ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

18 JUNE 2023

 

          In the first reading from the Book of Exodus, Moses tells the Israelites that God has been intimately involved in their lives and in their history.  God freed them from their slavery in Egypt and brought them through the waters of the Red Sea.  At Mount Sinai, God entered into a special covenant relationship with him.  God chose this insignificant group of people out of love.  Moses uses a beautiful image to explain how God forms them into a covenant of love.  Mother eagles bear their babies on their wings.  As they soar in the sky, they drop them and swoop down to catch them until they learn to fly on their own.  Like a mother eagle, God has been leading them through the desert, teaching them how to behave as free people.  They drop many times in their lessons.  But God is patient.  Moses tells them that they are God’s special possession, dearer to him than all other people on the earth.  God has made them a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.  They did not earn a covenant relationship.  They have often failed to hearken to God’s voice and keep the commandments.  But God remains faithful to them.

            Jesus, the Word made flesh dwelling in our midst, demonstrates the same intimate involvement with his people.  He has been announcing that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  His heart is moved with pity, because they have been neglected by their religious leaders.  He selects some of his disciples to continue his saving work.  Instead of forming an efficient search committee to look for the most qualified candidates, he chooses twelve of his disciples and sends them out to proclaim the presence of this kingdom.  The ones chosen are insignificant people with no apparent qualifications.  Most of them are fishermen.  One is a tax collector who worked for the Romans.  Another is a Zealot, whose party is dedicated to driving out the Romans, sometimes with force.  Jesus gives them authority over unclean spirits.  Despite their lack of any kind of qualification, all of them eventually choose to remain his apostles, except for Judas Iscariot.  They become the foundation for the building of Christ’s Church.

            The Lord has called each of us to become his disciples when we passed through the waters of Baptism.  None of us have any specific qualifications for being his disciples.  Saint Paul makes that point when he says that the Lord reconciled us to the Father when he died for us sinners.  As reconciled people standing on the foundation of the Apostles, we are called to live that reconciling love and extend it to others.  At Mass, he speaks to us, his disciples in the Word.  He feeds us with his Body and Blood and sends us out to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand and to invite others to be part of it.

            We who are fathers share a unique calling to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  Most of you are physical fathers with biological children.  Some of us are spiritual fathers, with lots of children given to us as fathers of this parish.  We really do not have any specific qualities for being fathers.  But Jesus Christ loves us and has shown what his special relationship with the Father looks like.  None of us are perfect, and we have all failed to reflect the Father’s love in our vocations.  But the Lord reminds us today that we too must show compassion to those who depend on us.  We can cure the sick, especially those who suffer with the sickness of not being loved.  We can renew our efforts to die to ourselves so that we can share the Lord’s rising with our children.  We can reconcile those who are alienated in any way.  We can drive out the demons of division, jealousy, and hatred.  We have received our vocation without cost.  Without cost, we can give our love generously.  

 

THE MOST  HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

11 JUNE 2023

 

          In Saint John’s Gospel, Jesus has just fed five thousand people with five loaves and two fish.  Like all seven of Jesus’ signs (or miracles) in John’s Gospel, this sign is intended to draw participants into a fuller understanding of the true identity of Jesus.  That happened when Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana.  His disciples accepted the invitation to draw closer to him and trust that he could transform the ordinary water of their human nature into the divine wine of God’s love.  It also happened to the Samaritan woman at the well.  She understood that he was the Christ who could satisfy her thirst for eternal life.  She came to understand that he was not talking about satisfying physical thirst.  So, she left her jar at the well and became the first evangelist, telling her neighbors that the long-awaited Christ had arrived.

            However, this does not happen with the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.  Instead of accepting the sign as an invitation to know the truth about Jesus, the crowds want to make Jesus a king.  They want a Jewish Caesar who would give them free meals for the rest of their lives.  When Jesus withdraws from them, they continue to seek him out.  Then, Jesus tells the truth.  Just as God has sent manna to their ancestors in the desert, so the Father has sent him.  In the mystery of the Incarnation, Jesus is the living bread that came down from heaven.  As the living bread and the Word made flesh who dwells among them, Jesus will continue to be present to them as food and drink.

            He shocks them by insisting that they will eat his flesh and drink his blood.  They know that the Torah forbids the eating of flesh and blood together, because blood is a sacred sign of life.  Then he doubles down on his statement by saying that they will not have life within them unless they eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood.  The Greek word for “eat” implies the gnawing on or crunching on, which brings their horror to a new level.

