THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

26 JUNE 2016

          When Saint Paul brought the Gospel to the people of Galatia, he proclaimed a radical freedom resulting from faith in Jesus Christ.  However, his enemies accused him of giving baptized people the freedom to do whatever they want.  Paul responds to that accusation in today’s second reading.  He admits that the Law of Moses has much to offer.  But, that Law cannot save.  Only Jesus Christ can save.  Disciples of Jesus Christ are freed from the demands of the Law to live a much higher and more demanding law:  to love your neighbor as yourself.  Christ gave his entire gift of self for each individual person.  Loving others means that we give our neighbors that same gift.

            Saint Paul knows that living this freedom is challenging and counter cultural.  To make his point, he makes a distinction between flesh and spirit.  When he uses the term “flesh,” he refers to whatever we can perceive with our senses.  The flesh can draw us away from God.  If we work at freeing ourselves from the flesh, freed from whatever can enslave us, we can be truly free to be guided by the Spirit to follow Christ.

            Jesus offers us this freedom in today’s Gospel.  Leaving both his native Galilee and the false expectations of what a Messiah should do, Jesus sets his face resolutely to journey to Jerusalem.  It will be in Jerusalem that he will suffer, die, and be raised from the dead.  On his way, the people of a Samaritan village reject him, because Jews and Samaritans hate each.  James and John want to call down fire from heaven, as Elijah had called down fire from heaven centuries before to win the victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.  But Jesus is very different from Elijah.  In rejecting their demand, he teaches them the same lesson he teaches us.  Do not bring hatred and vindication on those who disagree with you.  Do not despise others when they are different from us.  Use the freedom of being a disciple and move on.

            Jesus is honest with the next three people who want to follow him.  He cannot promise any sort of comfort or security to the first person.  The same is true of us when we choose to follow Christ.  He rejects the excuse of the second potential follower.  Jesus is not opposed to doing the corporal work of mercy of burying the dead.  But he will not tolerate delays in making a decision to follow him.  This potential disciple wants to wait until his father has died before making the decision to follow Christ.  He tells the third person to abandon the security of his family, much as Elisha had done, and keep his hand to the plow.

            These qualities, Jesus tells us, will make us fit for the Kingdom of God.  If we are fit for the Kingdom of God, we will be fit for the New and Eternal Jerusalem awaiting us at the end of time.  But that Kingdom is here and now, because it was established by Christ outside the walls of the ancient city of Jerusalem.  We are fit for the Kingdom when we know the freedom of being authentic followers of Jesus Christ.  Authentic followers are freed from the need to get revenge on those who disagree, because we trust in God’s judgment.  Authentic followers do not depend on comfort or security.  Authentic followers do not make excuses or delays in embracing the crosses that come from discipleship.  Authentic disciples do not look back and pine for the safety of the “good old days.”  We keep our eyes fixed firmly in hope to the future, trusting that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the light.

            We often define freedom as the ability to do whatever we want.  Jesus (and with him Saint Paul) defines freedom very differently.  When we yoke ourselves to the Gospel and the demands of discipleship, we will be truly and completely free:  free to love others as God has loved us, free to be fit for the Kingdom of God.

TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

19 JUNE 2016

          In Saint Luke’s Gospel, Jesus always spends time in prayer before an important event.  Emerging from prayer today, Jesus reveals his identity.  First he asks his disciples the opinions of others.  He asks, not because he is curious, but because he wants his disciples to be aware of the common expectations of those awaiting the Messianic Era:  that he is John the Baptist or Elijah back from the dead, or one of the ancient prophets.  When he asks directly who do they say that he is, Peter gives the correct answer:  “the Christ of God.”  Even though he correctly identifies Jesus’ true identity, Jesus rebukes them and directs them not to tell this to anyone.

