Homily for Easter 6 - May 22, 2022

 

Homily for May 22, 2022

Easter 6

Jesus Speaks Through His Church

 

            In the fourth century, a priest named Nestorius was wrestling with a thorny question: can we really call Mary the “Mother of God”? How can God have a mother? Doesn’t that seem to imply that Mary is higher than God? He concluded that Mary did not give birth to the divinity of Christ, but only to His humanity.

            This launched a huge debate in the Church. They began to ask: can we separate Jesus’ divinity and humanity? Back-and-forth this debate raged, until a council was called in a town called Chalcedon, in modern-day Turkey. The aged Pope Leo was too sick to go, so he sent a famous letter – called the Tome of Leo – to speak in his stead.

            After some rousing debate at the council, the bishops quieted down as someone read the Tome of Leo, which declared that Mary did not give birth to only part of a person, but to the whole person of Jesus, who is both human and divine – meaning that we can truly call Mary “Theotokos”, meaning “God-bearer.” The bishops were so thrilled at the wisdom and authority of that letter that they began crying out, “St. Peter has spoken through Leo! St. Peter has spoken through Leo!”

            When Jesus was on this earth, how awesome it would be to hear Him! We could bring Him any question we had, and immediately have an answer from God Himself. But now that He has returned to His Father, He has not just left us to “figure it out on our own.” In today’s Gospel, He promises to send us the Holy Spirit to lead us into “all truth”…and He has established the Catholic Church as the guarantee of His truth. As Peter spoke through Leo, Christ continues to speak through the official teachings of the Catholic Church.

            We can see this in the debate taking place in the first reading. During the first few decades after Christ’s Resurrection, Christians weren’t sure if their faith in Jesus was a branch of Judaism, or if it was a whole new religion entirely. There was considerable debate about whether or not you had to become Jewish first, and obey the entire Jewish law – special diet, special clothing, circumcision – in order to come to faith in Christ. Especially as the Name of Jesus started to be preached in Rome and northern Africa and across the Mediterranean lands, many regular folks weren’t thrilled with the idea of following the Jewish laws along with their new faith in Christ.

            So the Church met in Jerusalem to debate this – and they trusted that the Holy Spirit would guide them into the truth. We see that Peter (the first Pope) and the Apostles (the first Bishops) decided – not on their own wisdom, but by the power and authority of the Holy Spirit – that the Jewish law was not necessary for salvation. So ever since the first century we can see that the Holy Spirit has protected the Church from errors and led believers into the truth.

            And this is such a gift – because without the Church, we would be floundering on our own! Some of our Protestant brothers and sisters, such as the Methodists, meet every four years to vote on what they believe for the next four years – and it has frequently changed! Imagine something being wrong in 2021 but being acceptable in 2022…that doesn’t make sense! Other Protestants simply follow the teachings of their own pastor – Pastor Jones may say one thing, but Pastor Brooks down the street might say another – who is to know what is truth?

            Christ wanted to spare us that confusion, so He gave us a visible Church and endowed it with the authority to teach in His Name. Now, there are certainly individual priests and bishops who teach strange things…and certainly many priests and bishops who are not holy as individuals. But when we read the Catechism or other Church documents, we can be confident that we are able to know the mind of Jesus Christ on any topic. We believe that the Church has a special gift of the Holy Spirit called infallibility which protects it from making errors when teaching about faith or morals. As Peter spoke through Leo, so Christ speaks through His Church.

            This past week, Deacon John was telling me of a discussion he had recently with a man who said, “We should update and re-write the Bible, because it doesn’t say anything about racism!” True – the Bible doesn’t directly say anything about many contemporary topics. But that doesn’t mean we need to re-write the Bible – rather, it means we need an institution that can authentically interpret the Bible – hence, the Church.

            Consider this analogy. Our country has a document which tells us who we are as a nation: the Constitution. But over the course of 250 years, questions may come up which make it hard to apply the Constitution to modern life – so we have the Supreme Court, which is (supposed to) teach us how to apply the Constitution to our modern challenges. In the same way, our Faith is based upon a text: the Bible. But how do we apply and interpret the Bible in an authoritative way with our modern challenges and questions? Through the Church.

