Homily for the Week of June 24, 2012

HOMILY FEAST OF JOHN THE BAPTIST 2012, B Is 49:1-6 • Acts 13:22-26 • Lk 1:57-66,80 Billy Graham tells of a time early in his career when he arrived in a small town to preach a sermon. He wanted to mail a letter so he asked a young boy where the post office was. The boy told him. Billy Graham thanked him and said: If you'll come to the Baptist church this evening, you can hear me telling everyone how to get to heaven. I don't think I'll be there, the boy said. You don't even know your way to the post office. While we may not always know how to get to heaven, most of us know the exact date of our birth. We don't for John the Baptist, but for centuries Catholics have celebrated it on June 24th. In countries where the Catholic Church is very much linked to the civic government like in Québec this is a paid holiday usually with lots of festivities. It was on June 24, 1615, that the first Mass was celebrated in New France or what is French Canada. The religious authorities of the time found it remarkable that the day coincided with the birth date of Jean Baptiste, thus symbolizing the baptism of New France. John's birthday falls on a weekend about once in every 7 years. Jesus states his cousin John's importance when he says: History has not known a man born of a woman greater than John the Baptizer. But John would have agreed completely with Jesus who added: Yet the least born into the kingdom of God is greater than he. John the Baptist is the child of Elizabeth and Zechariah, and the cousin of Jesus. He was conceived way beyond the time when a woman can conceive and give birth to a child. But Elizabeth and Zechariah had prayed for a child, and so the angel Gabriel announced to them that they would have a child. Zachariah did not believe the angel. When he expressed doubts the angel struck him speechless. After John was born Zachariah was still unable to speak for 8 days when he and his wife had an argument as to what they would name their son. Relatives wanted them to name the boy Zachariah after his father as the Jewish tradition of that time that the first son always had the same name as the father. But Elizabeth insisted that his name would be John. Since Zachariah could not talk, he asked for a table on which he wrote: His name shall be John. At that moment he recovered his speech. It appears that from his early childhood John impressed many because he was different. He said that his work was to prepare the way for Jesus his cousin. He got his nickname BAPTIST because he would bring people to the Jordan River, and poured water over those who said they wanted to be his follower. Jesus was so impressed that he asked John to baptize him which John reluctantly did after Jesus insisted. Like a lot of good people, John made enemies because he insisted on living the truth and telling the truth. One of these enemies was Herod, who was the ruler of that region. He was afraid of John's great power over the people. John had accused Herod of doing wrong when he unlawfully married Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. Herod and Herodias were annoyed at John. One day when he was drunk Herod asked his wife what was the one thing she most wanted. She persuaded her daughter Salome to ask that John be beheaded. And this Herod did. The importance of John is that he came to prepare the way for Jesus and to give hope to those who felt they were lost. Many of you, like John, daily work quietly for those who have lost the way, those who hunger for both food and spirituality. At times you may feel like Isaiah that you might be toiling in vain, and for nothing, uselessly. But then in prayer the Lord God speaks to you as he did to Isaiah: I am your strength. I am making you a light to shine in darkness that through you everyone will see that I love them. Yes, we have a lot to learn from this strange man. We realize that his role in God's plan is also our role. You and I, every Christian, every Catholic is called like John, to prepare the way for the coming of the Gospel of Jesus. All of us have been called by name from the day of our new birth through baptism. We were anointed to preach by the way we live. We were given a candle and told that we were to light the way for others to see Jesus, the light of the world. Many people today wear little bracelets of different colors around their wrist indicating that they are part of a group that promotes various social projects. One of these bracelets which has the letters WWJD - which stand for What Would Jesus Do? John the Baptist challenges us to lead the way for those who do not know what would Jesus do? Most of us may quickly pass off our role in God's plan of salvation. Many will point to the priest saying: It's their job to preach. But you are aware better than I am that I will not be at your work place on Monday morning, nor ami I in each of your homes. You and I, every Christian, every Catholic is invited to be like John the Baptise to prepare the way of the coming of Jesus in their life. All of us have been called by name from the day of our new birth through baptism. We were anointed to preach by the way we live. We were given a candle and told that we were to light the way for others to see Jesus, the light of the world If the world is to be converted to the truth of Jesus, it will happen because all of us practice our Catholic religion. The only people who can spread God's way in the world are you and me who take our religion seriously. Let us leave this church again today to know the truth, to follow the truth, and to lead others to the truth of Jesus. That is what was promised at our Baptism.