            Jesus has a good reason for giving this directive.  Having established his identity, he now talks about his mission as the Christ.  His mission is to give himself totally out of love, a mission that even his disciples will not understand until after the resurrection.  His mission will include suffering, rejection, and a humiliating and painful death on the Romans’ favorite means of execution.  His mission will have nothing to do with dominance or power or prestige.  His mission goes against the grain of the cultural norms of his time.  His mission is all about service, self-sacrifice, and a love that wills the good of the other as the other (Saint Thomas Aquinas).

            Then Jesus tells his disciples that following him will involve sharing in this same mission.  Maybe they will not suffer the horrors of a Roman execution – the dreaded cross.  But they will share in a daily dying to self if they follow him.  They must go against the grain of cultural expectations about what it means to love.  That is what Saint Paul talks about when he writes to the Galatians.  He reminds them that they obtained their truest identity in Christ when they were baptized.  It does not matter whether they are Jew or Greek, slave or free person, male or female.  They are one in sharing the identity of Christ.  They are one in sharing his mission of dying to self out of love for others.

            Saint Paul gives the same message to us.  We are united with one another through Baptism.  We emerged from the waters of Baptism clothed in Christ.  It does not make any difference whether we are men or women, young or old.  It does not matter what our skin color is or what our national origin may be.  Neither does it matter whether we are single or married, or what our vocation or occupation might be.  We share in the mission of Jesus Christ: to love as Christ has loved us, to will what is best for the other as the other.

            Loving as Christ loves us goes against the grain of our cultural norms and our fallen human nature.  We are always fighting temptations to take care of “number one” and put our own needs and interests at the center of everything.  Many temptations stand in the way of sharing in the mission of loving as Christ has loved us.  We are quick to judge and even quicker to gossip about coworkers or fellow students.  We are tempted to believe that possessions can fill the voids of our lives.  It is so easy to ignore those things that last and pursue those things that satisfy us and are gone too quickly.

            On Father’s Day, the Lord might be speaking directly to us who are fathers.  He commends us for the sacrifices that we already make for our families and encourages us to continue loving our families as Christ has loved us.  The Prophet Zephaniah talks about the Lord pouring out on us a spirit of grace and petition.  He invites us to admit the mistakes we have made as a way of accepting God’s mercy to change whatever needs to be changed to make us loving Fathers.  In a spirit of humility, we can gently do the same with the members of our families whom we love so much, inviting them to turn more firmly toward the Lord and his mission of loving others as he has loved us.

TENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

5 MAY 2016

          Widows in the Ancient Near East did not have it easy.  In a man’s world, they survived through their connections with their husbands.  There was no safety net.  When the husband died, they found themselves at the bottom of society.  In the case of the two widows in today’s Scripture readings, the deaths of their only sons amounted to a death sentence for them.  In the case of both widows, God intervened to save them.

            Elijah had been staying with the widow of Zarephath during the drought caused by Israel’s infidelity.  She sees her son’s death as a punishment for her lack of faith in the God of Israel.  Elijah cries out in fear and stretches himself over the dead body of her son three times, begging God to bring the boy back to life.  When God responds to his cries, Elijah is affirmed in his role as God’s prophet, and the widow affirms her faith in his God.

            Nine centuries later, as he approaches the city of Nain, Jesus encounters another widow bringing her only son for burial.  Jesus looks with pity at the woman weeping and touches the dead body.  Jesus ignores the prohibition in Law of Moses against coming in contact with a dead body and expresses his deep compassion by touching the body.  Unlike Elijah who had begged God to hear him, Jesus speaks the words, “Young man, I tell you, arise!”  He gives the young man back to his mother, causing those who witness this even to glorify God.

            But Jesus’ action also causes fear to seize the crowd in the funeral procession.  Knowing the difference between Elijah invoking God and Jesus speaking the words on his own authority, they sense that a new day has dawned.  The long promised Messianic Age has arrived in the person of Jesus Christ.  As the Gospel will continue to unfold, they will come to understand Jesus as the Suffering Servant and experience his passion and death.  This miracle points to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, of his power to transform defeat into victory, sin into forgiveness and mercy, and death into life.  The Lord’s resurrection is at the heart of all of our efforts to evangelize, to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.

