Homily for tomorrow, Feb. 28, St. Kateri at Christ the King

Mass readings:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/022814.cfm

Mark 10:1-12  

            For anyone who grew up around the time I did or earlier, you will recall that divorce was a pretty rare thing.  Not unheard of, but socially stigmatized and something that just wasn’t done.  Now contrast that with today’s culture, in which nearly half of all marriages end in divorce, and where divorce is pretty much an accepted thing.  I don’t read the tabloids except in the supermarket line, but it seems to me that every tabloid cover shouts about this or that celebrity marriage breaking up.

            In today’s reading of St. Mark’s Gospel, we are presented with Jesus’ clear and rather blunt teaching on marriage and divorce.  And while we perhaps don’t realize it today, Our Lord’s teaching was fairly radical in his time – counter-cultural even.  A man’s right to divorce his wife, who was more or less treated as his property in those times, was a pretty-much accepted thing, and the Pharisees could point to chapter 24 of Deuteronomy to justify that practice.  And while elsewhere Jesus claimed not to overturn the law but to fulfill it, in the area of marriage and divorce, He clearly is overturning the teaching of Deuteronomy, and pointing His listeners back to the way God created us and what God wills for us.

            Sadly, in our day Our Lord’s teachings on marriage and divorce are becoming more and more, rather than less and less, counter-cultural.  Easy divorce has been with us for most of forty years.  And while Jesus clearly refers to the complimentarity of the sexes – “male and female He created them” – we’re now seeing our culture and even some faiths completely change the very definition of marriage.  Facebook, I was reading the other day, now defines 56 different genders in which members can identify themselves.  Fuddy duddy that I am, I thought there were two!

            So here’s the thing – it is now more important than ever that we who are sacramentally married BE a sign to the world around us of what marriage is intended by God to be.  A sign to our children, our neighbors, our Church community, everyone.  And what is that that God intends us to be – a “one-flesh union” – both literally and physically, but above all that our union, our unity, come before all else in our lives.  That others look at our marriages and say “I want that.”  That others look at our marriages and say “wow – real, lasting, self-giving love is really possible.”

            Because what God ultimately intends us married folks to be is a symbol to the world of Christ’s self-giving, self-sacrificing love for His bride, the Church.  A sign of His persevering love for His bride, but also a sign of the joy of Christ’s love for the Church and the Church’s joy in being so loved.  That by our lives together and our sacramental love for each other, the world may come to know the love of Christ – a love which never ends.

Homily preached Sat/Sun, Feb 22/23 - St. Kateri at St. Cecilia

Readings:   http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/022314.cfm

Some gospels, are soothing and comforting.  And some are uplifting and inspiring.  And some are challenging, perhaps troubling, maybe even upsetting.  Today’s Gospel, which continues Jesus teachings in His sermon on the Mount, falls into this last category, for me at least.

“Offer no resistance to one who is evil”

“Turn the other [cheek] as well”

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”

            Challenging teachings.  Things that don’t come naturally to us.  Teachings He really means for us to put into practice.

            I thought and prayed about these words of Our Lord a lot over the last week or two, and with 20 minutes to a half hour commute each morning and evening, a lot of my thinking and praying occurs on the road.  On the expressway.  In traffic.   And yesterday, just as I was entering the on-ramp onto 590 and Winton, a black Nissan Altima (or more specifically, its driver!), sped up and cut right in front of me and I was filled with rage.  “Hey! Who do you think you are?” I shouted.  “Do you think your time is more valuable than mine?”  So I sped up and got on his bumper and followed him as he cut across three lanes of traffic.

            And this Gospel came back to me.  “Love your enemies.  Pray for those who persecute you.  “And I said to the Lord “Lord that’s easy for you to say, they didn’t have cars and traffic and idiot drivers when you walked the earth!”

            You know, it occurs to me that defensive driving means thinking of every one of those other cars in traffic as a potential enemy.  Hundreds of more or less anonymous people threatening me at all times.  But I also realize how often I can get upset or even filled with rage over their driving.  Wanting revenge!

