Destined to Share in the Exchange

The Most Holy Trinity (Year A)
June 3, 2023
Sacred Heart, EGF.  Saturday – 5 PM.  Sunday – 8 AM, 10 AM


Andrei Rublev – The Trinity

Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity: the central mystery of Christian life and faith, because it is the mystery of God in himself.

In the Catechism, the Church has a beautiful saying about the mystery of the Holy Trinity:

By sending his Only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time,
God has revealed his innermost secret:
God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
and he has destined us to share in that exchange (CCC 221). 

Moses asks God today: “Do come along in our company…forgive our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own.” And God does. He destines us to share in the exchange of love of the Trinity. He receives us as his own.

Of everything that our faith teaches us, this is the central mystery: the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity.  If we get this wrong, we get God wrong.  We get God wrong, we get ourselves wrong, because we are made in his image. 

This is why we pray the Creed every Sunday.  The Creed reminds us of what we believe of God.

What is the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity?

I believe in One God.

One God.

The Trinity is One.[1]  Of one substance.  One essence.  One God.  Not three gods.

We pray In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
We do not pray “In the Names of”…

Three persons in one God.  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The three persons are really distinct from each other.[2]  They are distinct in their relationships.

  • The Father is not the Son.
  • The Son is not the Holy Spirit.
  • The Holy Spirit is not the Father.

Yet they are of one essence.  They are one God:

  • The Father is God.
  • The Son is God.
  • The Holy Spirit is God.

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of Heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages,
God from God, Light from Light,
True God from True God,
Begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
Through him all things were made.

In the early church, there were some who were trying to say that the Father existed before the Son, that the Son was created, that he had a beginning. 

A Father once looked at his son and said, “Son, I existed before you.  You would not have come into being without me.”

The son replied, “That’s true.  But you did not become a father until I became a son.”

In that human relationship, one man (a father) did exist before another man (his son), but he became a father at the same time his son became a son.

It is similar in God, except that the Father and the Son both always have been, are, and will always be. We proclaim this when we pray:

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.  (Past, Present, Future – Eternally)

The only begotten Son of God.  The Father generates the Son.  Eternally.  Always.  He did not have a beginning.  That is why he is born of the Father before all ages.

Like the Father, the Son is also God (the Son) from God (the Father), Light from Light, True God (the Son) from True God (the Father).

The Church is reigning in those who claim otherwise.

Begotten, not made, consubstantial (of the same substance/essence) with the Father.

The Son is begotten of the Father, but he is not created.  He did not have a beginning. 

And he is of the same essence as the Father.  The Son has the essence of God.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.

The Son ascends to Heaven.  He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and the Spirit is sent forth for us.

The Father sent the Son to give us the Holy Spirit.

We pray TO the Father, THROUGH the Son, IN THE POWER OF the Holy Spirit.

God has now fully revealed himself: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

God has also equipped us.  He has given us the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit is sent forth for mission.

The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the Central Mystery of Christian faith and life.  It is the mystery of God in Himself.

The Father sent the Son.  The Son revealed the Father to us.

The Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is now with us to teach us and to guide us into all truth. He teaches us how to pray when we do not know how to pray as we ought. The Spirit prays within us with groanings that cannot be expressed in speech.

God not only reveals himself to us.

He also reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin.

He wants us to share in his inner life.  To share in the life of the Trinity.  To share in the inner life of God.

It happens in baptism. 

We are baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

We become brothers and sisters in Christ,
sharing of the same Spirit,
grafted into the Body of Christ, which is the Church.

What Jesus is by nature (the Son of the Father),
you and I become by grace (sons and daughters of the Father).

This is the Central Mystery of our Christian Faith.
You are not made for this world alone.
You are made for Communion, for “union with”, for union with God.

You are made to be caught up in the life of the Blessed Trinity.
He will join you to himself.  You will be divinized by the life of God in you.

Christian, remember your dignity.[3]

We renew it today by our communion with the Body and Blood of the Son,
who is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
and who, again, today, becomes one with you in the Eucharist.


[1] CCC 253

[2] CCC 254

[3] Leo the Great.

Zacchaeus Wasn’t the Only One Who Climbed a Tree

Homily for 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
October 30, 2022
Holy Trinity, Tabor: Sunday, 8:00 AM
St. Francis, Fisher: Sunday, 10:00 AM

Focus:             The gaze of Jesus changes people
Function:         Consider how the Lord looks upon you.