            Yesterday, we witnessed an incredible event in the history of our parish.  Bishop Rhoades ordained two of our own sons, David Violi and Craig Borchard, to the priesthood.  Those of us who know them well are familiar with the stories of their growth in faith.  Having graduated from Purdue (David) and Notre Dame (Craig), both came to understand Saint Paul’s words to the Galatians.  Like Paul, they are convinced that God had called them to serve in the ministerial priesthood from their mother’s wombs.  They may not have had such a sordid history as Paul did in his persecution of the Church.  But, each has pursued his own path to answer God’s call.  Like Paul, they have spent much time in prayer and reflection.  Like Paul, they conferred with the successors of Saint Peter and the formation teams at the seminary.

            As ordained priests, they now begin their service to the Church.  At the heart of that ministry will be their consistent proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  They will proclaim that mystery every time they celebrate the Eucharist and administer the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  They will comfort people who are suffering when they give the Sacrament of the Sick.  They will provide consolation and hope in celebrating funeral liturgies.  They will not have to cry out in fear like Elijah.  They will perform their priestly ministries in the person of Jesus Christ, the risen Lord.  We have watched them grow in faith as members of our parish, and we are extremely proud of them and confident that they will be effective priests as they dedicate their lives to proclaim the Good News of Salvation in the ways they serve the people of our Diocese for the rest of their lives.          

THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

29 MAY 2016

          “In those days, Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine.”  We may not be Melchizedek.  But, we are the people of Jesus Christ, conformed to him as kings, priests, and prophets through Baptism.  And, we are about to do the same thing shortly (depending on how long I drag out this homily!).  At the Preparation of the Altar and Gifts, we will bring forward gifts of bread and wine, along with our sacrificial tithe (and on the first Sunday of the month, gifts of food for the poor).  Then we ask God the Father to accept our sacrificial gifts.

            Why did God choose these gifts to be an acceptable offering?  They are simple, consumable, and say something about us. The bread is composed of wheat and water.  The wine is made of grapes from the vine.  Wheat, grapes, and water are gifts to us from the earth and ultimately are gifts from God.  Through human effort, they take their present form.  When the priest pours a little water into the wine, he prays silently:  “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.”  Through the Eucharist, the Lord draws us into his divinity, despite our flaws and failures to love.

Melchizedek had offered his gifts of bread and wine to express his gratitude for the victory God had given to Abram.  In gratitude for all God’s gifts to us, we offer our gifts of bread and wine.  Following the earliest tradition of the Last Supper which Saint Paul handed on to the Corinthians, we do what Jesus did in the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.  We take gifts of bread and wine.  The priest prays the blessing prayer (the Eucharistic Prayer), trusting that the Holy Spirit will transform these gifts of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.  We break the consecrated Bread at the singing of the Lamb of God.  And we give the Body and Blood of Christ when you come forward singing the Lord’s praises.           

We celebrate the Eucharist every Sunday (every day for some), because we are a grateful people.  Today’s Solemnity invites us to reflect on the Eucharist, which is the source and summit of all of our prayer.  The Eucharist calls us to conversion and repentance.  At the beginning of each Mass, we are invited to call to mind our sins.  We honestly admit that we have failed to love as God has loved us, and we open ourselves to the Lord’s invitation to turn more completely to the Lord and change what needs to be changed.  The Eucharist evangelizes us.  Through the Word, the Lord teaches us and invites us to connect his Word with the many words we hear throughout the week.  The Eucharist is reconciling.  Through his perfect Sacrifice, Jesus Christ has reconciled us with the Father.  In our liturgical remembering, that reconciling action is made present in a way that we can speak of Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist.  The Eucharist is about mission.  We are sent out to love and serve the Lord and each other.