            And I didn’t think I hold any grudges either – you’ll remember in the same vein as the Gospel, our first reading from Leviticus cautions us to “take no revenge and cherish no grudge.”  No grudges here, I thought, until not too long ago I heard a person died – this person had been my daughter’s boss awhile back – a person who had said some very disturbing and deeply hurtful things to her, such that finally she up and quit that job.  When I heard this person died I realized all of a sudden how deeply I was harboring my own grudge against him.  You can mess with me all you want, but you better not mess with my wife or my kids – I guess is my attitude.

            You see, whenever you and I feel harmed, whether it’s being cut off on the expressway, or when a loved one is emotionally scarred by someone, our pride kicks in.  Nobody is going to do that to me and my loved ones.  And our natural reaction, it seems to me, is to want to harm them in return.  Or if that’s not possible, to withdraw and let our anger simmer for awhile.  For a few days perhaps, or even a year, or even thirty.  I’ve seen thirty-plus-year grudges in my own family, grudges that have even been passed down to the next generation.

            And this attitude of a grudge, as well as the attitude of wanting revenge – these can be quite large.  We see the same attitudes play out in the world – Palestinians attack Israel so Israel retaliates against Palestinians who get revenge by another attack against Israel.  A spiral out of control.  In our nation we have the ultimate revenge – the death penalty – to punish those who’ve been convicted of horrible crimes.  The movie Dead Man Walking did a great job of putting the viewer in the shoes of the criminal and his family, as well as the victims’ families, who were hoping for some measure of peace by an eye for an eye, a life for a life.  I’m not so bold as to say exactly how I would feel if it were my wife or one of my daughters so savagely killed.  But I do know what Our Lord calls us to as Christians.

            We are called to look on every other person, the good and the bad, with the eyes with which God sees them.  Our God, who makes the rain fall on the just and the unjust, loves each of us, wants the best for each of us.  And if wanting revenge and holding grudges is our natural reaction to events in our lives, Our Blessed Lord is calling us to more.  Our Lord is calling us to a super-natural reaction, to shed our pride and instead, exhibit an attitude of kindness and gentleness and yes, even love.  It’s the only way to break the cycle of violence in far off middle east, and it’s the only way to restore the strained relationships in our families as well.

            Back in 2006, near Lancaster, PA, a deranged truck driver broke into an Amish schoolhouse and shot ten young girls, killing five, before taking his own life.   We hear of similar stories far too often.  The unusual part of that incident was the reaction of that Amish community, who came together and reached out to the dead man’s family, offering forgiveness to him and help to them.  “We must not think evil of this man or his family,” their community’s leader said.  In the midst of a horrible tragedy, in the midst of horrible darkness, they brought light.

            My sisters and brother, you and I are called to bring that same light to the darkness around us. Light to our families, to our community, to our nation, to our world.  By Christ’s grace and nourished at this altar, may we go forth from this place to be Christ’s healing presence in our world.  And we ask this in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Preached Sunday, January 26 - St. Kateri at Christ the King all masses

mass readings - http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/012614.cfm

            Most of us adults have had the experience at one time or another, in fact probably many times over, of looking for a job.  In my case the Company I work for is going through a merger so my job will most likely be eliminated sometime this spring, so I’ve been busily updating my resume, checking job listings, networking and making phone calls and applying for jobs.  If you’ve gone through that, too, and you probably have, you know how difficult and even discouraging the whole process can be – how selective or even picky employers are, and how many folks seem to be competing for the same job.

            And I’ve been on the other side of the desk, too, trying to hire a worker for a new position – to find just the right person, with just the right education and experience, who I think will do an outstanding job.

            All of this was in the back of my mind as I read today’s Gospel, the story of Jesus selecting, hiring if you will, His first followers, His first disciples.  And He seems almost casual about it – Here He is, walking along the Sea of Galilee and comes upon two fishermen, Andrew and Peter.  Calls out to them – “Come after me, I will make you fishers of men!”  No resume.  No interview.  No background search.  Come after me, I will make you fishers of men.

