Homily for May 14, 2015 - Feast of the Ascension

Readings:  http://usccb.org/bible/readings/051415.cfm

            Surely you’ve read a book, a really good book, or watched a really good movie, and came to the end of the book or movie and had the feeling that you just didn’t want it to end, but sure enough you came to the words “the end” or the movie credits started rolling.  I know I have.  I recall some movies saying to myself, wow – I really want to watch that movie again right now.

            And then weeks or months or even years later you might learn that there will be a sequel, and you find yourself excited and filled with anticipation, wondering how the plot will continue? will there be the same characters and actors? will it be as good?

            I’m thinking the end of a movie might be a good metaphor for the feast we celebrate today – the Feast of the Ascension of Our Blessed Lord – for today marks “the end” – the end of the earthly life of Christ, whence He returned in glory to the Father to take up His seat at the Father’s right hand.  You can almost envision the credits start rolling just as He ascends into the clouds.

            And His disciples might have said to themselves, again using the movie metaphor – “wow that was a really good movie.  Not exactly sure what it all meant, though.  Have to think about it a little.  But I sure do hope there’s a sequel.  He pretty much said there will be.”

            Now we know that they figured out what it all meant, ten days later when they were each filled with the power of the Holy Spirit on the feast of Pentecost, and that feast, of course, marked the beginning of the sequel.   And the sequel, of course, is still being filmed, right to this day.

            Now the star of that first movie was definitely Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ, with strong supporting performances by His Blessed Mother, Mary, John the Baptist, and the Apostles, but for whatever reason, the casting department found a whole new cast of characters for the sequel - and that cast would be you and me and the whole Church.   

            Yes, sisters and brothers, we the Church have been given the awesome responsibility of carrying on the mission He came to establish.  To carry the “good news” of salvation in Christ Jesus by the forgiveness of sins - to the ends of the earth. 

            Now to be sure, we’re not left alone for this sequel is directed and produced by the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whose coming we await, who gives us great power and strength and works through us.  But make no mistake – our mission is an awesome responsibility, for the very salvation of the world, or at least our little corner of it, won by His death and glorious resurrection, has been placed in your hands and mine. 

            So this sequel, while a much longer one in length, is no less important, and will end with an equally good, equally powerful ending – when Jesus comes again to judge the living and the dead. 

            Until then, filled with the Holy Spirit and nourished by His Body and Blood, let us accept and take on this awesome responsibility to “go into the whole world” to make disciples. 

            Quiet please.  Lights. Camera. Action.

Preached May 10, 2015 - St. Cecilia

Sunday's readings:  http://usccb.org/bible/readings/051015.cfm

            Some of us like to count things.  As an accountant by trade, people often call me a “bean counter!”  And I remember when our kids were small watching Sesame Street with them and there was “The Count”, counting everything – one cookie, two cookies, three cookies. 

            So – while reading and meditating on today’s readings, the bean-counter in me decided to count the number of times the word “love” appears in them.   Anyone care to guess how many times I counted?  <Beloved love love loves love love love loved loved loves and 8 more love>.  Nineteen times we heard the word love (21 if you count the Alleluia verse!).

            So it seems to me that in putting these readings together, Holy Mother Church really wants us to get “love” into our heads and hearts today, huh?  And why is that?  I suppose it’s because, as Jesus makes quite clear in this Gospel, it’s all about love.  Jesus and His Father – all about love.  Jesus and us, His followers – all about love.  And we – in our marriages, our families, our communities, our nation, indeed of humankind – yes, all about love.

            Our Lord is speaking in this Gospel of a “chain of love” of sorts – a waterfall of love even - as the Father loves me, so I also love you, and I command you to love one another as I have loved you.”

            Problem is, the word “love” is used for so many feelings and actions and proclivities in this world, in this culture.  “Love” can be quite confusing.  So if the entire meaning of our lives is about love, and if we believe Jesus, it is, well we would be remiss if we didn’t try to understand exactly what Our Blessed Lord means by the word “love” which He commands of you and me.

            Dictionary.com defines the verb “love” in the following ways:  To have a strong liking for.  To have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for.  To need or require or benefit greatly from.  And in a sexual context, to ‘make love.’

            All of these are true, but none of them comes close to the love of which Our Lord speaks, of which Our Lord commands us.

            Fortunately, He tells us, right here in this Gospel, what He means.  Love one another as I have loved you.  And He shows us by His actions – first just before this passage at the Last Supper when He bent down and washed His disciples’ feet, and the very next day when He climbed Golgotha and was crucified and died for us.

            You see, while each of the dictionary.com definitions are more or less focused inwardly, on what I’m feeling, or even on what I’m getting out of it, the love of which Jesus speaks is a completely self-giving, self-emptying love.  Self-less love.  There is “no greater love,” our Lord teaches us, “than laying down one’s own life for one’s friends.”