Homily for the Week of June 10, 2012

Feast of Body and Blood of Christ, 2012 Exodus 24: 3-8; Hebrews 9:11-15; Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26 Some of our most remembered events are those associated with a meal. Meals can be the regular meals prepared every day and shared with family or friends, or meals that celebrate special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, weddings, baptisms, proms. Meals can come as formal and elaborate banquets, or cookouts, barbecues, or picnics where we bring out own food. They can be simple food such as chowder or cotton candy as part of the Cadyville Field Day. Some of these meals make such an impact upon us that we remember them for a lifetime. Since food is necessary for survival it can be easily assumed that Jesus shared many meals with his parents and his friends. One of these meals, however, stands out above all others. It is the one that we celebrate today, and the one that you and I have participated in many times. It is the Holy Eucharist, or Holy Communion or Communion. Like all meals it provides us food for survival, but unlike other meals it provides us food for spiritual and religious survival as we get old enough to appreciate it. A few weeks ago we invited 9 of our young girls and boys to share this meal as they made their first Holy Communion with the help of their parents and teachers. The last meal that Jesus had with his friends, known as the Last Supper, was part of the ceremony of the Jewish Passover. It was a meal that was held every year after the first full moon after the Spring equinox. There are many places in the Bible that give us many details about meals such as who ate with whom, who sat where, what people ate and drank and where, how the food was prepared, which utensils were used, when the meal took place, what was discussed at table. This final meal of Jesus with his close friends cements their mutual relationship. However, at this final meal Judas definitively separates himself from the group. And then Jesus does something different. For the first time Jesus made a transition from the Passover meal to a new meal. Jesus did something different. He took some of the bread on the table and some of the wine in the cup, and for the first time ever said over the bread THIS IS MY BODY, and over the wine THIS IS MY BLOOD. For years Jesus had been teaching that there are other kinds of bread besides the physical bread and wine. He taught his disciples about the bread of compassion. He often offered others a shoulder to cry on, a few moments of listening time to those who needed someone to talk to. He offered the wine of words which moved the hearts of many to believe and to love. Health experts tell us that without sufficient amounts of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, proteins and fats in our diet we will not be healthy and we may even die. We are told to eat a variety of foods so that we get all the nutrients we need. We tend not to question the health experts. We trust they know what they are talking about. Even though there is probably no one here who follows their recommendations perfectly. Today’s feast puts us in touch in with another expert, Jesus. He tells us what we need to do to be healthy spiritiually. While we have not seen Jesus personally, we have the words of many who did, and who told us what Jesus wanted us to hear and to follow. When we listen to what Jesus had to say we begin to realize that Jesus had a few things to say about nutrition. He does not tell us about the vitamins and minerals we need to keep our physical lives healthy. He came to tell us that he will give us a full life. And the food that will nourish that life is himself. He tells us that He is the bread of life and whoever eats this bread will live forever. And that is a truly healthy diet. Jesus is our expert on life and he tells us that the food which he offers us, which is himself, will nourish us forever. There was a time in our church history, even 50 or 60 years ago, that Catholics thought they were not good enough to receive communion, so they stayed away. At that time Catholics were obliged to go to communion at least once a year at Easter which was called Easter duty. Today, however, many people have lost their faith in the presence of Jesus in Communion and thus stay away. Many do not believe that the Eucharist is really and truly the body and blood of Jesus. And so they stay away from going to Church. And like a domino effect when they stay away from Mass attendance they are getting away from their spiritual roots. And without a strong spiritual foundation to build our lives on, we have fewer values to live by and fewer values to pass on to our children. God’s life is shown to us in many ways, but it is in the Eucharist and Communion, more than anything else that God loves us and God is with us. The bread on any table is quickly eaten and then there is no more. But the bread and wine which Jesus gives us in Communion becomes more and more as we take it more and more often.