            Same thing a bit further down the seashore – calls to James and John, mending the nets with their father.  Calls to them, too.

            And amazingly, each dropped what they were doing and followed after Him!

            This is how Our Lord went about selecting His first disciples – and think about it - it’s not like this was just any job he was hiring for – no.  He was selecting His first helpers for the most important job.  Ever.  The most important mission!  We just finished the Christmas holy-days, in which we celebrated that the Lord came to earth as a tiny baby with the most important mission of all time – the salvation of the world, of the entire human race. 

            And now Our Lord, beginning His own mission, preparing for this battle if you will, is selecting His first soldiers.  And how does He do it?  You two over there – come after me.  You two – drop your nets and leave old dad and come with me.  Pretty astounding, huh?  Four ordinary dudes, minding their own business, next thing you know they’re pressed into service in the most important job in history!  So the first lesson of this Gospel, it seems to me, is that He isn’t requiring great resumes or vast experience to follow Him.  All He asks is a humble “yes” to His call.  You see, Our Lord doesn’t call the qualified.  He qualifies the called.  Because any good done by those He calls is the fruit of Our Lord’s power working in them.

            But here’s something even more astounding – here we are 2,000 years later, and what He started that day with four fishermen now has more than one billion fishermen – fishers of men – around the globe, and that includes you and me and the hundreds you see around you in this building, right here and how.  You see, what Our Lord started that day when He called four ordinary guys to join Him, what He started was the Church!

            And what is the Church, my sisters and brothers, if not the community of people He calls out in this world to follow Him, to proclaim Him, to be the light in the darkness?  Like the people of Zebulun and Naphtali, we too live in an often dark and  depressing world, a world filled with too much selfishness and greed, violence and poverty.  A world overshadowed with what Pope John Paul II called a culture of death?  So what are we, you and me, if not the army He has raised and is raising to continue His mission of saving that world?  If not the people He has called to be a light in that darkness?

            Now the weapons of Christ’s army are not guns and tanks, fighter jets and drones.  No! Our weapons are love and compassion, self-giving service, prayer and the Sacraments.  And above all with the holiness and power of Him who dwells within us.  We fight not with angry words and fists but with our lives as peaceful witness against the allures of this world.  And with humble repentance of our sin, striving for holiness.  For the first battlefield of this epic struggle is right here – in our own hearts – as we repent and turn away from sin, turn toward Our Lord and allow Him to reform our lives.  We can’t begin to evangelize the world until we allow Him to change our hearts!

            My brothers and sisters, first at our baptism and every day of our lives, Christ continues to call out to you and me – “come after me, I will make you fishers of men.”  Not based on our qualifications, or resume or an interview but each in our own way, each with our own gifts, and each of us with the power of His Spirit within us, He continues to call workers to join His mission.  Not each of us is called to drop everything, leave our nets or our families and follow after Him, although some most assuredly are!  But He continues to call each of us to follow after Him unreservedly, wherever we are in life, and join Him in this mission to share His good news of salvation.

            All He asks of you and me is our humble “yes!”

 

* * * * * * * *

            This weekend we celebrate a very special place for training up disciples for the Lord in this most important mission, and that place is our own St. Kateri School (this morning we have with us quite a few of our school students and their families).  We recognize the wonderful work being done with our children by our school teachers, administrators and parents, as well as the sacrifice and commitment of each of our school families to provide these children with an education steeped in our Faith, in which Our Lord Jesus is the center.  Let us pray for our school and all Catholic Schools.  May God richly bless our students and all who devote their time, talents and treasure to this important part of the mission of Christ’s Church.

           

 

 

Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family December 29, 2013 - St. Kateri at (I think) St. Cecilia

            At the corner of Ridge and Stone in Greece there used to be a Howard Johnson’s Restaurant.  It’s long gone now, replaced by an auto parts store.  But the reason I remember the Howard Johnson’s is because that was my earliest memory of today’s Feast of the Holy Family.  My family wasn’t poor but we sure weren’t rich either, and the only time we would ever go out to breakfast was on today’s Feast.  Go to Mass and head over to HoJos for a restaurant breakfast to celebrate the Holy Family.  So my earliest memory of today’s feast is a joyful one.