            He uses this word for “eat” deliberately.  His physical body will be gnawed apart and crunched by his horrific suffering and death on the cross.  But his brutally beaten body will be raised from the dead transformed.  That transformed body will be restored to heaven in the Ascension.  We share that life that the Father shares with his Son when we are baptized.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, we who eat his flesh receive the totality of his being – body, blood, soul, and divinity.  We who drink his Blood receive his complete life force. 

            Saint Paul expresses this Mystery.  The cup of blessing that we bless is a participation in the blood of Christ.  His sacrifice on the cross is made present as we remember it.  The bread that we break is a participation in the body of Christ.  As Saint Augustine reminds us, we become what we eat.  Every time we worthily receive the Body and Blood of Christ, the Lord forms us more completely into who we became at Baptism:  The Body of Christ sent into the world.

            Saint Thomas Aquinas helps us to understand the Eucharistic presence.  We taste and see the appearance of bread and wine.  When the priest prays the Eucharistic Prayer, the appearance of bread remains the same.  But through the power of the Holy Spirit, its essence is transformed into the Body of Christ.  The ordinary wine is transformed into the Blood of Christ.  We who eat his Body and drink his Blood share in his sacrificial love.  The Eucharist nourishes us to die to ourselves in ways that are sometimes very difficult and demanding.  But the Lord assures us that our dying with him is not the end.  We who eat this bread will share in his rising and live forever.

 

 

THE MOST  HOLY TRINITY

4 JUNE 2023

 

          What we heard in today’s Gospel is the end of a long conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus.  Nicodemus is a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jerusalem ruling body.  He is intrigued about Jesus and has many questions to ask.  He comes at night, because he does not want the other members of the Sanhedrin to know of his interest in this teacher from Galilee.

            This conversation follows the account of Jesus driving out the money changers in the Temple.  This action rendered Temple sacrifice obsolete.  The sacrifices of animals and first fruits of the earth are no longer needed.  So, people want signs to establish his authority.

            By the time this Gospel was written, the Romans had destroyed the temple in Jerusalem.  Earlier, they had destroyed the physical temple of Jesus’ body on the cross and laid him in a tomb.  But the Father had raised Jesus from the dead.  In the Ascension, the transformed body of Jesus had returned to the right hand of the Father. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was sent to the Apostles and formed them into the Body of Christ, the Church.

            This last part of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus contains the Paschal Mystery.  God so loved the world that he gave his only Son in the Mystery of the Incarnation.  He gave his only Son so that those who believe in him may have eternal life.  The Mystery of the Incarnation does not end in the death of Jesus.  It continues through the Mystery of the Resurrection and is made present through the Holy Spirit in the Sacramental life of the Church. 

            We have celebrated the fullness of the Paschal Mystery in the Sacred Paschal Triduum, surrounded by forty days of Lent and fifty days of Easter.  Today, we reflect on the Trinitarian nature of God.  There is one God in three distinct persons.  It is a mystery which we cannot understand.  But the absolute love of the Trinity draws us to a deeper love in our world.

            That is why Saint Paul challenges the members of the Corinthian Church to live their baptismal promises.  They had been incorporated into the Mystery of the Trinity when they were baptized.  Now, they need to mend their ways and stop arguing with one another and bragging about who is holier.  They need to encourage one another, even in their differences.  They have many varying opinions about any number of topics.  But they must agree on the essence of their faith:  they are one Body in Christ.  If they work at living in peace, the God of love and peace will be with them.

            Saint Paul gives us the same advice.  As the Triune Godhead draws us to share a more perfect love, we can do a better job of imitating the oneness of the Trinity in the midst of our distinct differences.  Saint Paul tells the Corinthians to greet one another with a holy kiss.  We do that when we offer one another the Sign of Peace at Mass before the Communion procession.  Like the Corinthians, we have disagreements and deep difference of opinion on any number of issues.  We disagree in politics.  We can be jealous of what others have.  Young people are tempted to bully others to get their way.  It is easy to ignore those with whom we disagree and put them down.  In exchanging the Sign of Peace (the holy kiss), we express our intention do what we can to reconcile what divides us.  We can be kind to someone we do not like.  We can speak with someone who has a different opinion.  Brothers and sisters can stop arguing with one another.  We who are the members of Saint Pius will never fully imitate the love shared in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.  But if we are willing to mend our ways and encourage one another, we can make more of a difference than we think.