            That’s why it’s not a burden but a blessing to have a Church that, despite the flaws of its members, still teaches the same truth that Christ left us in the Gospels. This truth has unfolded over the years like a flower that unveils its beauty slowly, but the teachings are unchanged and unchangeable.

            I regularly get asked, “What if I disagree with what the Church teaches on X?” (Usually some “woke” issue). We disagree with the Church to our own peril! If I disagree with a sign that says, “Caution: Wet Paint” and I say, “Oh, that’s foolishness. I can sit on this park bench!”, then disaster usually ensues. Or if we were to read the instructions on a bottle of medicine that says, “Do not take if you have such-and-such a condition” and we say, “Oh, it’s my life, I can do what I want!”, wouldn’t that be foolish! We obey medical authority and civil authority even when we don’t understand it – should we not do the same with authority that Christ Himself founded?

            The Catechism actually states, “Each and everything set forth definitively by the Magisterium of the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals must be firmly accepted and held; therefore, anyone who rejects propositions which are to be held definitively sets himself against the teaching of the Catholic Church.”

            I don’t know about you, but I want the surest and most secure way to eternal life – and I know I ain’t wise enough to know the mind of Christ in today’s crazy and mixed-up world! But fortunately for us, the Lord has not left us abandoned – He has sent us His Spirit to lead us into all truth, the Spirit that dwells in the Church. Peter has spoken through Leo…Christ continues to speak through His Church.

Homily for Easter 5 - May 15, 2022

Homily for Easter 5

May 15, 2022

Persevere!

 

            Winston Churchill was invited to give the commencement speech at his alma mater in the middle of World War II. According to the story, he got up from his seat, went to the microphone, and simply said, “Gentlemen, never, never, never give up.” And then sat back down. And it became one of the most influential and famous speeches in history.

            Now, that story is mostly urban legend, but his speech did encourage the young men to persevere. He would know something about that – he had the backbone to stare down Hitler and persevere in the most difficult war that Europe had ever seen. Perseverance is the key to achieving any goal – particularly in the spiritual life.

            I was very struck by St. Paul’s admonition to the Church in Antioch: “It is necessary to undergo many hardships in order to enter the Kingdom of God.” Perseverance in our faith – and in the practices of our faith, like prayer and Mass and the moral life – is critical if we wish to inherit the Kingdom. But a lot of people give up faith – or at least give up the practice of their Catholic Faith – because of three main obstacles.

            The first is discouragement. It can be easy to be discouraged if it seems we’re not making progress in the spiritual life, or our prayer life seems boring and empty. We may ask ourselves, what’s the point of praying? What’s the point of doing the same thing, getting the same results?

            That is an excellent question – what is the point of praying? It’s not just to check a box at the end of the day, or to get God to give us something. The whole point of praying is spending time in fellowship and union with the God Who is madly, passionately in love with us. And the more we spend time with Him, the more we will become like Him. A lot of people give up their faith entirely because they stop praying, saying that prayer is boring. If prayer is boring, switch it up! If we’ve always recited certain prayers before going to bed, try to pray in a different way – read the Bible, go for a walk in nature, listen to Christian music. He doesn’t just want to hear your words – He wants to win your heart. But the key is to never give up!!

            And this will effect a change in us. We might get discouraged in our spiritual journey because we keep falling into the same sins over and over again – but perseverance is the key. I think of the amazing story of St. Mark Tianxiang. He was a doctor in China in the early 1900s, and a devout Catholic man. He ended up getting very sick, and to ease his pain he prescribed himself opioids. Unfortunately, he quickly became addicted to the powerful painkillers, and even when his sickness was healed, he kept prescribing drugs for himself. He wanted to stop, but his addiction was strong. He went to Confession week after week, asking God to free him, but he struggled and struggled. It got to the point that the priest said, “You must not be truly sorry for your sins, because you keep falling into them – so I am going to refuse you absolution.” This was such a struggle for Mark, as he could no longer receive Communion since he could not be forgiven of his sins. But he kept praying that God would give him the grace to become a saint.