            But I have all sorts of other memories of my growing up years as well.  While I don’t remember what they were fighting about, I can still remember some of the things - the specific things -  that my parents would say to each other in the heat of an argument.  Or would yell at the seven of us kids.  Mean things.  Stinging things.  Said fifty or so years ago but fresh in my memory as if they were this morning.  And I can remember some of the things I said and did in fights with my siblings.   Time won’t erase every one of the bad memories of growing up.

            And the sad thing is that my own wife, and my own children, are carrying memories of the hurtful things  I’ve said and done during the twenty-five years of our marriage, during the 20-something years of our kids’ lives.  Perhaps because they aren’t reluctant to remind me - regularly !

            So as a result, for most of my life, when the Feast of the Holy Family rolled around, I had a different emotion than joy.  Someplace between fear and embarrassment.  Maybe unworthiness.  You see, on this day the Church holds up THE Holy Family – Jesus, Mary and Joseph - as our model, as our example to emulate, and, well, my family, whether it’s my family of origin, or the family of which I am husband and father, my family has never quite measured up.  Call my family “holy” and these not-so-pleasant memories race into my mind, reminding me of how “unholy” we’ve been, I’ve been.  Even though the Holy Family had their struggles, their difficulties, as today’s Gospel makes clear, how can I really relate to Jesus, Mary and Joseph - THE Holy Family - when two of the three never sinned and when the child was the very Son of God?

            But, God understands this.  God understands that every family has its imperfections.  Difficulties.  Brokenness.  How could they not?  For each of us humans  is imperfect, broken, a sinner!   But imperfect as our families are, there IS holiness in each one.  Blessed Pope John Paul called the family a “School of Love” and it is – for it is the very place where we learn the meaning of self-giving love, the place where children, and adults too, learn the other virtues as well – gentleness, patience, peace, perseverance, forgiveness, obedience, hard work and service, to name a few.

            But the meaning of today’s Feast is that, unholy as we can be, each of our families is called to greater holiness.  The Greek word for “holy” is hagios, which basically translates to “separated unto God.”  We recognize that God is holy, we even say Holy, Holy Holy – we recognize that God is separate from us - God is other.  And if your family and mine heed the call to greater holiness, it means to strive to be other – different than we are now, and different than what this world and this culture say a modern family is supposed to look like.  Another word for holy is sacred.  Each of our families is called to be sacred!

            It starts with marriage – each married couple is called to strive, to work every day, to make decisions every day, with the help of the grace of the Marriage Sacrament – to love each other ever more and more in the image of Christ’s love – a totally self-giving, self-sacrificing love.  To strive to image, in the love of husband and wife, the love of Christ for His Church.

            It means that the marital sexual act BE just that – a marital act - a holy act reserved exclusively to a husband and a wife who are sharing a faithful, permanent union, an act always open to the possibility of co-creating with God new human life.

            It means making choices to build the strongest marriage possible, and to seek help when needed.  It is said that the greatest gift a husband and wife can give to their children is to love each other.

            And a holy family, a sacred family, builds strong loving ties among all its members.  Children are taught to love and obey and respect their parents, and parents learn to respect, and form, and most of all love their children.  And building a holy family means that faith is ever nurtured, through regular participation in the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation, through prayer together and prayer for each other, and by the example of Christian discipleship shown by each of the parents.

            Now I realize that some of what I’ve just said might sound to some of you like a fairy tale, distant and removed perhaps from real life which is often so messy, so difficult, so ugly even.  Perhaps someone’s thinking “Too late for my marriage, Deacon, so whaddya got for me?”  Or someone else might be thinking “I haven’t spoken to my sister in thirty years, Deacon, so thanks but no thanks.”

             So to you, I would propose this. 

            The real meaning of today’s Feast, the reason it appears during the Christmas season, is that Jesus can heal us, can heal our families.  Can heal my family, and yours.  The other day I was preparing this homily and I said a little prayer – “Lord, what do you want me to tell them this weekend?”  And immediately popped into my head was this – “tell them I can heal them.”  It’s the reason He came among us, it’s why became an infant 2000 years ago, why He was born into a human family.  To heal us.  To forgive us and restore us.

