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.