Wednesday, May 28, 2014

6th Sunday of Easter - A Reason for Your Hope

Location: Basilica of Saint Francis Xavier (Dyersville, IA) – 5 p.m. Saturday & 8:30 a.m. Sunday
                Saint Boniface Catholic Church (New Vienna, IA) – 10 a.m. Sunday
Date: Sunday May 25th (6th Sunday of Easter, Year A)

READINGS:
1st Reading: Acts 8:5-8, 14-17
Resp. Psalm: Ps. 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
2nd Reading: 1 Peter 3:15-18
Gospel: John 14:15-21

FOCUS: Following St. Peter’s command, we should be prepared to explain and defend our faith.
FUNCTION: Attend the Cluster CRHP retreat; take time to read your Bible; learn your faith.

            Every once in a while, I’ll watch a TV show like Law & Order, and it’s always very fascinating; it’s interesting to see how the law gets played out (often in a dramatic way, but, hey, that’s TV).  Someone’s accused of a crime; one attorney in the legal drama is the prosecutor, who’s trying to bring about a conviction for the person charged with a crime, who’s known as the defendant; and it’s then up to the defense attorney to come up with an argument, testimony, and evidence about why the defendant should not be charged with the alleged crime.  Then the jury takes the testimony, the evidence, and the arguments presented by the prosecutor and the defense attorney, deliberates on it, and returns with a verdict of either guilty or not guilty regarding the alleged crimes.

          It’s exciting stuff; the lawyers have to be ready to give some good arguments about why someone should either be convicted or acquitted.  In a similar way, this weekend’s second reading says we should always be ready to give a defense for what we believe and why we believe it.  Obviously our defense or explanation won’t be quite as dramatic as the presentation by the defense attorney in a TV show like Law & Order, but it what’s we’re called to do, regardless.  St. Peter says, “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence…” 
          This verse is often used as the basis for Catholic apologetics.  Now, the word “apologetics” doesn’t have anything to do with apologizing – we’re not called to go around saying, “Oh, I’m so sorry for being Catholic, this is just the way I was raised…..yeah, I’m sorry that we believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist…...yeah, I don’t know why we have a Pope, either…..you’re right, we do make too big a deal about Mary.”  No, no, no….nothing like that.  Apologetics is about offering up reasons – based on Scripture and Tradition – for why we believe what we believe.  This is something that we Catholics need to be able to do a much better job of.  Many of us don’t know our faith like we should.

          Yes, we believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, but we might not have any idea where to turn to in the Bible or the tradition of the Church for why we believe in the Real Presence; and to do that, we should be familiar with the Gospel of John, chapter 6, where Jesus speaks about Himself as the Bread of Life in His famous “Bread of Life discourse.”  And we should know about someone like St. Ignatius of Antioch (from the early 2nd century), who frequently talked about the Church’s faith in the Eucharist in his letters. 
          Likewise, we give Mary the highest honor after God Himself, but perhaps we can’t adequately explain why; and to do that, we should be familiar with the text of the Annunciation to Mary in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1, and how the Archangel Gabriel addresses her as “full of grace,” and how that means that she’s been specially chosen by God and set apart in a special way to be the mother of His only-begotten Son; and we should probably know a little bit about her title, “Mother of God,” and how that title came about because the early Church Fathers in the 3rd and 4th centuries were trying to defend the divinity of Christ from heretics who tried to say that Jesus wasn’t actually God.
          Furthermore, we all know that we have a Pope, but we might now know why we have a Pope, and how that position in the Church came about; and to do that, we should be familiar with the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16, and St. Peter’s confession about the identity of Jesus, and how Jesus named Him Peter and said that He would build His Church upon Peter, whose name means “Rock,” and how Jesus gave Peter the keys of the kingdom, giving Him the power to bind and loose.   And we should know about how St. Peter became the Bishop of Rome, and how successors were chosen after He died, and how the Church in Rome developed a primacy among Christians because of Peter’s authority among the apostles.

