Saturday, March 9, 2013

3rd Sunday of Lent - God Made You for More!

Greetings!  Here's the homily I preached for the 3rd Sunday of Lent - it was to the participants on the Teens Encounter Christ retreat #544 at Beckman Catholic High School.  Just remember - God made you for more! 

READINGS:
1st Reading: Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15
Resp. Psalm: Ps. 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 11
2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12
Gospel: Luke 13:1-9

FOCUS: God is relational; He cares about our wellbeing, and wants us to experience new life. 
FUNCTION: Grow in your relationship with God through regular times for prayer.

          It’s a blessing to have all of you here this weekend!  As we’ve said, none of you are here by accident.  You are here because God has a purpose for you and because He’s the One who called you here – because He wants to reveal His love to you; because He wants to draw you closer to Himself, and because He knew you before you were conceived and while you were still in your mother’s womb, and He has created you to be His beloved child.  You are not an accident – no one is an accident in God’s eyes – and you are not here on accident. 

          I know it sounds rather cliché, but God has a plan.  Do I know what that plan is for you?  Unfortunately, no, I don’t – I’m not God; I don’t know what God’s plan for your life is per se – but I do know it’s good!  It’s so good!  I know it’s better than anything you can possibly think of or imagine – because He knows us better than we know ourselves, because He created us.  The Bible even tells us that all the hairs on our head have been counted – God knows us that well!  And because He created us, He also has a plan for our lives – a plan for greatness.

          The world, however, would have us be mired in mediocrity – you only need to look at the contents of reality TV shows to understand that fact.  These shows don’t call us to be great and heroic and strong and virtuous; they just call us to be so-so or unique or odd or funny.  Think about it – is there anyone on these reality TV shows who’s a good role model?  I’m sorry if you like some of these shows, but I don’t think so.  A lot of the people on these shows are just – well – weird.  Sorry, no offense to Honey Boo Boo fans. J  When I see these shows, I often stop and think to myself, “Surely God made us for more than all the ridiculous stuff happening on here!”  And it’s so true – God has made us for more – for so much more than the ridiculousness of life as it’s depicted on reality TV. 

          What am I getting at?  I’m getting at the fact that God and the world have two very different visions for our lives.  God wants us to reach our full potential and become truly great people, but the world would have us settle for having fun and not really pursuing anything terribly worthwhile.  If we follow the voice of the world, we’ll end up in spiritual chains, like the Israelites ended up being slaves in Egypt.  But just like He did for the Israelites, God also wants to draw us out of our slavery to mediocrity – a spiritual slavery we allow ourselves to be drawn into by listening to the voice of the world instead of the voice of God – and lead us into spiritual freedom.  God wants to break the chains that bind us and lead us into a new and better life.

          In the first reading, God looked on the slavery that His chosen people had to endure while in Egypt and said, “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering.  Therefore, I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians and lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”  In so many ways, the Jewish story of the Exodus is also the Christian story of what God has done for us in Christ!

          Think about it, how did Jesus’ public life begin?  After He was baptized, He was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by Satan.  We hear that story on every First Sunday of Lent.  And after He returned, He started His public ministry.  The first words of Jesus’ public ministry were these – “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (See Matt. 4:17).  Did you know that the “promised land” that God led the Israelites to through the desert is a foreshadowing of the true Promised Land – the kingdom of heaven – where God wants to lead all people who are willing to follow and believe?  So the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry is practically a summary of the real meaning of the Book of Exodus – repent of your slavery to sin, because God wants to lead you to heaven!

          God did it back in the days of the Book of Exodus, He did it at the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, and He wants to do it again now.  He always wants to lead us out of spiritual slavery and into spiritual freedom, because He’s a God of relationships, a God of love.  God is intrinsically relational by His nature – He is a community of Persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: three divine Persons living in perfect unity as one God.  And because God is relational, He always calls us into relationship with Himself.        