            When the priest prays the Eucharistic Prayer (the blessing prayer) in the name of the assembled congregation, he invokes the Holy Spirit twice.  Before he prays the words of institution, he asks the Holy Spirit to transform our gifts of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.  After we have proclaimed the Mystery of Faith, he prays that the Holy Spirit transform us who receive the Lord’s Body and Blood more fully into our true identity:  members of the Body of Christ.  As members of his Body, we do what we can to make the Kingdom of God more visible.  Our efforts may be feeble and weak, and it seems that we cannot accomplish much.  That is the reaction of the Twelve in today’s Gospel.  But we learn the same lesson which they learned.  Our feeble efforts can be used by God’s incredibly abundant love to accomplish much more than we can imagine.

THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

22 MAY 2016

          For ninety days, we had been reflecting on the mystery of our Salvation.  We spent forty days in Lent focusing on the work of Jesus Christ, sent by the Father to become the Suffering Servant, embracing his passion and death out of love for us.  We spent fifty days in the Easter Season celebrating his triumph over death, his ascension, and finally his sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  Back in Ordinary Time, we focus our attention today on the Mystery of one God and three distinct persons.  Our Scripture readings assigned to this Feast provide the foundation for the Doctrine of the Trinity.  But it took the Church four centuries to describe this Mystery in words.  We pray this Creed, written at the Council of Nicaea in 325, at every Mass.

            There is always the temptation to presume that discussing the Trinity is reserved for academics and scholars.  Of course, we will never understand how God can be both one and three.  But we express this Mystery when we pray to the Father and through the Son and in the Holy Spirit.  Because of the Paschal Mystery, every one of us is being drawn into eternal life with the Trinity.  Baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we are sent to show forth God’s unity on this earth.

            Our parish is composed of many different people with many different gifts and talents.  But we are one Body in Christ.  If we are willing to invest our individual personalities and put our many different gifts in humble service of the parish, the Triune God will be much more visible in our local community.  Knowing the peace that comes from our faith in Jesus Christ, we can provide real hope to those who come to us in need.

            You would expect FB2 and me to speak about the importance of giving yourself in some kind of humble service to the parish.  But, please listen to Melissa Pac, who has responded to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and has gotten involved in the life of this parish.

My name is Melissa Pac.

I would like to share with you today the importance of growing and nurturing my personal relationship with God through service of my community here at St Pius. In 1 Corinthians 4:1it says:“Let them regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.”

My husband, Brian and I have been members here at St Pius X for almost 3 years. We have 5 children ranging in ages from 4-11 who all attend St Pius X School. We were relocated here from Georgia in the fall of 2013. If you remember, that was the year it started snowing in November and thanks to the winter vortex it never melted and continued piling up through April. The kids and I had never seen that much snow! To help you understand how foreign this winter life was to me I remember asking Brian the first time I saw a snow mobile “What the heck happened to that jet ski?” I had never seen one.  We had gone from running through sprinklers on Thanksgiving one year to digging out of a foot of snow the next! This move was a rough adjustment for me. The cold, snow and grey skies had gotten to me. I felt lost and lonely. I remember calling my parents and saying “What have we done?” “I’m so unhappy here.” To which my father replied, “So what have you done about your unhappiness?”

Throughout my life, my dad was known for having a way of stopping you in your tracks with his questions and one-liners. He would often say to us, “kids remember”…“JOY! JOY! JOY!

J for Jesus, O for Others, Y for You.”Jesus, Others, You, its a motto and a way to approach life.  My dad was teaching us (even when we didn’t realize it) to always work to build Christian Community and to do so with a servant’s heart.

I had lost sight of what is important. I decided my dad was right. I needed to look outside myself for ways to reconnect with God and grow my own happiness. The first step, I opened the bulletin and signed up for the next Christ Renews His Parish retreat.My efforts were rewarded greatly. I met some truly wonderful and faith-filled women. I renewed my own faith and found courage to reach out and get involved in school and parish life. I began again to build a Christian Community here in our new home through service.  In addition to my involvement with Christ Renews, I am a classroom volunteer at the school, and I serve on HASA board. I volunteer through the parish with the Vacation Bible School and most recently was privileged to serve as a RCIA sponsor. A sacrifice and service that I had no idea would be so rewarding. I was nervous and concerned after making the commitment to this new challenge. “I’m still growing in my faith and have many questions myself, how can I sponsor and support someone in their journey to becoming Catholic?” Not only that but how I could fulfill such a lengthy commitment with 5 kids, all their many sports and activities, and husband who works out of town. It is thanks in part to my husband for helping to make this sacrifice of time beyond worth it. Being Nancy’s sponsor was the most amazing experience and my service in that role only strengthenedmy own faith.How did we do it? Proverbs 3:5-6   “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.”