            In 1920, the Communists took over China and began to severely persecute Catholics. Mark and his whole family was arrested. At last, in prison, he was deprived of his drugs – and the addiction was broken. As he prepared to be killed for his faith, he asked that he be the last one killed, so he could comfort his other family members who died first. Finally, he was martyred for the Faith, and became a saint. God didn’t answer his prayers in the way he thought – but God was faithful and rewarded St. Mark Tianxiang’s perseverance by granting him the gift of holiness.

            In addition to discouragement, another obstacle to perseverance is the world. We live in a post-Christian society, and the pressure to conform is enormous. If we don’t go along with the crowd – who often scoffs at religion or Biblical morality or even the very notion of God – then we are at risk of getting cancelled. On the Catholic young adult radio show that I host, one of our co-hosts has asked that we not use his last name, for fear that his employer might find out that he is a faithful, practicing Catholic, and there might be professional reprisals for not being woke enough!

            It takes perseverance to keep our eyes on Christ and our Catholic Faith despite the powerful pull of peer pressure which seeks to draw us away from the Truth. But as Soren Kierkegaard said, “The bigger the crowd, the more likely that what it praises is foolishness.” At the end of the day, it was “the crowd” that cried out “Crucify Him!” while only three individuals – hardly a majority – stayed with Christ until the end. Which group do we want to be counted in?

            A final obstacle to perseverance is the Cross. The Gospel demands something of us! To follow Christ means that we can’t do everything we want to do. We can’t exact revenge on our enemies; we can’t live self-indulgently when people in Bridgeport don’t have basic needs met; we can’t sleep with whomever we want; we have to do things that are difficult and costly like getting up early on a Sunday morning to worship God, or to forgive those who hurt us. Most people don’t give up the faith because of an intellectual objection – most give it up because it costs too much to follow Jesus Christ.

            So why should we bother to persevere in practicing our Catholic Faith in the face of such obstacles? Because it is worth it! Our second reading reveals a beautiful scene of Heaven – total union with God, reunion with our family and friends, no more suffering, everlasting joy. I hike all the time, and 90% of hiking is a pretty boring slog up a mountain, over rough terrain, pretty unpleasant to be honest. But once you get to the incredible view, it makes all the struggle worth it. But if someone were to give up, they wouldn’t get the view. In the same way, the life of faith is nothing less than the Cross. It is a daily decision to follow Jesus, despite discouragement, the mockery of the world, and the sufferings entailed with being a faithful Christian. Yet we do it – because it is the only path to true and everlasting happiness.

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.”

Homily for Lent 5 - April 3, 2022

 

Homily for Fifth Sunday of Lent

April 3, 2022

Go and Sin No More

 

            Back in 2013, Pope Francis said five words that could potentially be the most quoted papal statement ever: “Who am I to judge?” I have had people quote that sentence to me over and over again, usually along the lines of, “Don’t tell me that my lifestyle is sinful! Who are you to judge?”

            But that’s not the context of Pope Francis’ statement. He was actually responding to a question from a reporter who asked him what he would do about a particular priest who had left the priesthood to pursue a life of sin, but who then repented and wanted to be admitted back to the priesthood. The Pope’s full quotation was: “If someone searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”

            God is perfect justice and perfect mercy. Which one we will receive is dependent upon one thing and one thing only: repentance. For those who fall, make mistakes, but are sorry and seek Him, He runs to them, picks them up, and forgives and heals. But for those who deny their sin or refuse to change (like the Pharisees), they have closed themselves off from mercy and will face justice instead.

            Let’s look closer at this Gospel. The woman was caught “in the very act” of committing adultery. So how did the Pharisees catch her? Was it, perhaps, a trap? Was it one of the Pharisees who committed adultery with this woman? Regardless, she was certainly sorry!

            Now, in our Catholic understanding, there are two types of sorrow for sin (also called “contrition”). There is imperfect contrition, and perfect contrition. Imperfect contrition is when we’re sorry for sins because of the sin’s consequences – so we regret drinking too much because we’re suffering the effects of a hangover, or we’re sorry for driving recklessly because we got a speeding ticket. This woman may have only been sorry because she was facing a most severe consequence – death by stoning.

