Homily from Apr. 19/20, 2014: EASTER

Apr 20, 2014 | Featured, Homilies

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Here is my homily from April 19, 2014: Easter Vigil.

Readings: Click here to see the readings from the Easter Vigil (USCCB.org).

Text of the homily (more or less… I may ad-lib at some points in the recorded version… ;-))

This is the day when everything has changed.  Just on Friday, it seemed like death and misery would win yet again.  Jesus had been killed by the pinnacle of worldly power, the Roman Empire.  The disciples had been scattered.  But on this Easter day, everything has changed.  Death has lost.  God’s life and love have won.  Game over!  As that beautiful, ancient Easter Proclamation says, “Let his holy building shake with joy!”

 

This day is what our faith is all about: Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, has risen from the dead!  He’s done battle with sin and defeated it.  He’s done battle with death and destroyed it.  And now Jesus offers each of us, by name, his gift of new life.

 

This is the gift of life that made such a shocking entrance on that Easter morning, as we just heard.  It’s a gift that so stunned the guards at the tomb that they were fearful, and they shook and became like dead men – they weren’t sure what to do or how to react!  It’s a gift that so amazed the two Marys that all they could do was to throw themselves at the feet of Jesus in utter astonishment and in worship, and then go to Galilee and tell the others what they had seen.  From this moment, everything changed for them and for the disciples and for the entire world.

 

One of my many favourite lines from Pope Francis (you know I’ve got lots of them!) came in his short little 224 page letter he wrote last November, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel).  Pope Francis wrote: “[I]t is not the same thing to have known Jesus as not to have known him, not the same thing to walk with him as to walk blindly, not the same thing to hear his word as not to know it, and not the same thing to contemplate him, to worship him, to find our peace in him, as not to.” (Evangelii Gaudium 266).

 

Jesus changes everything. Because of Jesus, we can now live forever!  Because of Jesus, our lives can be transformed and we’re given a new, eternal purpose!  Easter is not simply some other holiday on the calendar – some extra days off.  The resurrection is not just some event from a long ago and we tell the story because it’s kind of nice.  The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the very heart of the matter.  The resurrection is the gift that here and now changes everything.  Jesus lives forever, and in him, so do we.

 

The same Jesus who appeared to those two women, and then to the disciples in Galilee, and to so many others after he rose from the dead is the same Jesus who is here today.  The church teaches us how he’s here in his people gathered together.  He’s here in his Scriptures being proclaimed.  He’s here most especially, physically, in the Eucharist.  And like he said to those women so long ago, so today he says to each of us here: “Greetings! … Do not be afraid!”   I’m going to Galilee.  I’m going to your community.  I’m going to your home.  I’m going to your heart.  “Greetings!”

 

The Risen Lord gives his greetings you today, personally.  And now nothing can be the same as it once was.

 

Today, Easter Sunday, we have an wonderful invitation, once again, to respond to his greeting.  The Church gives us today a powerful opportunity to recommit our lives to following Jesus by renewing the vows of our baptism, that day when his life first flooded our souls.  We can once again reject sin and profess our faith and allow his victory to renew our lives.

 

Let’s take hold of this opportunity!  The risen Jesus says to each of you, personally: “Greetings!”  And we are invited to respond.

 

In him we receive everything that is truly, eternally good.

 

In him, we can echo those classic words of St. Julian of Norwich: “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well!”

 

In him we are changed and in him we live forever.

We’d love to have you join us for Mass! Click here for the parish Mass schedule.

Homily from Apr. 18, 2014: Good Friday

Apr 18, 2014 | Featured, Homilies

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Here is my homily from April 18, 2014, Good Friday.

Readings: Isaiah 52.13-53.12; Psalm 31; Hebrews 4.14-16,5.7-9; John 18.1-19.42 (See the readings at usccb.org)

Text of the homily (please excuse the bad English! ;-))

There’s an interesting feature, I think, of just about any superhero movie, where the hero of the day – say, Spider-Man or Superman or The Avengers – where the hero or heroes recognize some sort of grave threat: a threat to their family, a threat to Lois Lane, a threat to the city, or even a threat to the world. And so the hero, often after some soul searching and character development takes that threat seriously and does battle with that threat. What that usually leaves us with is an incredible display of the latest in visual effects and heart-thumping musical scores – and, invariably, the hero comes out victorious. We can all go home, knowing that Gotham City is safe from The Joker, or whatever – at least until next sequel.