He went to a lot of trouble to see Jesus.
Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus was short.  He could not see Jesus over the crowd.
But, by grace, that sycamore tree caught his eye.

Have you ever tried to climb a tree?
It’s not a pretty picture.

Jesus intended to pass through Jericho, but Jesus notices the small details.
He noticed one small man in a tree among the vast crowd.
He saw Zacchaeus trying to see him.

Jesus saw Zacchaeus.
He called him by name.

St. Ignatius of Loyola, in teaching us how to pray, gives us two steps to begin.
First, make the Sign of the Cross.
Then, in the amount of time that it takes to pray the Our Father, “consider how the Lord looks upon you.”

See his gaze.
See the Lord looking upon you.

Sometimes we feel we need to hide.
We can’t stand out.

Zacchaeus was aware of his sin.
He could have stayed hidden.
He chose to see.
He was willing to be seen if only he could see.

He allowed Jesus to look upon him.

Jesus saw him.
Jesus saw him trying to see Jesus.
His gaze fell upon Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus saw Jesus looking at him.

He called him. 

And that changed everything for Zacchaeus.

Jesus sees you.
His gaze falls upon you.

See him.

See him looking upon you.
Consider how the Lord looks upon you.

Prayer is all about relationship.  Every relationship begins with a look.
The gaze of another affects us:[1]
An athlete is affected when he knows that his coach, or grandma and grandpa, are watching.
A child is affected when he knows that a parent is watching.
Parents are affected when they know their child is watching.
We are affected if a stranger is creepily watching us.

The gaze of Jesus received by Zacchaeus brought conversion and salvation.

Brothers and sisters,
Climb the tree.
Climb the tree and get above the vast crowd of your anxiety, your sin.  Rise above the noise that surrounds you. 
Climb the tree and get above the crowd of your distractions, cares and concerns.

Climb the sycamore tree of silence to see above all of that,
to see Jesus,
to let Jesus see you.

Zacchaeus wasn’t the only one who climbed a tree.

Jesus also climbed a tree.

Jesus climbed a tree so that we would see him and would invite him to come and stay at our house.

Behold the Lamb of God.  Behold him who takes away the sins of the world.

Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.


[1] Fr. Paul Hoesing, Have I Been With You? Personal Prayer for Young Disciples, page 20.

See the Scraps

Homily for 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
September 25, 2022
Sacred Heart, EGF: Saturday, 5:00 PM
St. Francis, Fisher: Sunday, 8:00 AM
Holy Trinity, Tabor: Sunday, 10:00 AM

Focus:             Christ is in the scraps.
Function:         See the scraps.

Scraps.

Small pieces of something, especially things that are left over after the greater part has been used.

A scrap of paper.

A bit of bread.

Fragments.  Leftovers.

Lazarus would have gladly eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.

The rich man would not have lost anything by throwing Lazarus some scraps.
But he didn’t see him.

He didn’t notice Lazarus any more than he noticed the scraps that fell from his table.

Scrap.

An old, discarded, or rejected item.

Lazarus.

Lazarus was scrap to the rich man.  Worth no more than the bits of food that fell from his table.

He wasn’t worth his time.  He wasn’t worth noticing.

So he scrapped him.  He left him lying at his door just like he left the food lying under his table.
Someone else will clean it up.  Someone else will take care if it. 

He scrapped Lazarus.

The lesson of the gospel:
If you don’t want to be scrapped, then notice the scraps.

Scrap has value.

Scrap metal.  Left over parts from a big project can be recycled and used for another project.  One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Lazarus was trash to the rich man, but he was treasured by Christ.
Lazarus is the only person in a parable of Christ to be named. 
Lazarus is not expendable to Christ.  He is not nameless.  He is not unnoticed.
No, he is a friend.  He has a name. 

Jesus wept over Lazarus when he had died.
Jesus wept over the one who was scrapped.

The rich man was indifferent to him, but Jesus loved him.

The scraps who fall from the table of life may seem like scraps to me but they are sons to someone else.

Brothers and sisters,
Who is the Lazarus lying at your door? 

Perhaps it is the lonely Lazarus who wants a scrap of your time. 

Perhaps Lazarus is in your own home, longing for a scrap of attention or concern.

Perhaps Lazarus is in your own heart, silently pleading for the scrap of a whispered prayer of repentance so that Jesus can call him by name, call him once again to life, saying “Lazarus, come out!”