 

PENTECOST SUNDAY

28 MAY 2023

 

          On this fiftieth of the Easter Season, we hear the same account of the risen Christ revealing himself to the disciples which we heard on Easter Sunday.  That first Easter Sunday had been a busy day.  Early in the morning, Mary Magdalene approached the tomb with a darkness of grief that matched the morning darkness.  To her surprise, the heavy stone had been moved away from the tomb.  When she saw that the tomb was empty, she ran to Peter and the beloved disciple to report that the body of Jesus had been stolen.  Then they ran to the tomb.  While Peter could not connect the dots between the raising of Lazarus and the resurrection of Jesus, the beloved disciple did.  Then Mary  Magdalene returned to the tomb to continue her grieving.  She failed to recognize the risen Christ.  Mistaking him for the gardener, she wanted to know where they had taken her Lord’s body.  When he addressed her by name, she recognized him and worshipped him.  He told her to announce the good news to the other disciples.

            Apparently, the disciples could not believe what she had told them.  They were afraid.  Just as the stone had blocked any entrance into the tomb, they locked the doors and blocked entrance into the upper room.  Those locked doors do not keep the risen Christ out, just as the stone did not prevent him from emerging from the tomb.  He gives the gift of peace twice to his frightened disciples, just as he had promised them at the Last Supper.  He had told them that their hearts need not be troubled.  They recognize him in the wounds which are forever fixed in the act of love in which he had died.  He gives the gift of the Holy Spirit and removes their fear.  That gift will give them the courage to forgive others, just as he had forgiven them.    

The original Easter Sunday is often called the “eighth day,” because the resurrection of Jesus Christ recreates the world.  In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke reports that the Holy Spirit is given on the fiftieth day.  Just as the wind hovered over the chaos before the first day of creation in the first chapter of Genesis, the presence of the Holy Spirit is given to the Apostles gathered in the upper room.  Just as God breathed life into the clay and formed the first human being in the second chapter of Genesis, so the mighty wind of the Holy Spirit is given to the Body of Christ to carry on the work of the new creation.  Just as fire shook Mount Sinai as the people of Israel traveled to freedom in the desert, so the Holy Spirit is given as tongues of fire to enable the disciples to speak a language of love that everyone could understand.  The confusion of tongues at the tower of Babel is reversed through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

            That same gift of the Holy Spirit is given to us, the Body of Christ, on the Solemnity of Pentecost.  As Saint Paul reminds us, this gift of the Holy Spirit is given for the common good, for the building up of the Body of Christ.  As members of his Body, we all have different gifts.  We all engage in different forms of service.  The Lord works in different ways in each of us.  In the Corinthian Church, people were bragging about the individual gifts they had received.  They saw those gifts as ways of building themselves up and making them holier than others in the community.  As we emerge from the Easter Season filled with a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we cannot imitate their mistake.

            The first and best gift given on the eighth day was the gift of forgiveness.  In our broken, fractured, and divided world and Church, we need to allow the Lord to remove the heavy stone of fear that blocks us from listening to one another and extending forgiveness and mercy.  We too bear the wounds of the risen Christ.  Though the power of the Holy Spirit, we can allow the Lord to heal our wounds by giving the gift of forgiveness.

 

THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD

18 MAY 2023

 

          Today’s Solemnity is scheduled for the fortieth day of Easter, which is last Thursday.  In both his Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Luke says that the Lord Jesus ascended forty days after he had been raised from the dead.  Saint Luke uses this symbolic number to say that the risen Christ had sufficient time to teach his disciples about the Reign of God.  The risen Christ prepares those who witnessed the Easter event for the mission of the Church.

            A few decades ago, our Bishops moved this Solemnity to today, the closest Sunday to the symbolic forty days.  They wanted to make sure that this Solemnity is observed by Catholics who take seriously their Sunday Mass obligation.  The Ascension of the Lord is an integral part of the Paschal Mystery.  At the heart of the Paschal Mystery is our faith that Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead.  Surrounded by forty days of Lent and these fifty days of Easter, we entered into this mystery when we celebrated the Sacred Paschal Triduum.  The Mystery of the Ascension reminds us that we cannot encounter the transformed body of the risen Christ, as the original disciples encountered him after his resurrection.

            This crucial aspect of the Paschal Mystery is also shrouded in mystery.  Just as the Gospel writers give differing accounts of his encounters with his disciples after the mystery of his resurrection, so they give differing accounts of the Ascension.  Saint Luke uses the symbolic number.  Saint John describes the Mystery as one upward event.  Jesus is lifted up on the cross.  Then he is lifted up from the dead.  Then he is lifted up to return to the fullness of reality from which he descended when he took on human flesh in the Mystery of the Incarnation.  Saint Mark speaks of the Ascension occurring on a mountain in Galilee.