          The Eucharist, Mary, the Pope – these are just a few of the many topics that we should be able to talk about intelligently as Catholics; we should know our faith and be ready to give an explanation for our hope to people who ask.  How do we do that?  I think we all have to spend a little more time learning about our faith.  Maybe we need to spend a little more time reading our Bible; or listening to a good CD from Lighthouse Catholic Media; or reading a good Catholic book by someone like Scott Hahn or Patrick Madrid or Edward Sri or Brant Pitre; or visit a website like catholic.com (the website for Catholic Answers) or cuf.org (the website for Catholics United for the Faith) and read some of the content they offer.  There are so many ways we can grow in our faith.
          We must not be accidentally Catholic; we have to be intentionally Catholic – because we believe that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God, that He founded the Church upon Peter, the first Pope, and that He died and rose from the dead, and sent His disciples out to preach to the whole world the truth of the Gospel and God’s plan of salvation.  That’s why we have to be intentionally Catholic; we have to know our own story; we should be familiar with our family history as Christians, as members of the Church, the family of God.  If we’re just going through the motions, then we’re missing the point.  Faith is something that either needs to be continually growing, or it will shrivel up; faith is like a plant – you have to water a plant in order to keep it alive; the point is, if our faith isn’t being nourished by continued learning, we shouldn’t be surprised if it feels kind of dead.
 
          One way to nourish your faith would be to get involved in the Cluster CHRP retreat – Christ Renews His Parish.  Many people have learned that when they started giving more to God, God gave them a lot more in return.  Is it a sacrifice?  Perhaps, because it means we’re not doing something else.  But could it be just what you need?  Absolutely.  Give God a little, and He can do great things. 
          I especially encourage our Catholic men to step up to the plate about attending the upcoming CHRP retreat, quit being afraid, and become the kind of spiritual leader that your wife and family and this community needs.  The point is this: if we know our faith, then we’ll always be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have in Christ.                    




Friday, May 23, 2014

4th Sunday of Easter - The Voice of the Shepherd

Location: Basilica of Saint Francis Xavier (Dyersville, IA) – 7 a.m. Sunday Mass
                Saint Paul Catholic Church (Worthington, IA) – 9 a.m. Sunday Mass
Date: Sunday May 11th, 2014 (4th Sunday of Easter, Year A; World Day of Prayer for Vocations)

READINGS:
1st Reading: Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Resp. Psalm: Ps. 23:1-2a, 3b-4, 5, 6
2nd Reading: 1 Peter 2:20b-25
Gospel: John 10:1-10

FOCUS: To embrace our vocations means to hand our life over to Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
FUNCTION: Follow Jesus faithfully; do not be afraid where He will lead – it is abundant life. 

            Today marks several important events: first, it is the 4th Sunday of Easter.  The 4th Sunday of Easter always stands out because the readings aren’t centered on the Lord’s resurrection, like the rest of the Easter season; instead, we hear the passage from St. John’s Gospel about Jesus as the Good Shepherd; and that’s why the 4th Sunday of Easter is often called “Good Shepherd Sunday.”  Today is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations and Mother’s Day. 
          All of these events are very important; however, my homily today will focus more on Good Shepherd Sunday and the World Day of Prayer for Vocations than on Mother’s Day.  But I haven’t forgotten about Mother’s Day; all the mothers here will get a special blessing after the intercessions, because we love them and want to recognize all their hard work, dedication, and love for their families.