Who is that unsightly person in your life that you can’t help but notice, even though perhaps you would rather not notice him?

That person is Lazarus.

The rich man didn’t see Lazarus lying at his door.
But when he needed him, his eyesight suddenly improved, he saw him from across the chasm.

It was too late for the rich man.  But it was not too late for his brothers.
It is not too late for us.

Send Lazarus…send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them…if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.

Lazarus has been sent.
Christ, died, buried, and risen from the dead, has been sent.

He has been sent to warn us:

Whatever you do for the least among you, you do for me.
Whatever you do not do for the least among you, you do not do for me.

Jesus sees the scraps.

He sees Lazarus.

Brothers and sisters, there is still time for us.  We can see him too.  Put on the mind and heart of Christ and look around you.  The scraps are everywhere.

We come now to this altar.  The richest and most scrumptious banquet that satisfies every longing of the heart.  God himself spreads the table before us.

Scraps fall from the table of heaven.

A bit of bread
A sip of wine

He sees you, Lazarus.
He sees you, lying at his table.

Christ is in the scraps that fall from this altar.
He is in the scraps out there, too.

He sees you.
Now, go and see him in the world.

Use your Ingenuity for the Kingdom

Homily for 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
September 18, 2022
Sacred Heart, EGF – Sunday 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 5:00 PM

Focus:             There’s always a way.
Function:         Use your ingenuity for the Kingdom

Charlotte, North Carolina:

A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars,
then insured them,
among many other things,
against fire.

Within a month,
he had smoked all 24 of these great cigars,
and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy,
the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company.

In his claim,
the lawyer stated the cigars were lost…
in a series of small fires.

The insurance company refused to pay,
citing the obvious reason
that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion.

The lawyer sued… and won.

Delivering the ruling,
the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous.
The judge stated,
nevertheless,
that the lawyer had a policy from the company
in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable
and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire –
without defining what was considered to be acceptable fire –
and was obligated to pay the claim.

Rather than endure a lengthy and costly appeal process,
the insurance company accepted the ruling
and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for the loss of his 24 cigars lost in the fires.[1]

It’s disgusting, but you’ve got to admit, it’s pretty good.

He’s a rascal, but he’s a clever rascal…  (The lawyer and also the steward.)

The master praises the steward not for his dishonesty, but for his prudence. If a dishonest person could have that much foresight and planning when it comes to worldly business, how much more foresight should the disciple have when it comes to heavenly business?

What if the lawyer used his ingenuity for the Kingdom?

Brothers and sisters,
what about us?

What if we put that much effort into getting into Heaven?

What if we used our ingenuity for the Kingdom?

What if we used our money, our time, our skills
to lead others to Christ
to serve Christ in those in need?

What if acted shrewdly by appearing foolish in the eyes of the world
because we do not ultimately care about what this world will think of us –
because in the end the only thing that matters is what God thinks of us?

The gospel flips the values of the world upside down.  We know this.  What is given away here is stored up as treasure in Heaven. 

Be prudent!  Be creative!  Be generous!

If a dishonest steward can find a way to use his dishonesty to get what he wants,
certainly you and I can apply the Gospel to our lives
and use what we’ve been entrusted with in such a way
so as to receive what we will ultimately want
when we are asked to give an account of the stewardship of our lives.

That dishonest lawyer used his abilities to find a way.

Brothers and sisters,
So should we.

There’s much more at stake for us than a $15,000 payout.
We should not be outdone so easily…

Back to the story…

As I stated,
rather than endure a lengthy and costly appeal process,
the insurance company accepted the ruling
and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for the loss of his 24 cigars lost in the fires.

Now, for the best part…

After the lawyer cashed the check,
the insurance company had him arrested

on 24 counts of arson.


[1] https://youtu.be/6mP-bd2_Ysg?list=TLPQMTgwOTIwMjL_4TObtddhug

Holy Thursday – the Priesthood, the Eucharist, and Fraternal Charity

Homily for Holy Thursday
April 14, 2022
Sacred Heart, EGF – 7:00 PM


This day shall be a memorial feast for you.

The Lord speaks these words to Moses and Aaron before they celebrate that first Passover.  He is going to lead them out of Egypt.  The 10th plague, the death of the firstborn, will be the final plague that sets them free.

God will protect the Israelites from death by means of the Passover Feast.  They slaughter the lamb and sprinkle the blood on the doorposts.  The angel of death will “pass over” them. 