            To heal each of us individually, our habits, our addictions, our sinfulness, our brokenness.  With His infinite tenderness and love and mercy.  No matter what we’ve done, no matter the hurtful things we’ve said, He smiles at us and welcomes us with open arms, bidding us to come to Him.  Christ doesn’t know how to stop loving us!

            And He came to heal our broken relationships.  Once we’ve felt the love and mercy of Christ, we begin to extend that love and mercy to those who’ve hurt us, or to humbly beg forgiveness of those we’ve hurt.  He came to open just a crack in the walls we’ve built around ourselves to let in the light of peace and joy where there’s been only darkness.

            My sisters and brothers, you and I are called to live in a community of love and the most basic community of love is the family.  By God’s grace, by the presence of the newborn Jesus in our lives, may each of our families grow in love, and in faith, and in holiness.

Christmas Eve homily - 4pm (Children's Mass) St Kateri at St Margaret Mary

Good evening boys and girls –

Excited for Christmas?!

Anybody having a party – getting together with family to celebrate Christmas?

So let me ask you a question – WHAT is the BIG DEAL about Christmas?  Why the party?

Jesus is born – right.  It’s Jesus’ birthday party – exactly.  So when you get home, make sure everybody in your family, your moms, dads, brothers and sisters – make everybody sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.  Will you do that?

But let me ask you this – why do we celebrate Jesus’ birthday anyways?  Who is this Jesus dude?

The Son of God.  The Savior.  He is God.  All great answers.

Let me explain it a little bit – has anybody here ever been lost?   Maybe at an amusement park, or the zoo or at the mall – you got separated from your parents and were lost?

How’d that feel?  Pretty scary, huh? 

You see, everybody gets lost at times.  Even grown-ups.  My wife and I were out hiking up in the mountains a couple years ago and missed a turn in the trail and got lost after dark.  We couldn’t find our way, and even our cell phone wasn’t working – let me tell you we were REALLY SCARED.  We were hoping the park ranger would come looking for us, but nobody knew we were out there in the woods.

And sometimes it’s a different kind of lost – we lose our way, we do things we aren’t supposed to do, we do stuff that we know God doesn’t want us to.  And sometimes we feel hurt, or lonely, or abandoned.

Now God knows all of this – God is always watching us – not to catch us doing something wrong but because God loves us and cares for us and wants to help us.  You see, God didn’t just make you and me and then go tend his garden or go to his computer to play video games.  No, God cares for you every second of your life, every breath that you take. 

So God who is our Father knows when we are lost, and what do parents do when their kids are lost?

They go looking for them!  And that is what Christmas is all about.  God loves you and me so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to come looking for us, to find us, to bring us to safety.  To walk with us when we feel lonely.  To heal us when we feel hurt.  Emmanuel means “God with us” – Jesus was born this night 2000 years ago, a little tiny baby, and He lived and died and rose again and lives with us even today, right this moment!  That’s worth a party, don’t you think – that God is with us!?!

So there are three things I want you to remember from coming to Church tonight –

1.        God really loves us.  God loves me, and God loves each of you and God loves Father English and now turn around and look at everybody here – God loves every person here.  God loves us so much that He sent His Son to be with us.

2.       Jesus wants to be your friend.  He wants you to get to know Him, and to talk to Him.  To tell Him everything that’s going on in your life – share with Him that you scored a goal in the soccer game.  Or that you’re going to have a new baby sister or brother – whatever it is that brings you joy. 

 

And share with Him the bad stuff too.  Somebody’s picking on you, bullying you – let Him know that.  He will feel the pain you feel.  Maybe your parents are having an argument and you’re scared – bring that to Jesus.  Or your grandma is sick and you’re worried – let Him know that.