          So what are we to make of a day like today, Good Shepherd Sunday?  It’s a very comforting thought, picturing Jesus as the Good Shepherd; we’ve all seen the images – Jesus is holding a sheep on His shoulders, with a flock of sheep following behind Him.  It’s soothing to think about – shepherds take care of and watch over the flock entrusted to their care; but maybe the analogy seems a little ridiculous – we are not sheep, and maybe it’s kind of insulting to think of ourselves as sheep.  After all, we’re trained by society to be independent, original, our own person, and not just a follower.  So maybe “Good Shepherd Sunday” doesn’t always make a lot of sense to us.  But on the flip side, it’s not easy being a shepherd – the sheep have a mind of their own, and aren’t always interested in following the shepherd’s lead.  Sometimes they wander off where they shouldn’t; they don’t always fall in line; and they don’t always come when they’re called.  Sometimes sheep are stubborn – maybe a little like us, sometimes.  Maybe the analogy isn’t so far off after all.
          Ultimately, the point is more about the person of Jesus than it is about us; yes, we are compared to sheep; and no, that’s not always a flattering comparison.  But the point is that the Lord is looking out for us, watching over us, shepherding the flock of God with a shepherd’s care.  Why?  Because the Lord loves us; we are the Church, His Body; we belong to Him; He ransomed us from sin by shedding His precious Blood and gave us new life by His resurrection.  Today is about Jesus.  But it’s also about us.  It’s about us trusting Him. 

          When I was in college, I got to be an RA or Resident Assistant in the dorms.  Training was always a lot of fun.  We RAs got to hang out with each other a lot and we practiced how we would respond in different scenarios if we had to knock on someone’s room while we were doing our nightly rounds in the residence halls.  Part of our training happened at the Four Mounds ropes course in Dubuque.  Not only was it a way for us to build community with each other, but we also learned to how to work with each other.  The goal was to develop trust with each other, and to know we had each other’s backs – much like a soldier or a police officer might take care of one of their own.          
          One of the activities we did at the ropes course was a “trust fall.”  Some of you may already be familiar with this idea, but some of you may not.  A trust fall is an exercise where one person, with their hands across their chest, stands in front of another person who stands behind them.  Without looking at the person behind, the person in front is supposed to fall backward, trusting that the person behind will catch them and not let them fall to the ground.  Now, if the person standing behind wants to be a practical jokester, they could let the person falling simply fall; however, that would not help to establish trust; just the opposite – the person who was doing the trust fall would grow to distrust the person supposed to be catching.  That didn’t happen among us – whether we did the trust fall or we were the ones doing the catching, we were faithful, so that the trust fall would be a success and a way to develop trust. 

          I think our relationship with the Lord is supposed to be like the “trust fall” exercise that my fellow RAs and I did during our RA training; we are supposed to trust that the Lord is standing behind us, ready to catch us when we fall.  How “good” would a “Good Shepherd” really be if we were falling and He were not there to catch us?  Recognizing Jesus as the Good Shepherd means that we allow ourselves to trust Him.
          We can bet that King David, the author of Psalm 23 (today’s responsorial psalm), did a kind of “trust fall” with the Lord; otherwise he would never be able to say, “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.”  David placed his trust in God.  Psalm 23 has been a source of encouragement for countless Jews and Christians down throughout the ages.  And it should do the same for us.  God will not leave us or abandon us; He will not allow us to fall, even if it seems like we’re falling for a while before He catches us. 
          Embracing our vocation is very similar; it involves trusting in God and putting our lives in His hands; it means that we trust Him to lead us and guide us toward the right path.  To embrace our personal vocation means to hand our life over to Jesus, the Good Shepherd.  It means stepping out on the water, like Peter, trusting that the Lord will allow us to stand on the water.  We must not be afraid.  Right now, the Church needs good men and women to answer the call to follow Jesus, the Good Shepherd, as priests and as consecrated religious men and women.

          It starts at home.  Pray together as a family every night; encourage whatever vocation other family members feel drawn to, but especially the vocations to priesthood and religious life.  Try to follow what Jesus taught – love others like He loved us; turn the other cheek; go the extra mile; forgive over and over again; pray as He taught us to pray; be open to the coming of the Holy Spirit; and be willing to follow where the Spirit leads. 
          Embracing a religious vocation means trusting God and following the path that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, lays out for us; and never forget what He said to us – “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”  Jesus is our Good Shepherd, and He will always lead us to full and abundant life, and finally, to eternal life with God in heaven.                                   