This is the feast of Passover. 

This day shall be a memorial feast for you.

For the Israelites, Passover wasn’t something that happened many years ago.  It was made present to them every year by their participation in it. 

They relived the events every year on the memorial feast
They didn’t merely remember; they re-lived. 
The past was made present to them.

This day shall be a memorial feast for you.

The Lord gathers tonight to celebrate the Passover, that memorial feast, with his disciples.
He says, Do this in memory of me.

In other words:

This shall be a memorial feast for you.

And, as for the Israelites, so for us.  We do not simply remember what the Lord did.  What the Lord did is made present for us.  Here.  Tonight. 

Tonight, the Church commands the priest to shed light on the 3 mysteries highlighted in this memorial feast.  The priest is to speak about the priesthood, the Eucharist, and fraternal charity.

First, Priesthood.

What is the priest?  The priest is one who offers sacrifice. 
The priest stands in the person of Christ
and acts in the person of Christ, the head of the body, that is the Church.

The Lord said to them, “Do this in memory of me.”

Not just “remember this.”  But “make it present.”  Make me present.  Make me present for my people so that the grace I won for them can be applied to their lives.

The Son of God took on flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary.
We call that the incarnation – when God became man. 

The priesthood exists to extend the incarnation,
to continue to allow God to become man.

A man called to the priesthood
offers his human nature to Christ.

He offers his flesh to Christ
so that the divine power that flowed through Christ
can flow through the priest who acts in his person
to bring the life of God into the lives of God’s people
through the sacraments.

Just as our Great High Priest offered himself,
so the priest who is configured to Christ
is to offer himself in sacrifice
for the sake of the People of God.

The priest is an “alter Christus”, “another Christ.”

The priesthood continues the Real Presence of Jesus in the world.

Tonight was the night that the Lord instituted the priesthood. 

Do this in memory of me.

The priesthood exists for the sake of the Eucharist. 

The Eucharist, as we know, is the flesh and blood of the Lord.
The whole Christ is present in the Eucharist.
His humanity and his divinity are present in the Eucharist.
Body, Blood, Soul, Divinity.

I said that the priesthood continues the Real Presence of Jesus in the world.
The Eucharist continues the Real Presence of Jesus in the world.

The blood of the sacrificial lamb
was smeared on the doorposts of the Israelites
and the angel of death passed over them. 
The blood, the sign of life, preserved their lives.

The blood of the Lamb of God now anoints the lips of believers
so that they might live,
so that they might “pass over” from death to life
even as the Israelites “passed over”
from the death of slavery in Egypt to the freedom of life of the Promised Land.

The Eucharist is the gift of the Son
who continues to be made present on our altars
so that his one sacrifice which he will complete tomorrow
can be continually offered to the Father,
presented to the Father
for our salvation and the salvation of the world.

He then gives his Body and Blood to us
to be our food for this journey of life,
to feed us until he leads us home.

Do this in memory of me.

Jesus offered his Body and Blood,
His whole self,
including his blood, sweat, and tears,
which he will soon shed in the Garden of Gethsemane.

He offered himself for us because he loves us.
He did it out of love for us.

Which bring us to the third mystery we celebrate today:

Charity. 
Love. 
Love from the heart. 

Love was what led Jesus to give himself for us.
Love is what led him to wash the feet of the disciples.

I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, so you should also do.

Do this in memory of me.

The priesthood gives us the Eucharist.
The Eucharist gives us God, who is love.

Jesus taught us the two greatest commandments:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.
Love your neighbor as yourself. 

Tonight, he raises the bar.

It is no longer enough to love your neighbor as yourself.

He gives us a new commandment:
Love one another as I have loved you.

Tomorrow, his love will lead him to offer his life for us.

Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down his life for a friend.
You are my friends, if you keep my commands.

Jesus gives us the command of love at the same time he gives us the Eucharist and the Priesthood.

The Priesthood, the Eucharist, and Fraternal Charity all continue the Real Presence of Jesus.

Charity toward others means that I see the presence of Jesus in them.  Charity is showing reverence to Christ in the other like we show reverence to Christ in the Eucharist. 

Following the Lord,
we lay down our lives in order to enrich the lives of others. 

Love moves us to use our baptismal priesthood
to offer the sacrifice of ourselves
for the sake of God and one another. 

Love says, “you are worth the sacrifice.  You are worth dying for.” 

Do this in memory of me.

