blood” – does He mean that literally? These are two statements of Jesus – one of which is figurative and one of which is literal (since the Eucharist IS His true Body and Blood) – and it’s important to know which one is which! This is why we need the Church – Jesus’ voice in the world today - to guide and shepherd us to the truth.

            Jesus’ goal and the Church’s goal is the same. Jesus declared, “I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly!” And the Church declares the same! The Church’s teachings are for our benefit – to help us become holy and happy, deeply joyful and full of life.

            These past couple weeks challenged us to see that. You may be aware that the Pope recently released a very beautiful, rich document about marriage. Major mainstream news outlets only focused on one thing – the teaching that divorce and remarriage is seriously sinful, and that those who are in such a situation cannot receive Holy Communion. Boy, the media was all over that one! They were saying things like, “When will the Church get with the times! They need to change their teachings and start accepting when people remarry outside the Church, or start accepting gay marriage, etc.” Basically the media wants the Church to adopt all of the current worldly values!

            I would respond with three things. First, it’s a shame that the media only focused on one small portion of a remarkable document – and it’s a double shame that most Catholics will never read the document itself, but only hear about it from MSNBC! My friends, we have a duty to know WHAT the Church teaches and WHY, so that we can live according to these truths. We live in the age of the internet – every single Church document and teaching is available 24/7 for free – we have no excuse not to know our Faith! Second, the Church can never change her teachings, because her role is to pass on the teachings of Christ, not invent her own according to the whims of the age. Third, the Church’s teachings – which is how Jesus shepherds us today – are given to us to point us to true and lasting happiness. The world’s standards and values – like have as much pleasure as you want or money is the greatest god – do these values and standards lead to happiness? No, only Christ – teaching through His Church – gives us life abundant.

            Jesus said in the Gospel that “My sheep hear my voice.” We know that we are His sheep if we heed His voice, listen to His Church, and try to conform our life to the Church’s teachings. Some people, however, choose to overlook certain inconvenient teachings – whether it’s about divorce and remarriage, or contraception, or attending Mass, or anything that makes us uncomfortable – but if we ignore these teachings, we are like sheep who purposely ignore the voice of the Shepherd. If we ignore the voice of the Shepherd, we might not see the danger or the wolves that He’s trying to protect us from.

            Jesus came that we might have life, and have it abundantly. He teaches us the way to life through His Church. We are His sheep if we listen to His Church and follow its teachings. And then we discover life abundant.

Third Sunday of Easter - April 10, 2016

Homily for April 10, 2016

Third Sunday of Easter

Our Knowledge of God Must Lead to Love of God

 

            I have a good friend who is a priest, and he smokes like a chimney. I can’t go anywhere with him without him lighting up almost immediately. We’ve had the “smoking” conversation more often than I care to recount. Those of you who are smokers – or who live with smokers – know what I’m talking about. A non-smoker will say, “Don’t you know you’re going to get cancer?” And the other person says, “Yeah, well, I can’t help it,” as they light up another cigarette. Even though they know all of the health risks, the smoker can’t change their behavior.

            Simply knowing something to be true doesn’t necessarily change us. My friend knows that smoking could cause cancer, but it’s not enough motivation to get him to change his old habits.

            We see Simon Peter in a similar situation. At this point, he had already seen the Risen Christ – twice. But his reaction is – “Wow, I’ve just seen my best friend, who died a horrific death, alive again. Let’s go fishing.” He just goes back to his old habits! Knowing that Jesus was alive did not change him. Peter was still stuck in his old ways, his old habits – perhaps he didn’t know what else to do.

            So Jesus appears to them once again. Remember, when Jesus first met Peter – three long years before – He did a similar fishing miracle, giving Peter another miraculous catch of fish. And on that occasion, Jesus told Peter, “From now on, you will be catching men.” He had given Peter his task, to go out and bring souls to faith in the Risen Christ – yet how quickly Peter had forgotten it, and gone back to his old ways as a fisher of fish!

