Homily for 31^st 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.

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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.

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

Homily for 26^th 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.

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

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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 10^th 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.

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

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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.

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[1] Catechism of the Catholic Church, #509

[2] Luke 15

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

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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.

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[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).

Homily for 11^th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
June 12-13, 2021
St. Lawrence, Mentor – Saturday 7:00 PM
Sacred Heart, EGF – Sunday 10:00 AM

Focus:             God gives the growth.
Function:         Scatter the seed.

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Every year, Sacred Heart School has different dress up days.  One of the days is Vocation Day.  This year, as it happens every so often, a young boy dressed up as a priest.  At the end of the day, I invited him and his mom to stop by my office.  I gave him one of my collars.  The real deal.  His name was written on the back along with a note that read, “Jesus said, Come follow me.” 

When they got to the car, his little sister wanted to look at it.  He told her, “You can look at it, but be careful, I’m going to be needing that some day!” 

I scattered a seed.  Or, maybe I watered a seed that was already planted.

I don’t know what will come of it. 

Maybe it will get lost. 
Maybe it will end up tucked away in a special box. 
Maybe he will find it someday, years from now. 
He might throw it away when he is 16. 
Then again, he might wear it on his ordination day.

I don’t know what God will do with that seed.
I don’t need to know.

All I need to do is scatter it.

God is the one to make it grow.

…

I would like to share with you some words entitled Prophets of a Future Not Our Own:[1]

Prophets of a Future Not Our Own:

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection.

No pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.  This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.

…

This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.  Of its own accord the land yields fruit.

What if the man in the parable never scattered the seed?

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[1] Bishop Ken Untener, “Prophets of a Future Not Our Own”, https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/prayers/prophets-of-a-future-not-our-own