            Saint Matthew does not mention the word “ascension.”  He says that the risen Christ gathers his disciples on a mountain in Galilee.  On a mountain, Jesus had delivered his famous sermon.  On a mountain, he was transfigured in the presence of Peter, James, and John.  On this mountain, the disciples worship him, just as the Magi had worshipped him at the beginning of the Gospel.  On this mountain, he commissions them to continue the work he had been doing in his three years with them.  They are to take the Paschal Mystery beyond their Jewish roots to make disciples of all nations.  They are to join them into the Church, the Body of Christ, through baptism.  He who was called Emmanuel (God is with us) at the beginning of the Gospel will continue to be Emmanuel (God is with us) as they proclaim the Good News to all.

            Even though they worship him, they also doubt.  We too worship the risen Christ and renew our faith at every Sunday Mass.  Like them, we have our share of doubts.  Mysteries are beyond our comprehension, and we cannot understand the fullness of that reality.  But Saint Paul reminds us that Jesus Christ is part of that Mystery, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion.  We may never fully understand the Mystery of who God is and how God operates.  But God is our hope above all the divisions and arguments and confusions of our troubled world and its troubled institutions.

            The Ascension reminds us that in the absence of the glorified body of Jesus Christ, we are his Body.  He is with us as we continue to evangelize in our troubled world.  We evangelize best when we renew our efforts to be disciples.  Disciples listen to Jesus Christ.  They learn from him how to live and pray.  They know what is pleasing to the Father.  When we ask for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit next Sunday, on the fiftieth day of Easter, we can spread the good news by being better disciples.  The Lord is with us as we become more faithful disciples.

 

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

14 MAY 2023

 

          We continue to hear the words of Jesus in his farewell discourse to his disciples at the Last Supper in Saint John’s Gospel.  Because this is the living Word of God, Jesus is speaking to us at this Memorial of the Last Supper.  He commands us to keep his commandments to love God and neighbor.  We must love as he has loved us.  He has just shown what this love looks like.  Like a humble servant, he has gotten on his knees and washed the feet of his disciples.  On the next day, he will give himself completely on the cross out of love for us.  This is the type of love he commanded his first disciples and which he commands us:  to humble ourselves and wash the feet of others, no matter how difficult or demanding that action may be.

            We see an example of this type of love in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles.  Phillip goes down to Samaria, to the heart of the divisions and hatred between Samaritans and Jews.  He proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ to his former enemies.  The Samaritans are so moved by the signs worked by Phillip that they accept baptism into Jesus Christ with great joy.  Then the apostles in Jerusalem send Peter and John to impart the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Despite the former differences, their mission demonstrates both the continuity and the unity between this missionary community and the mother Church in Jerusalem.

            The Lord commands us to love in this same way.  You who are mothers know this style of loving.  I join the mothers of our parish and invite all of you to consider taking a step forward in faith to give a generous portion of your time in service to this community.  Our parish is alive, because so many people are involved.  And people can see the signs of the Lord’s love in our efforts to be humble servants.  Jesus has sent another Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to strengthen us in our efforts to serve, just as he had sent the Holy Spirit with Phillip to Samaria.  Please read the information in your stewardship of service packet.  Be sure to study the needs of the parish.  Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you as you consider what gifts God has given you.  After praying over your decision, be prepared to make a one-year commitment to be a humble servant in this parish. 

            You might expect me to say all these things.  It’s my “day job”.  So, listen to another Bill and allow him to share how he has come to embrace the stewardship of service at Saint Pius. 

Stewardship of Service Witness Talk

May 13 – 14, 2023

Bill McDonough

 

Thanks Fr. Bill

 

My wife Vicki and I have been part of this Parish since 1992 when we moved here from Pittsburgh with our three children – Kelly, Bill and Katie.  It is amazing how fast time goes by!!  Our youngest Katie is now 30 and is about to have a baby, our first grandchild.  This Parish has become a big part of our lives.

 

What is Stewardship?  Stewardship, quite simply, is recognizing that everything we have and everything we are is a gift from God and being grateful and generous with those gifts. God calls us all to steward everything about our lives focusing on the good of others.

 

In Colossians 3:23-24 Paul writes:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

There is humility in stewardship, it evokes images of service. Service is central to the idea of stewardship.” Service and stewardship, and through them the commitment to something greater than ourselves, are the antidote to self-interest and selfishness.