            Jesus performs a miracle and Peter catches 153 fish. Why that exact number? That was the exact number of every known species of fish at that time – a symbol that Peter will be catching people from every single race, culture, language, country. His call is being renewed even in this miraculous catch of fish!

            So, recognizing the Lord, he throws on his clothes – another hugely significant action. His nakedness meant that he had not yet “clothed himself in Christ” – he was still wearing only what the old Adam wore, the old self. But once he encountered Christ again, he clothed himself in Christ.

            Then, after breakfast, the Lord challenges Peter in one of the most poignant stories of the Scriptures. Peter had betrayed Christ three times – so he now must affirm his love for the Lord three times. Jesus was giving Peter a second chance. He never gave up on the man, even after he betrayed the Lord, and abandoned his calling. But God didn’t rescind His gifts – He kept pursuing, pursuing, pursuing Peter’s allegiance, his heart.

            But the words Jesus used were significant, too. We have to understand that in Greek, there are four words for love. There is storge (love of things), eros (romantic love), philia (love of friends), and agape (total, self-giving love). Jesus asks Peter, “Do you agape Me?” – Do you love Me with your whole heart? Will you lay down your life for Me? But Peter responds, “Yes, Lord, You know that I philia love You – that I love You like a friend.” He can’t take the next step to say, “I give You everything, Lord.”

            So the Lord asks him again, “Peter, do you agape love Me?” But Peter can only respond, “Lord, I philia love you – like a friend.” So the third time, Jesus comes down to Peter’s level – “Peter, do you philia love Me?” This is why Peter is grieved – he knows that he cannot love the Lord as he ought to.

            And this, my friends, is the key to why Peter went back to fishing – because he loved the Lord, but not enough to leave everything behind. He was lacking love. Yes, there was friendly affection, but he was not yet willing to die for Christ.

            A priest at our seminary used to tell a great story. When this particular priest was in third grade, he had a problem – he really disliked a kid in his school named Theodore. Theodore was kind of a whiny, annoying kid, so every day, little Stephen would hit Theodore on the playground when Theodore was annoying him. And every day, Theodore would tell the teacher, and Stephen would get in trouble. After weeks and weeks of this, one day, Stephen was frustrated at himself – why was it he couldn’t stop hitting Theodore, that little brat? Why did he struggle with it so much? Finally, after the umpteenth time of getting in trouble, Stephen asked the principal, a wise old nun, “Why do I keep hitting Theodore? I know I’ll get in trouble for it – why do I keep doing it?” The nun replied, “When you love God more than you love hitting Theodore, you will stop.” He said that statement changed his life – and a couple weeks later Theodore moved away, so the temptation was gone! But he always remembered the lesson – when he loved God enough, he would change.

            Same with Peter – and same with you and I. Knowing a lot about God does not get us into Heaven. As Mother Angelica – the famous TV nun who just recently died – said, “Even the devil believes that God exists. Believing has to change the way we live.” Knowing that cigarettes cause cancer won’t prevent you from cancer, unless you give up smoking. Knowing about God won’t change you – unless you love Him.

            Do you love God? In a few moments, we’re going to all profess that we believe in Him – but do you love Him? Do you love Him with agape? Or do you love Him with Peter’s philia love – you’re a big fan of God, but you don’t actually want to love Him fully?

            What does it cost to love God fully, with agape love? Jesus tells Peter what it will cost – He prophesies Peter’s martyrdom. According to tradition, Peter was about to be crucified by the Emperor Nero for his faith in Christ, but the great Apostle felt unworthy do die in the same way that Christ died, so he asked to be crucified upside-down. In the end, Peter did love Christ with agape love, total self-giving love. Yes, loving God costs. It costs us our sins, it might cost us our friends, but I tell you that it is worth it. Because God’s love for you cost Him everything – and He has promised us joy, peace, strength, purpose, and everlasting life.

            In a moment, we will profess what we believe. But I ask you a question to ponder in your heart – yes, you believe in one God, the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Spirit…but do you love them? And with what kind of love – philia, or agape?