 

You see, the cool thing about Jesus is that He is God but He was born a baby just like you and me, and He had to grow up, He had to eat His vegetables and He got to know just what it was like to be a kid, and also to be an adult.  He knew what it was like to lose a loved one, He knew what it was like to get picked on, He even got beat up and crucified.  So He understands you and me.  He wants to be our friend.

3.       And this is the really great thing – He wants to be your friend FOREVER!  Even after you grow old and you’re 120 years old and it’s time to go to heaven – there He will be with each of us FOREVER!  He wants to take each of us by the hand and approach His Father and say, “this is my friend Mary or my friend Joe.  I’ve brought them to live with us forever!”  And there you and I will feel all the joy we feel at Christmas, only like 100X as much!  Every day.  For ever!

So – God loves us.  Jesus wants to be your friend.  Jesus wants to be your friend forever!  THAT’S the meaning of Christmas.  That’s why we’re all having a big party!

Now one more thing – if we’re going to be His friend, we have to spend time with Him.  We need to talk to Him in prayer.  We need to let Him know what’s happening in our lives all the time.  And we need to come here to Church because right here we meet Jesus in a very special way in the Eucharist.  We do this every single weekend here, and this is where we come to listen to His word and feed on Him – this is where we grow in His friendship.  So your homework is to go home and make sure you bring your parents back with you this Sunday!  Will you do that? 

Thanks for listening and have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!  For today we receive the greatest gift of all – Jesus Christ the Lord!

Preached Sat/Sun - November 2/3 - St. Kateri/St. Cecilia

Today's Mass Readings:   http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110313.cfm

            There was a banker in a small town, a very wealthy man, and everyone knew he was wealthy.  One day the head of a local charity came by and said – “sir, I’m aware that you’re very wealthy, you make a lot of money and I notice that you’ve never given in our annual fund drive to help the poor.  So I’m hoping that you’ll make a very generous donation this year!”

            “Well…you probably aren’t aware,” the banker replied, “that my mother is very sick with astronomical medical bills.”

            “Oh, I didn’t know that,” said the man.

            “And you probably don’t know that my brother died recently leaving his wife a widow with six kids and little money and she doesn’t work,” the banker continued.

            “No, I didn’t know that” said the man.

            “And my sister has a child with a severe disability and it’s very expensive to take care of her.”

            “Oh, I’m sorry” said the man.

            “So I ask you” said the banker, “if I don’t give any money to any of them, why would I give any money to you?!”

* * * * * *

            I heard that joke at Mass up near Albany last weekend – we were up visiting our daughter there and heard that and said to myself “I have to tell that one next week because it fits with the Gospel - it reminds me of Zacchaeus!

            This Zacchaeus, after all, was probably just about as popular in Jericho as this banker must have been in his little town.  Chief tax collector and very wealthy.  Tax collectors in general were seen as symbols of the hated Romans, and Zacchaeus was the “chief” tax collector!  We get a glimpse into how everyone felt about him when they all began to grumble at Jesus saying “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner!”  They are all sitting in judgment of this man.  They all began to grumble – including, we presume, the disciples who were accompanying Jesus.

            But Our Lord, as He so often does, surprises - perhaps “dismays” is a better word – this crowd.  He stops and speaks to Zacchaeus, calls out to him, calls him down from this sycamore tree, and invites Himself to go and stay at Zacchaeus’ house! 

            And what happens?  This encounter with Jesus results in a change of heart…Zacchaeus promises to give half his possessions to the poor and repay anyone he’s extorted four times over.  Zacchaeus has repented and has been saved.  “Today salvation has come to this house” the Lord tells Him.  Jesus has initiated a personal encounter with this man and by that encounter, Zacchaeus has been saved. 

            Now, notice what the Lord didn’t say.  Jesus didn’t point at Him and call Him a sinner.  He didn’t announce what everyone seemed to know – that Zacchaeus was one of those sinners, a tax collector!  In fact, He didn’t even talk about his sins.    And Jesus doesn’t demand that Zacchaeus repents before He stays at his house, has supper with him.

            No.  Jesus first invites Zacchaeus.  Invites him into a personal encounter and it is by that encounter with Jesus, Zacchaeus repents and is saved.