            But perfect contrition is sorrow for sin out of love for God. We’re sorry that we hurt the One we love; we’re sorry that we have broken the most important relationship in our lives: our friendship with the Lord. We should always aim to have perfect contrition – to be sorry because of how much we love Him. Yet imperfect contrition is enough to make a valid Confession, so if that’s all we can muster up, it’s still better than not being sorry at all!

            So the woman is thrown down before Jesus, and Jesus does a surprising thing. He bends down to write on the ground. What is He writing? St. Jerome says that He might be writing the sins of the Pharisees in the dirt. St. Augustine sees it as a fulfillment of a powerful prophesy in Jeremiah chapter 17:  O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake thee shall be put to shame; those who turn away from thee shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord. But consider this: if you write something in dust or sand, it can be wiped away easily. When we want something to be permanent, we say, “Inscribe that in stone!” So, Jesus writing the names or the sins of the Pharisees in the sand is a sign that He has the power to wipe away sins that easily…if only they would turn to Him in repentance. Just a quick brush of the hand, and the sins written in sand are cast away. Just a word from our Merciful Savior, and all of our sins are completely forgiven.

            The Pharisees, then, holding rocks that are a symbol of the hardness of their hearts, begin to walk away, leaving their rocks…but keeping their hard hearts. They are unwilling to acknowledge their need for a Savior, because they think they’re “good people”. Only one person in this scene recognizes that they need forgiveness – and for that reason, she is the only one who receives it.

            But this mercy that she receives does not mean she can go back to life-as-usual. The key to Jesus’ mercy is: “Go and sin no more.” Mercy does not mean that sin doesn’t matter. To see how much sin matters, look at the Cross. Jesus died because of sin. People suffer because of sin. Souls end up in Hell because of unrepentant sin. Sin matters – and it can be wiped away by Christ’s Precious Blood. Through His mercy, we become new creations – now we must live like new creations.

             A saint who learned and lived this deeply was St. Mary of Egypt. Born on a small farm along the Nile in the mid-300s, as a young girl she heard rumors of the bright lights and exciting life in the big city of Alexandria. Becoming bored with farm life, she ran away from home at the age of 12 to Alexandria. But after a couple of days in this bustling metropolis, she realized that it was very hard to make a living as a 12-year-old girl in a huge city, so she turned to the only thing she could do to keep from starving: she became a prostitute. For seventeen years she lived this sinful lifestyle, but she didn’t desire anything different. Rather, she enjoyed her work and indulged in every sinful desire that she could conceive of.

            One day she heard about a group organizing a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. She decided to go, not because of any religious fervor, but out of curiosity and the hopes that she could drum up some good business in a new city. She arrived in Jerusalem and began to visit the churches and holy sites, but when she tried to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (the church which houses Jesus’ tomb and the site of the Crucifixion), she found that some invisible force prevented her from passing through the door. Again and again she tried, but it was as if an invisible hand stopped her from entering the holy site. She realized that this was because of her sinful life, and was immediately struck to the heart. Seeing a statue of Our Lady outside the church, she knelt down and begged the Lord for mercy, promising to change her life. With that, she tried one last time to enter the church…and this time she could pass through the doors. She stayed all day and night in the church, went to Confession, and departed a new woman entirely. She knew that she would be tempted to return to her former life if she went back to Alexandria, so she felt inspired by the Holy Spirit to flee to the desert and become a hermit, where she lived the rest of her days in prayer, penance, and poverty.

            This woman desperately needed mercy, and when she found it, she “went and sinned no more.” Christ’s mercy is available to all who call upon Him in Confession – He can wipe away our sins as easily as brushing away writing in the sand – and once our sins are forgiven, He instructs us to “go and sin no more.”

Homily for Lent 3 - March 20, 2022

 

Homily for Lent 3

March 20, 2022

Friendship with the Almighty

 

            What kind of a name is “I Am”? That’s an interesting way for God to introduce Himself – “Hello Moses, I am I Am.” What does it mean? Three things. First, it means that God is the only God. Moses was coming from Egypt, where dozens of gods competed for worship, and he’s wondering if this is just another one of the many gods. But the Lord says, “No, Moses…I Am” – the other gods are not. So God speaks of His uniqueness to Moses.