The Lord is so gracious to me. I look forward to continuing on this journey and trusting that God will provide as long as I am willing to do something, to put in the work. Building Christian Community to me, means having a servant’s heart and sharing in communion with others. It is in this that we are rewarded. I pray that I continue in my life to remain focused on the Lord and to teach my children the way I was taught not so very long ago. Put your life in this order…Jesus, Others, You…JOY JOY JOY! I invite you to stop by the gym after Mass and learn of the many opportunities our wonderful parish offers for us to give back. After all who of us here couldn’t use a little more J.O.Y. in our lives?

PENTECOST SUNDAY

15 MAY 2016

          Toward the end of his papacy, Pope John Paul II did something unexpected and shocking to some.  He invited Bob Dylan to perform at a Eucharistic Conference in Bologna, Italy.  Many Catholics shook their heads at the thought of the Pope sharing the same stage as the “prophet of the counterculture.”  But, John Paul knew what he was doing.  He used Dylan’s song, “Blowing in the Wind,” as a common reference point to speak about the Holy Spirit.  The Pope said:  “A representative of yours just said on your behalf that the answer is ‘blowing in the wind.’  It is true!  But not in the wind which blows everything away in empty whirls, but the wind which is the breath and voice of the Spirit, a voice that calls and says: ‘come!’”

            Saint Luke describes the blowing of that wind in the Acts of the Apostles.  Reminiscent of the wind blowing over the chaos of creation in Genesis and the wind blowing around Mount Sinai when God entered into a covenant relationship with the people he had led out of slavery in Egypt, the Holy Spirit blows into that room where the disciples are gathered as a strong driving wind and tongues as of fire.  Then what had happened at the tower of Babel is reversed.  Instead being divided by different languages, everyone hears the disciples speak in their own language.  Emboldened by the presence of the Holy Spirit, those who are convinced of the Paschal Mystery of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ proclaim the truth boldly and clearly. 

            That same Holy Spirit is given to us, who have spent forty days reflecting on the passion and death of the Lord and another fifty days basking in his resurrection and ascension.  We often associate the coming of the Holy Spirit into our lives as a gentle breeze, soothing our anxieties.  And sometimes the Holy Spirit does comfort us in our afflictions.  But the image of the strong driving wind reminds us that the Holy Spirit sometimes afflicts us in our comfort.  Fifteen years ago, I was going about in my comfortable and happy role as pastor of Saint Jude in Fort Wayne.  I was just entering into my fourteenth year when Bishop D’Arcy’s secretary called and set up an appointment for me to “chat” with him.  In that little “chat,” he told me that he was assigning me to become the first diocesan priest to be pastor of this rapidly growing parish in Granger.

            What does a normal person do when his world is turned upside down?  He goes for a bike ride!  At the time, I was working on my homily for Pentecost Sunday, trying to explain the image of the Holy Spirit as a dove.  The “chat” with the Bishop forced me to examine that image from a different perspective, because the dove wasn’t doing it for me.  I was furiously pedaling on the bike path along the Maumee River when I must have come to close to a nest of Canadian geese.  Two geese came at me like a strong driving wind, furiously nipping at my legs and my heels, forcing me to pedal as fast as possible.  This was the Holy Spirit blowing me out of my comfort zone through my promise to obey and respect the Bishop and pushing me into new territory!