            My sisters and brothers, you and I can take away quite a bit from this Gospel.  In terms of our own attitudes, and in terms of the kind of Church community we’re building here. 

            This Gospel brings to mind the interview with Pope Francis from a couple months ago that was published in Italy and then in America Magazine.  In that article, the Pope said that the Church is a “field hospital for sinners.”  And in the same article, when asked “who is Jorge Maria Bergoglio?” the new Pope paused and reflected for a moment and then simply said “I am a sinner. “  He went on to recall the moment he was elected pontiff, when asked if he would accept, and he said “I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, and I accept in a spirit of penance.”  I found the Holy Father’s words and humility inspiring – for who thinks of the pope as a sinner?  But aren’t we all? 

            You see, there is this perception, right or wrong, that the Church is a place for perfect people.  That the order of things is that people need to recognize their sinfulness, repent and then be welcome in Church.  Rightly or wrongly, we Church people are perceived as too often focusing on the sins of people, the sins of the world.  Perhaps not intentionally, but perhaps acting to keep people from seeing the Lord.

            But in our Gospel, Our Blessed Lord’s focus is on the person, not the sin – on Zacchaeus, whom he calls down from the tree and looks upon with love, even when everyone else is looking upon him with scorn.

            In that same interview, Pope Francis dreams of a Church he calls quote ”the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people.”  The Pope says “I see clearly, that the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful.” He says the Church is to be a field hospital for sinners. “The most important thing, said Francis, “is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you. And the ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all.”

            My brothers and sisters, you and I are here today precisely because we are sinners who experience here, in an encounter with the living Lord, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation!  Anyone without sin has no need of a Savior, has no need of Church! 

            And if we find here forgiveness and mercy, if we experience here the infinite love and tenderness of Our Lord, how can we not go forth from here to share that good news?!  Nourished here by the Body and Blood of Our Lord, to go forth into the world, into our families, communities, workplaces, and schools, and share that good news?  By our words and by our lives, by our joy!  Jesus Christ has saved us, each of us, and is saving us!  How can we not be joyful about that and not want to spread that good news!?

            If we find here our salvation, not in following rules, but in an encounter with a person, the Lord Jesus Christ, who loves us more than we can know, if we find Him here, then let us go forth from this place and be His presence out in the world around us, so that in each one of us, in our open arms and open hearts, our world will come to know Him, Jesus Christ, who is Lord forever and ever.  Amen.

 

Preached Tuesday October 29 - 6:30a and 8a - St. Kateri at Christ the King

Today's Readings:   http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/102913.cfm

 

            I don’t do a lot of the cooking at home, but Sunday night is usually my night to cook, and my wife’s and my kids’ favorite seems to be my homemade pizza.  I make my own scratch dough, using a breadmaker which mixes the ingredients and warms the dough as it rises.  Often I’ll mix the ingredients, start the timer and we’ll go out for a walk.

            One day I came back from the walk and checked on the dough and there at the bottom of the breadmaker was a well-mixed but lifeless ball of dough.  Just sitting there, not rising at all.  I knew immediately that I had missed a rather important ingredient – the yeast, the leavening!

            Another time I came in and checked and realized I’d put in a bit too much yeast, or a bit too much water, or something, because the dough was pushing the top of the breadmaker open.  Bursting right out of the breadmaker!

            And so it is with the Kingdom of God.  Where the Kingdom is at work, where the Gospel is preached and reaches people’s hearts, the Word of God is like leaven, expanding and even perhaps bursting out!  But the converse is true also – where the Gospel is not preached and heard, where the values of today’s culture are too strong, there is no growth, no expansion, no transformation.

            We live in what some call a post-Christian culture.  Never before has our world been so in need of the leaven of the Kingdom of God.  You and I, my sisters and brothers, are called by our baptism to BE that leaven in our world.  That nourished at the table of the Lord, nourished by His Body and Blood, we go forth to be the presence of Christ in the world around us, in our homes, our community, our nation.  So that by our word and example, yours and mine, Christ may transform our world and continue to bring about His Kingdom.