            Second, the name I Am means that He is the source of all existence in the universe. Everything that is, is because He is. You see, God is not just the greatest of all beings as if He were a mega-version of humans. Actually, Aquinas says that God is Being Itself – Pure Existence. Hence, the name “I Am”.

            It also means that He is outside of time. He’s not “I Was” or “I Will Be” – He is “I Am” – all time is present to Him. He was there at the creation of the universe; He is the same God when the universe dissolves into nothingness. So God is saying a whole lot by introducing Himself as “I Am” – He is the source of all existence, and all time exists in Him. These truths can make us tremble with fear before the greatness of God!

            But…He is also doing something else profound here. By introducing Himself to Moses, He is establishing an intimate relationship with Him. Think of it – what is the first thing we do when we want to get to know someone? We share our names. Moses wants to know who this “God” is, and God wants to be known, trusted, and loved. So He shares His Name.

            Both of these realities are true – God is way above us…and He wants to be our closest friend. He is the all-powerful, all-holy…and He wants to share our mundane lives and our worries. What a gift!

            Let’s apply this to our lives, here and now.

            Because God is holy, He desires us to be holy. That’s the whole point of the Gospel parable. Jesus speaks of this fig tree that doesn’t bear fruit. The fig tree is us – you and I – and the fruit that Christ looks for is holiness in our lives. He has planted the tree (gave us faith), watered it (given us graces), fertilized it (taught us)…but will He find holiness?

            A great definition of holiness comes from that recent Christian song…“Holiness is Christ in me.” Once during the 1800s, an unbeliever from Paris had heard about the reputation of St. John Vianney, who was serving as a parish priest in a small town in southern France. The unbeliever was curious if this man was as holy as everyone said he was, so he traveled down to meet with him and hear him preach. When he returned, his friends asked him, “What did you think? How was Fr. Vianney?” The man responded, “I have seen God in a man.” That’s holiness!

            And this holiness is the calling of every Christian, not just priests and nuns and grandmothers, who are always the holiest people we know. All of us are called to that holiness, living with Christ in us. But holiness is not something that we achieve on our own efforts…it’s the fruit of an intimate personal relationship with God. Let’s go back to that fig tree image – a tree grows because it is exposed to the sunlight (as God the Father is the source of all Light). It needs water to flourish – and Jesus calls Himself the Living Water. It needs air to breathe, and in Hebrew the same word is used for both “breath” and “Holy Spirit”. Only when the tree is surrounded by light, sun, and wind – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, can it bear fruit. And what beautiful fruit it is: virtues, good works, and inner peace that comes from our friendship with Jesus.

            How do we develop this friendship with Jesus? Prayer. I’m not talking about “saying prayers” or pre-written prayers, although those are fine. But real, authentic prayer is a relationship where we invite Jesus into life. A woman was once in a laundromat with a friend. After putting her laundry in, she sat down next to the friend who was reading out of a notebook. “Whatcha reading?” she asked. The other woman said, “I’m not reading. I’m praying.” “Here? In a laundromat?” “Why not? God is here too.” The notebook was where she kept important Bible passages, lines from her favorite Christian songs, and prayer requests.

            I knew a woman who would pray a decade of the Rosary on the ski lift. I pray in the dentist’s chair…yeah, that’s some intense prayer time! St. John Bosco, when he would run out of time for his daily hour of prayer, would offer the Lord what he called “scraps of time” – a minute here, a minute there. A quick and beautiful way to pray is called “Aspirations” where we shoot a one-sentence prayer to Heaven like an arrow: My Jesus, Mercy. Lord, I love You. Mother Mary, be my guide. If we don’t know what to say in prayer, don’t say anything at all – just sit in silence. Read the Bible, which is how God speaks to us.

            This week, don’t just say prayers…and don’t just save it for two minutes before bedtime. Live a life of prayer. Speak to the Lord throughout the day, and carve out a significant amount of time to listen to Him through Scripture reading and silence. We have the privilege of having a living relationship with the Almighty Creator, the Great I Am – Who desires a friendship with you so that you become holy, like Him. Do you desire it as well? If so, will you take the time to pursue Him in prayer?