Homily for the Week of June 3, 2012

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, 2012 Deuteronomy 4:32-40 Ps 33: 4-9 Romans 8:14-17 Mt 28:16-20 If all of you were in a Sunday school class today I would probably give you the assignment to find the word Trinity anywhere in the Bible. No matter how long and how hard you would look in the Bible, and especially in the the 4 Gospels that talk about Jesus you would not find the word Trinity. Yet today all Catholic churches throughout the world celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. You and I made the sign of the cross in the name of the Trinity. You were baptized in the name of the Trinity. In fact it was several hundreds of years before the Catholic spiritual writers coined the word Trinity to mean that in ONE GOD there are THREE PERSONS known as of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. But there is only one God, not three Gods. Even though the word Trinity is not found in the Bible, there are plenty of other places where the word is found. If you were to do an Internet search for Trinity you would find about 220 million references to the word Trinity. These would include the names of colleges, schools, nightclubs, hospitals, nursing homes, churches. There is one reference which is especially unusual. 67 years ago next month, at a place called Trinity, New Mexico, at the White Sands Missal Range Project Trinity began. Project Trinity was the code name given to the project which detonated a plutonium bomb at Trinity, New Mexico. This bomb had the explosive power of 13,000 tons of TNT and its mushroom cloud soared to a height of 7 miles. This was the beginning of the Atomic Age, and the world has never been the same since. The following month, on August 6, President Harry Truman authorized a United States Army plane to drop a single atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, and a second bomb three days later on the city of Nagasaki killing 237,000 persons, and many others dying from the effects of radiation. In today's Gospel Jesus announces the real Project Trinity. He reveals to his disciples and to us their missionary agenda by assuring them that All Power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Jesus had just detonated his Godly power when he destroyed what no bomb could ever do. With this statement Jesus destroyed death itself. Jesus conquered death by his resurrection from the dead. And now Jesus is also willing to share this power with each of us. To carry out his project the followers of Jesus were to go and to tell all nations about the great and loving power of God, and to baptize them In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and to teach them to observe all the commandments. So Trinity means that our God -- the father, the son and the holy spirit ---chose to explode upon the world, to let go and to realize all the love, joy, peace and glory of their most intimate union. Our Catholic Project Trinity is all about life and love, not destruction and death. Catholic life begins with the Trinity. The Trinity is one of our most observed beliefs. Each week we come together here to receive the Eucharist where we tap the power of the Trinity and the Trinity continues to tap into us. We begin our Mass as we do all other spiritual events In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and we end our Mass the same way. Most of you began to pray by making the sign of the trinity. We are baptized, according to the Lord’s command, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. As a priest I have thousands of times showed faith in the Trinity whenever I have anointed a sick person or blessed spiritual objects. Our faith in the Trinity is shown whenever we have blessings at meals; whenever we end public prayers; when a couple exchange wedding rings; and for nearly every other Catholic practice that we experience. The early Church understood the Trinity as the heart of Christ’s message. You may not have realized it but we do all of these sacred and spiritual actions in the name of another. That is unique in the Bible. Doing something in the name of another implies solidarity and agreement with that other person. The apostles purpose is our purpose. Our Project Trinity has not made us radioactive, but God-active. Our job is to carry the power of the Trinity into our day-by-day lives. At the end of this Mass we are told to Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. We are then ready to burst forth into the world with the explosive life and love of God in our hearts, heads and hands. But we are not alone. The Holy Trinity makes us towers of power to release the life, love, peace, joy and glory of God upon our world.