 

There are aspects of this that I find similar in this day of Good Friday, but of course on an infinitely greater scale. There is a threat in the world. A real threat. A threat that would deprive people of life for all eternity. That threat is sin that blocks us from God and from each other. God takes this threat very seriously. So he comes down here: Jesus, born in human flesh and blood. And he does battle with this threat.

 

He does battle, not with the latest in computer graphics technology, but by letting this threat of sin and of death wash over him. We’ve just heard how he takes upon himself all of human savagery and wickedness and betrayal and stupidity and ugliness and he’s nailed to a couple pieces of wood out of infinite love for his people. He takes what seems to the human imagination to be a complete failure – his death – and this turns into his greatest triumph. The power of love conquers all. The God who is love is utterly victorious! And so this day is a good day for us: Good Friday!

 

However, this raises a very important question: If Jesus takes my sins so seriously and if he takes his love so seriously so as to to go to the cross, then: how seriously do I take my own sins? How seriously do I take my own need for mercy? If you’re anything like me, it’s so easy – when our conscience, that little whisper in our minds notes that this thing we did – or that thing we failed to do… eh, it wasn’t that big a deal. No one was really hurt. Or maybe he or she had it coming anyway. And we rationalize our sins away. This is a temptation for me – for all of us!

 

“But” – in our first reading – “he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities.” Jesus takes our sins seriously because he loves us so dearly, and he’s willing to die to save us and bring us life! How seriously do I take my own sins? More importantly: how seriously do I take God’s love and mercy for me?

 

Look at St. Peter. I love that guy. I can identify so much with him: He wasn’t perfect. He committed a pretty big sin today. And he takes it seriously – and more importantly he takes the mercy of Jesus seriously. And once Jesus returns, he receives that mercy and we now call him Saint Peter. The first pope. So also it is to be for us. We need to take our need for mercy seriously, so that we can, as the Letter of Hebrews says, “approach the throne of grace with boldness [and] … receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

 

The great news of this day is that, in Jesus Christ, God made flesh, sin does not have the last word. His love and mercy do. In him, there is no need of a sequel or trilogy, like in the superhero movies, because he’s won the victory. All we need to do is accept his victory: to take seriously our need for mercy and to accept his mercy that’s so freely given.

 

Jesus did the hard work, in complete and utter love. When you look at the cross, see how much he loves you. See how seriously he treats our sins, out of love, because he wants us to have life, and receive the mercy that he gives. Get to confession, especially if it’s been a while. Receive his abundant mercy. He went to the cross to give it to you.

 

This is a day of the love of God. It is a good day. It’s Good Friday.

We’d love to have you join us for Mass! Click here for the parish Mass schedule.

Homily from Apr. 17, 2014: Holy Thursday

Apr 18, 2014 | Featured, Homilies

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Here is my homily from April 17, 2014, Holy Thursday

Readings: Exodus 12.1-8,11-14; Psalm 116; 1 Corinthians 11.23-26; John 13.1-15 (See the readings at usccb.org)

We’d love to have you join us for Mass! Click here for the parish Mass schedule.

Homily from April 13, 2014: Palm Sunday

Apr 13, 2014 | Featured, Homilies

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Here is my homily from April 13, 2014, Palm Sunday, Year A.

Readings: Isaiah 50.4-7; Psalm 22; Philippians 2.6-11; Matthew 26.14-27.66 (See the readings at usccb.org)

We’d love to have you join us for Mass! Click here for the parish Mass schedule.

Homily from Apr. 6, 2014: And Jesus Wept

Apr 7, 2014 | Featured, Homilies

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Here is my homily from April 6, 2014, 5th Sunday of Lent, Year A.

Readings: Ezekiel 37.12-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8.8-11; John 11.1-45 (See the readings at usccb.org)

We’d love to have you join us for Mass! Click here for the parish Mass schedule.