            As we reflect together on the presence of the Holy Spirit comforting us in our afflictions, please look for the possibility that the Spirit may be afflicting you out of your comfort zone.  Saint Paul describes the Church as the Body of Christ, containing different gifts of the Holy Spirit given for the common good.  What is your gift?  How can you move out of your comfort zone to put it in humble service of our parish?  Maybe the Spirit is blowing in the wind of your life to take a step of faith in service to the community.  Next weekend, we will be invited to listen to a witness talk about stewardship of service and attend the ministry fair after Mass.  Saint Paul is correct.  We speak the same language of love when we work together as very different people with very different gifts to proclaim the Paschal Mystery with the example of our lives.

ASCENSION OF THE LORD

8 MAY 2016

          The Ascension of the Lord is an integral part of the Paschal Mystery.  Whether we agree with our Bishops’ decision to move this Solemnity from the fortieth day of Easter to this Sunday, their motivation is clear.  They wanted as many practicing Catholics as possible to be exposed to this Mystery by celebrating the Solemnity. 

            The readings today provide a clue to the importance of the Ascension.  Saint Luke wrote two volumes about God’s intervention into human history.  We just heard the end of his first volume – the Gospel.  His Gospel focuses on Jesus Christ establishing the Kingdom of God.  At the beginning of the Gospel, the angels announce to shepherds the good news of the Savior’s birth.  John baptizes his cousin in the River Jordan, and a voice from heaven proclaims that Jesus is God’s Beloved Son.  Through his teaching and his miracles, Jesus reveals the truth that he has ushered in God’s Kingdom.  After his death and resurrection, those who have encountered him are convinced that he is truly the Messiah, sent to establish God’s Kingdom.  At the very end of the Gospel (today’s passage), Jesus ascends into heaven.  In other words, he leaves the reality of this world as we know it to enter the eternal place where God dwells.

            We also heard from the second volume of Saint Luke in the first reading – the Acts of the Apostles.  This volume focuses on the work of the Holy Spirit in spreading the Kingdom of God through his disciples.  Luke tells us that Jesus has spent forty days after the resurrection with the disciples – a symbolic way of saying that they had sufficient time to reflect on the resurrection.  This experience has convinced them that he will restore the kingdom to Israel.  But he tells them to trust the Father’s plan, because his Kingdom is not about overthrowing the Romans.  His Kingdom is about God dwelling now on earth.  He tells them to remain in Jerusalem, where they are in greater danger from the authorities and to wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  As John had baptized him for his mission of establishing God’s Kingdom, they will be baptized by the Holy Spirit to spread that Kingdom.  Then, as he is taken up to where he had emptied himself in the Incarnation, those angels (the two men dressed in white garments whom they had encountered at the empty tomb) tell them to stop looking up at the sky and get to work. 

            Because of the Mystery of the Ascension, the physical body of the risen Lord is no longer present to his disciples.  But he is not absent from them.  He directs their mission from the eternal dwelling place by giving them the Holy Spirit.  But the Mystery of the Ascension is not confined to them. The Holy Spirit is also given to us.  Just as they were sent to proclaim God’s Kingdom, so also are we.  As we wait for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, we can also withdraw a bit and reflect on the ways in which we have the risen Lord in these last forty days.  To use the beautiful image of Saint Paul, these days have enlightened the eyes of our hearts to recognize more clearly the risen Lord’s presence in the Sacramental life of the Church, in our families, our schools, our communities, and our places of work.

            Our task is the same as the first Apostles.  We are sent to allow the risen Christ to dwell with us and live the Paschal Mystery, to die to ourselves and trust that dying in Christ will lead to rising with Christ.  Like them, we are tempted to escape to our own versions of Galilee, where life might be easier and safer.  But, with the presence of the Holy Spirit, we remain here.  That is why it is fitting to honor our mothers on the Ascension.  Mothers remain with their families and with their daily tasks to give us a glimpse of the Kingdom of God – God dwelling in our midst now.   Mothers know that they cannot do this on their own.  They depend on the grace of the Holy Spirit, showing the rest of us the way to continue the mission of the risen Christ.