          In the first reading, when Moses asked for God’s name, how did God identify Himself to Moses?  God said, ‘“I am the God of your fathers,” he continued, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.’”  The fact that God referred to Himself in relation to Moses’ forefathers means that God is a God who wants to establish relationships with the people He’s created.  And that’s exactly what God wants to do in our lives.  But in order to establish and grow in a relationship with God, we need to examine our other relationships; for instance, getting too wrapped up in the world doesn’t help us deepen our relationship with God and our relationships with others can keep us from growing.  And so now’s a good weekend to think about our relationships – which ones help us get closer to God and which ones keep are keeping us away?

          Trust me, I know that’s a tough examination.  But you have to know this: God loves you SO MUCH MORE than anyone else – more than your parents, more than your boyfriend or girlfriend, more than anyone.  And as much as you’re looking for fulfillment, the only one who will fulfill you is the One who made you.     Earlier this afternoon you signed the Book of the Covenant and made a profession of faith as a sign that you’re ready and willing to make a commitment to Christ.  I’m not saying that’s always going to be easy or fun; in fact, it may be one of the hardest things you’ve ever done.  But if we never did things that were hard, would we ever grow? 

          Dear friends, God wants to take you places!  God wants to lead you out of the chains of mediocrity and into spiritual freedom.  And so I encourage you to embrace the freedom the Lord wants to offer you.  I hope you’ll take the chance – starting here and now – to turn to God in prayer and grow in that relationship that God wants to form with you.  I know your life will be better for it.                

 

 

              

 

 

2nd Sunday of Lent - Be Transformed in the Light of Christ!

Greetings!  Here's the homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent; it was preached in the Holy Rosary Cluster where I covered for the pastor who came to preach at our Spires of Faith Cluster 40 Hours Mission.  Let's all heed the call to be transfigured this Lent!


READINGS:
1st Reading: Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18
Resp. Psalm: Ps. 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14
2nd Reading: Philippians 3:17-4:1 (OR Phil. 3:20-4:1)
Gospel: Luke 9:28b-36

 FOCUS: The transfiguration of Christ invites us to be transfigured and/or transformed, also. 
FUNCTION: Make a self-examination – where are you closed and where are you open to God?

          It’s a privilege to be with all of you this weekend!  Since I’m not up in this area very often, I appreciate the opportunity to visit your Church and see the area.  We’re very happy that Fr. Steve accepted our invitation to come and speak at our annual “40 Hours Mission” in the Spires of Faith Cluster.  Just to give you a hint of what the Cluster’s like, we’re situated on the western edge of Dubuque County and the eastern edge of Delaware County, and there are five parishes in the Cluster – the Basilica of St. Francis Xavier in Dyersville, Saint Joseph’s in Earlville, Saint Boniface in New Vienna, Ss. Peter & Paul in Petersburg, and Saint Paul’s in Worthington.  Fr. John O’Connor is the pastor of the parishes in Petersburg and New Vienna while Fr. Dennis Quint is the pastor of the parishes in Dyersville, Worthington, and Earlville.  Yours truly gets to be the Associate Pastor of all five.  If I ever write a sitcom for TV, I’m going to call it, “My Two Pastors.”  I’m sure it’ll be good for a couple of laughs J

          So, this weekend, I get to celebrate Mass here in your parish while Fr. Steve is covering the Masses in the Spires of Faith Cluster.  When Fr. Steve gets back, be sure to tell him all about how that the substitute priest was a much better preacher than he is J  I’m sure that will be good for a few laughs, too!  On second thought, you better not – maybe the homilies will only get longer J  Regardless, it’s a pleasure to be with you this weekend. 