            It is loving regardless of what the other has done or hasn’t done or will do – these disciples were, after all, almost to a man about to desert Him or even betray Him. 

It’s regardless of whether one “feels” loving.

Regardless of whether the other “deserves” to be loved. 

Regardless of whether the other will love in return.

It’s always desiring and bringing about the good, the best, for the other.

            To see this sort of love in action, we have, above all, His example.  But we are also blessed to have the example of 2000 years of saints, each of whom in their own way made unconditional love of God and neighbor the center of their lives. 

            And on this day, we thank God for the example of mothers who show us in very real ways what this self-less, self-giving, unconditional love looks like.  Of what heroic love looks like.

            One mother, Princess Alice of Great Britain, lived in the 19^th century, the second daughter of Queen Victoria.  A mother herself to seven children. Now as happened so frequently in those days, an epidemic of diphtheria, a very contagious disease, swept the royal palace and her daughter Marie soon died from it.  She tried to keep the terrible news from her other sick children, but one of her sons found out and despite doctors’ warnings not to touch or go near those with the disease, Princess Alice couldn’t help herself when she saw her son’s grief.  She ran to him and smothered him with hugs and kisses.  And within a couple weeks died from the disease herself.

            Another more recent example is that of Saint Gianna Molla.  Born in 1923, an Italian woman, a medical doctor, wife and mother, she enjoyed skiing, playing piano and attending concerts in Milan.  Diagnosed with uterine tumors during the second month of her fourth pregnancy, Gianna refused the hysterectomy that would have removed the tumors but which would surely have also resulted in the death of her unborn child.  Instead, with great faith and trust in God’s providence, she opted for a riskier surgery in an attempt to save her baby, and did successfully give birth, but Gianna soon succumbed herself to an infection relating to that surgery.  Her baby is still living to this day.

            Now no mother, other than Our Lord’s, is perfect, and not every mother would give their lives for their children. Heck, some here might not have had a great relationship with their mother. 

            But I think most would agree that by their lives, our mothers are an excellent example of what unconditional love looks like.  Of what selflessness, self-sacrifice look like.  Of what Christ means when He commands us to love one another as He loved us first.

            And so we honor our mothers on this day (weekend) and thank God for the wondrous gift He has given to us in our mothers’ love.  And nourished here at this table and filled with His Holy Spirit, we seek to fulfill His commandment to love as He loved, and as so many of our mothers do every day.

            And in this month of May, in which we honor Our Blessed Mother, Mary, let us conclude by asking her prayers and intercession for ourselves and for all mothers:

            Hail Mary…

Daily Mass Homily - May 5, 2015 (6:30a at Christ the King)

Readings:  http://usccb.org/bible/readings/050515.cfm

           

 It was probably 15 years ago, but sometimes things remain with you even that long.  I was calling up a client of mine, I’ll call him Jay, and before getting to the reason for my call, I intended to exchange the usual pleasantries.  So after he answered the phone I’m sure I said something to the effect of “Hi Jay, it’s Ed – How are you?”  And here’s the part that stayed with me – he answered “I am peaceful.”

            Boy did that throw me for a loop – not “I am fine,” “doing well,” or even “I’ m great” – but “I am peaceful.”

            I suppose it stuck with me because, truth be told, I’m not usually very peaceful.  And I really wish I were peaceful.  Actually it seems harder and harder to be peaceful in a world that often seems like it’s heading to hell in a handbasket.  I can’t read a newspaper of news on the internet without losing my peace, without being outraged even.

            But if stop to think about it, I find half of me thinking that I really am supposed to be peaceful, at peace, filled with joy even, and that any sign that I’m not at peace should be a warning to me that something deep inside me isn’t quite right.  That something inside me needs healing, or straightening out, redeeming.

            And I find half of me wondering if my lack of peace isn’t because things aren’t the way they’re supposed to be, and it’s my calling to do what I can to set things straight, filled with holy anger even, like the prophet Isaiah said “For Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet until her vindication shines forth like the dawn.”

            This was the conflict inside me as I prepared to preach this morning – am I really supposed to be at peace?  And the conclusion I reached is the same message Our Lord makes clear in this Gospel  - that the peace we seek is never going to come from this world, that it’s only His peace He leaves to His disciples, and that He calls down upon His disciples.  A profound peace that endures all of life’s tribulations, disappointments, tragedies, grief – a peace that allows us, His disciples, to persevere in faith amid all of life’s hardships, as we read in the first reading from Acts.  A peace secure in the belief that this world is not our ultimate home.

            But - what of my righteous anger, my lack of peace at the brokenness and disorder all around us?  The answer to that, I would propose, is that while we will never find our peace from this world, it’s our mission to bring His peace into this world.  In every situation, in every troubled heart, in every fear and conflict and act of violence, this world thirsts for that peace that only He can give.  And we – you and I, the Church – filled with His strength and peace ourselves – are called to be the instruments of that peace.