Our Lord tonight institutes the priesthood, the Eucharist, and the commandment of fraternal charity.

All three go together.  All three are necessary. 

All three have the same goal:
Communion.
Union with.
Union with God.  Union with one another.

The priesthood, the Eucharist, and the command of charity all exist for the sake of communion.
If one of them is missing, something of Christ is missing. 

Brothers and sisters, these mysteries are made present for us tonight.
Let us receive them and allow them to be made present in our lives.

Do this in memory of me.

Litany of Humility

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, O Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

– Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (+1930), Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X

Mary, Mother of God

Homily for Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
December 31, 2021
Sacred Heart, EGF – Saturday 5:00 PM    
 


At the start of the new year, we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

Mary is the mother of Jesus.
Jesus is fully human like us.  That is true.
But Jesus is also fully divine.  He is God.

Jesus has a human nature, but he also has a divine nature.  A nature is what a thing is.  A person is who a thing is.  For example, Fido is a dog.  Dog is the nature, the “what”.  Fido is the identity, the “person” if you will, the “who”.

Jesus is a divine person.  His identity is the Son – the second person of the Holy Trinity.  He is God.  He is a divine person with a divine nature.

“The word became flesh” and dwelt among us.  When he was conceived in Mary’s womb, he took up a human nature.  He also kept his divine nature.  He is one divine person, with a human nature and a divine nature.  The 2 natures are not confused, but united, in the person of God’s son.  Jesus is not half God and half man.  He is fully God and fully man.

For that reason, if Mary is the mother of Jesus, and Jesus is God, then we must rightly conclude that Mary is the Mother of God.  To deny that Mary is the Mother of God is to deny that she is the mother of Jesus, or to deny that Jesus is God.

Catechism: “Mary is truly ‘Mother of God’ since she is mother of the eternal Son of God made man, who is God himself.”[1]

The title “Mother of God” points to the central truth of the Incarnation: Jesus Christ is true God and true Man.

If he was not God, his death could not have atoned for our sins.
If he was not human, he would not have been able to pay the debt that humans owed, because he would not have been able to die.

Three errors around this:

  1. Jesus is true God but not true man.  Jesus did not really receive a human nature from Mary, so she is not his mother. 
  2. Jesus is true man, but not God.  Mary can be called Mother of Christ but not Mother of God.  Heresy of today: “Jesus is a great teacher, a great prophet, he showed us how to love…”  Yes, yes, yes.  But He also claimed to be God.  And He rose from the dead. 
  3. Nestorianism.  There are 2 persons in Christ: one human and one divine.  Mary gave birth to only the human.  She can be called “Mother of Christ” but not “Mother of God”.  Leads to saying things like “Christ is not God, God only lived in him like in a temple.”

    But no, St. John says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

    Nestorianism: condemned at the Council of Ephesus in 431.  Mary is proclaimed “Theotokos”: God-bearer.  More than “Christotokos”: Christ-bearer.

If Christmas highlights God taking up a human nature and becoming one of us, then tonight’s feast affirms that he remains what he was before: divine.

Perhaps it could be said that Christmas highlights the humanity of Jesus,
and today’s feast highlights the divinity of Jesus.

Tonight’s feast affirms that Jesus is a divine person with a human and divine nature.  It is at the center of who He is for us.

He is God.
She is the Mother of God.

He is also human.
She is his mother.

When the fulness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

Jesus came to reconcile us to God, to make us sons and daughters of the Father once again. Like the younger son who returned to his Father after squandering the inheritance[2], we are welcomed back into the family of God, our sonship is restored, because of the sacrifice of Jesus. 

He is not ashamed to be called our brother, and to call us his brothers and sisters.
and so, his mother becomes our Mother.

Mary is the Mother of God.
She is his Blessed Mother.
She is also our Blessed Mother.

The divine and human natures are united in Jesus, who is God,
because we are to be united in Jesus, who is God.

That begins here in the Church – the Mystical Body of Christ on earth.
And it will reach its fulfillment in Heaven.

She who brought Him to birth in Bethlehem, intercedes for us
so that He may be brought to birth in us.

She who formed Him in her womb intercedes for us
so that we might be conformed to Him.

For that reason, we pray:
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.  Amen.


[1] Catechism of the Catholic Church, #509

[2] Luke 15

Prayer of Abandonment

Father,
I abandon myself into your hands,
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I shall always thank you.
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me and in all your creatures;
no more do I wish than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul.
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord,
and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.