I believe we all have gifts that God has given us, and He wants us to use these gifts to serve others – in this Parish, in our Community and also in the bigger world we all live in.  If you are like me, you may be thinking right now “I have heard that many times, but I don’t have any special gifts or I don’t know what they are!  For me it took a long time to get it.  Of course, I had my faith, and I came to Mass every week and I contributed financially but I was busy with my job, family, friends etc, etc.  It wasn’t until I attended a men’s retreat right here at St Pius that my eyes and heart were really opened to the idea of serving others.  This clarity has helped me in my job, family and in becoming more involved here at St Pius.  I have been encouraged and motivated to do more by the many in our Parish that give of their time and share their gifts.  It has been amazing to see what happens when you open yourself to the idea of serving others at a whole new level – opportunities come to you!  For me that has been serving as a Hospitality Minister at Mass, helping with other men’s retreats, Saturday mornings with my brothers at TMIY and I am a part of our new Prison Ministry – helping others strengthen their faith.

I encourage you all to spend some time reflecting on what gifts God has given you – it could be Faith, Evangelism, Helping, Giving, Hospitality, Mercy, Leadership or many others that you may be touched with.  You just have to be open to the idea that we are all here to help others.  There are so many ways to get more involved here at St Pius, Fr. Bill said, “keep it short” so I don’t have time to list them all! There are ways for all of us to get more involved.  Don’t worry about not having enough time to get more involved – God challenges us to get out of our “Comfort Zone”, when you accept the challenge, he takes care of the rest.

The benefits are many – there is a real joy in serving others, it brings our community together and as you get more involved in our parish it helps make it feel not so big and it becomes a bigger part of your life.  I am so thankful for the relationships I have made here through getting more involved in serving!

I will leave you with this from the First Letter of Peter – “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace.”

 

 

 

 

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

7 MAY 2023

 

          The words that Jesus speaks today are part of his farewell discourse at the Last Supper in the Gospel of Saint John.  He is trying to prepare them for what will happen after this meal by telling them that their hearts need not be troubled.  For the past three years, he has repeatedly told his disciples that he would have to suffer, die, and rise again.  But they could not imagine a crucified Messiah.  That is why Thomas speaks for the rest of them when he asks Jesus where he is going.  He tries to reassure them that his betrayal and death will not be the end for him or for them.  In his resurrection and ascension, he will prepare for them a place in his Father’s House.

            When he speaks of his Father’s House, he is not talking about a huge physical Mansion located somewhere in the sky.  He is talking about the divine communion of life and love in which they will share with his glorified humanity.  In that divine communion of life and love, there are many dwelling places.  We can understand better what he says if we understand “places” as “rooms.”  Teenagers can tell us how important rooms are in their homes.  They are safe and secure in a room that belongs to them alone.  When we are invited to a banquet, we want to make sure that there is room for us at the table.  We are horrified when we get stuck in a middle seat on a long airplane trip.  Without room, we feel left out.  We feel exposed to the wild and unpredictable world.  Without a room, we feel unwanted.  Jesus knew this feeling, because there was no room for him and Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem.

            Jesus promises that there will be a room for us in eternity.  However, like those first disciples, we too must share in the Lord’s suffering and death.  We must learn to live our baptismal promises better and be more willing to die to ourselves in a daily basis to share in his rising, and to share eventually in our eternal room.  That is what Saint Peter tells us in the second reading.  The Lord is forming us as living stones into a spiritual temple.  Rejected by the builders, Jesus Christ has become the cornerstone.  As he forms us into this temple, we become more connected with one another when we live our Baptismal promises.  In living our baptismal promises, we are connected with one another by giving ourselves to a bigger cause.

            When Pope Francis addressed the United States Congress in 2015, he gave examples of four Americans who gave themselves for a bigger cause.  He pointed to “Three sons and a daughter of this land, four individuals and four dreams: “Lincoln, liberty; Martin Luther King, liberty in plurality and non-exclusion; Dorothy Day, social justice and the rights of persons; and Thomas Merton, the capacity for dialogue and openness to God.”  These Americans, the Pope said, surrendered themselves to the Lord and allowed him to form them into something greater.

            The Apostles at the Last Supper soon discovered the horror of one of their own betraying Jesus, of his arrest and unjust trial, and of his horrific execution on the cross.  We face our own suffering and dying when we choose to follow him, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  In choosing to follow him, we face our own divisions today.  Saint Luke tells us in the Acts of the Apostles that the Greek disciples complained that the Hebrew disciples were being favored.  So the Apostles solved the problem by laying hands on the first deacons, all Greek speaking people.  Through their ministry, they helped them connect themselves better through sacrificial love.  Like them, we are not alone in facing challenges and divisions in our Church today.  Like them, we need to trust that today’s successors of the Apostles, our Bishops in union with Pope Francis, can guide us in connecting ourselves with each other better.  Formed into a spiritual temple, we can count on that “room” reserved for us in the Father’s house.