          The Gospel reading this weekend presents us with the account of the Transfiguration of Jesus found in Saint Luke’s Gospel.  The First Sunday of Lent always presents us with the story of Our Lord’s temptation in the desert and this Second Sunday of Lent always presents us with the story of the Transfiguration.  But after these first two Sundays of Lent, the Gospel readings aren’t consistently themed from year to year.  So why should we hear about the Transfiguration on the Second Sunday of Lent every year?  I think the answer is probably quite obvious: Lent invites us to journey with Our Lord into the desert on the First Sunday and on the Second Sunday we’re invited to be transformed.  Lent invites us to grow in the grace of “conversion” – to become people who are willing to share and reflect the goodness and the light of the Lord to the people around us. 

          And so what do we often do during Lent?  We examine our consciences and go to the sacrament of Reconciliation; we pray the Stations of the Cross devotion; we try to observe the typical Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving; we give up something that we like in the hopes that we’ll become a better person; we abstain from eating meat on Fridays as an act of penance and self-denial; and we try to be more patient, more forgiving, more loving.  It’s all about preparing ourselves to celebrate the holiest days of the entire liturgical year – Holy Week.  We should probably think of Lent as a kind of pilgrimage; and we should think of ourselves as journeying towards a great destination – ultimately, heaven itself.  And as we make this great pilgrimage through life, we might ask ourselves, “Lord, am I living as You want me to live?  Am I living like I’m headed towards life in the kingdom of heaven?”  And if the answer to those questions is no, then it’s probably time to make a change.

          Lent is actually all about transformation; it’s all about living as we should.  Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, one of the Fathers of the early Church who lived in the early 2nd century, once said, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.”  That’s an excellent quote for us to consider as we hear this story about Our Lord’s transfiguration this weekend.  Do you feel like you’re fully alive?  Do you feel like you’re living a full and abundant life?  And I’m not talking about what the world considers to be a so-called “full and abundant life” – lots of wealth, a nice house, or super-fast cars; I’m talking about the full and abundant life that Our Lord came to bring us.  In the tenth chapter of St. John’s Gospel, Jesus said, “I came so that they might have life, and have it more abundantly,” (see John 10:10b).  Jesus wants us to live a full and abundant life!  He wants us to be filled with joy and peace, and to be happy and fulfilled, and to be disciplined and directed towards Him; in short, He wants us to be “fully alive” to the glory of God.

          And Jesus shows us what that looks like – transfigured on the mountain top, bathed in glory, clothed all in white.  His transfiguration is a foreshadowing of the glory of the resurrection that He would receive from God the Father on the first Easter Sunday.  But it’s only this account of the transfiguration – only Saint Luke’s account – that tells us what Jesus was talking about with Moses and Elijah there on the mountain top.  This Gospel tells us that Moses and Elijah spoke with Him about the “exodus that He was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.”  An exodus?  That’s kind of odd.  Exodus is the name of the second book of the Bible, which tells the story of the Jewish departure from the land of Egypt.  This conversation between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah is kind of “code speak” for the passion and death that Jesus would endure so that He could lead us on our own “exodus” out of the land of Egypt – out of our slavery to sin and death – and into the land that God wants to lead us toward – ultimately, the kingdom of heaven.

          So Lent is about a desert experience – journeying with Jesus into the desert, just like the Jews journeyed into the desert when they departed the land of Egypt.  And that desert experience is supposed to lead us into the ultimate “promised land” – the kingdom of heaven.  The closer we come to that kingdom, the more we’re transformed by God’s grace.   So think for a moment – is your experience of Lent leading you towards transformation?  Is it helping you to become a better person?  Is it helping you become more disciplined and more directed towards God?  Are you experiencing the various “fruits” of Lent in your lives – more peace, more joy, more love, more patience? 

          Now’s the time for us to make an examination of conscience – where are we open to God’s grace in our lives, and where are we perhaps a little more closed?  Our goal in life as Christians is to be totally open to God, and to live in such a way that we come to know, love, and serve Him in this life so that we’re finally able to join Him forever in heaven.  So now’s the time for you to examine your lives and open your hearts more fully to the presence and activity of God; and then let Him transform you and fill you with new life.