– Blessed Charles de Foucauld

Blessed Are You Who Believed

Homily for 4th Sunday of Advent (Year C)
December 19, 2021
Sacred Heart, EGF –Sunday 10:00 AM, 5:00 PM


The fullness of time had come:
The moment that the Father had been preparing us for…
He had been preparing us for centuries, from the moment the apple core hit the bushes.

Gabriel appeared. 

The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.

This was the moment,
the moment of Mary’s call,
the time for the revealing of her vocation.

The angel declared and the world held its breath,
held its breath as it awaited her response.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux describes the moment:

The angel awaits an answer; it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion; the sentence of condemnation weighs heavily upon us.

The price of our salvation is offered to you. We shall be set free at once if you consent…

Answer quickly, O Virgin. Reply in haste to the angel, or rather through the angel to the Lord. Answer with a word, receive the Word of God. Speak your own word, conceive the divine Word. Breathe a passing word, embrace the eternal Word.

Why do you delay, why are you afraid? Believe, give praise, and receive. Let humility be bold, let modesty be confident. This is no time for virginal simplicity to forget prudence. In this matter alone, O prudent Virgin, do not fear to be presumptuous. Though modest silence is pleasing, dutiful speech is now more necessary.

Open your heart to faith, O blessed Virgin, your lips to praise, your womb to the Creator. See, the desired of all nations is at your door, knocking to enter. If he should pass by because of your delay, in sorrow you would begin to seek him afresh, the One whom your soul loves.

Arise, hasten, open. Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord, she says, be it done to me according to your word.[1]

And the Book of Wisdom tell us that:

While gentle silence enveloped all things,
and night in its swift course was now half gone,
the all-powerful Word leapt from Heaven,
from the royal throne,
into the midst of the land that was doomed.[2]

Brothers and sisters, we enter now into the final week of Advent. 

Mary sets out in haste on her journey toward Elizabeth.  Her journey of 90 miles over the rugged mountains will take several days.  Our spiritual journey to Bethlehem to see the newborn child lying in the manger will take several days.

She travels, carrying valuable treasure, the most valuable treasure, in her womb.

We travel, too.
We travel throughout this week,
carrying valuable treasure,
the most valuable treasure of the Body of Christ from this altar,
in the womb of our hearts.

Mary travels to Elizabeth, to assist her during the final trimester of her pregnancy.

We travel to those we will encounter this week, to assist them by our acts of charity.  We travel and we enter the houses of others with the Lord hidden within us.

Elizabeth and in the infant in her womb shout and leap for joy,
because the Lord is in their midst.

At times, we are Mary, bringing the Lord whom we bear within our breast to Elizabeth.

At times, we are Elizabeth, filled with wonder and awe when we realize we have been visited by the Lord.

Elizabeth exclaims to Mary, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

Brothers and sisters, what about us? 

When the Lord speaks to us,
when the Word leaps again from Heaven and speaks into the ears of our hearts…

Do we believe?
Do we give our “yes”?
Do we go in haste?

The whole world awaited Mary’s reply.
The whole world awaits our reply.

You are I were made for great things.
We often think we are too small.

Bethlehem was also too small:

And you Bethlehem-Ephrathah, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel…

Everything was at stake when the world awaited Mary’s reply.
A great deal is also at stake when the world awaits our reply.

The grace of the Holy Spirit knows not of slow workings.[3]

Mary went in haste to see Elizabeth.  She did not delay.

The rugged mountains [could not stop Mary] from pursuing her purpose.[4]

Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.

These are words to Mary.
They are words also to us – to us who have believed the message of salvation. We are blessed when we believe that what has been spoken to us by the Lord will be fulfilled.

If the Lord speaks it to us, no obstacle can stop us.
There is only one thing that can stop us: our fear. 
No other obstacle can stop us.

We just need to be like Mary.
We just need to stay “yes.” 

Fiat.

Let it be done unto me according to your word.

Mary believed and said Yes.  She was blessed and so were we.
The Holy Spirit acts in us.  Believe and say yes. 
You will be blessed and so will we.


[1] Bernard of Clairvaux, “The Whole World Awaits Mary’s Reply”.

[2] Wisdom 18:14

[3] St. Ambrose in Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers, Volume 3: St. Luke (Volume 3, Number 1, Page 38).

[4] Theophylact of Ohrid in Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers, Volume 3: St. Luke (Volume 3, Number 1, Page 38).