3rd Sunday of Easter - Hearts on Fire

Location: Basilica of Saint Francis Xavier (Dyersville, IA) – 7 a.m. Sunday Mass
                Saint Paul Catholic Church (Worthington, IA) – 9 a.m. Sunday Mass
Date: Sunday May 4th, 2014 (3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A)

READINGS:
1st Reading: Acts 2:14, 22-33
Resp. Psalm: Ps. 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
2nd Reading: 1 Peter 1:17-21
Gospel: Luke 24:13-35

FOCUS: At every Mass we attend, the Lord opens the scriptures for us and breaks the bread. 
FUNCTION: Actively participate in the celebration of the Mass – body, mind, and soul. 

          Sometimes when I go to youth events here or elsewhere, the leader will ask the participants to think about their week and talk about a “God moment” they had.  That question invites the youth to think about their week from the perspective of faith – how did they experience God during the past week?  How was God moving and active in their life?  How did they hear God speak to them, or how did they feel God inspire them?
          Those types of questions are just as good for adults as they are for youth.  All of us need to be thinking about our “God moments.”  There’s a movie out now called “God’s Not Dead” (I confess I haven’t seen it yet, but would like to, and have heard good things from other Catholics who have seen the movie); the movie points to a fundamental truth – God’s not dead; He’s still living and active in the world, but we need to have eyes of faith in order to see Him; and I think we also need more of a “sacramental imagination.”  And by that I mean we need to be willing to see deeper realities behind apparently ordinary events; too often we just take things at face value without reflecting on them.

          Consider the “God moment” that the disciples on the road to Emmaus had on the original Easter Sunday; they start off downcast – they knew about Jesus’ death on Friday, and must have thought that His death was the end of the story.  But then they hear the astonishing report about the empty tomb and the appearance of the angels who reported that Jesus was alive.  It must have been hard to take in, and understandably so; it would be for us, too, if we were in their shoes.
          The “God moment” happens for those two disciples as they invite this man (whom they don’t recognize as Jesus) to stay with them and He then breaks bread, and they recognize Him as the Lord, and He vanishes from their sight.  It was only later that they realized that, while they were on the road to Emmaus, they had been walking and talking with Jesus, the risen Savior of the world; in thinking back on the conversation, they said to themselves, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”

          That’s the goal of being Catholic – to have hearts on fire because we’ve heard the word of God and have experienced the Real Presence of the risen Lord.  Jesus wants to make Himself known to us at every Mass in the Word of God, and in the breaking of the bread.  That phrase, “the breaking of the bread,” was the way the early Church used to talk about the Christian liturgy we know now as the Mass.  Think about this description of the early Christian liturgy that was written by the defender of the faith, St. Justin, around the middle of the 2nd century:
On the day we call the day of the sun, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place.  The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as much as time permits.  When the reader has finished, he who presides over those gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things.  Then we all rise together and offer prayers for ourselves . . .and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandments, so as to obtain eternal salvation.  When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss.
Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren.  He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and for a considerable time he gives thanks (in Greek: eucharistian) that we have been judged worthy of these gifts.  When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all present give voice to an acclamation by saying: 'Amen.'  When he who presides has given thanks and the people have responded, those whom we call deacons give to those present the "eucharisted" bread, wine and water and take them to those who are absent.

          Doesn’t that sound almost exactly like a description of the Mass?  But we need a “sacramental imagination” in order to understand that the bread and wine we offer is different from the “bread” and “wine” that we receive – it’s been changed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the very Body and Blood of Christ.  We call this mystery “transubstantiation” – a complete change in substance from that of bread and wine to the substance of Christ Himself.  Jesus started with giving His disciples His Body and Blood at the Last Supper, and ever since, He’s often revealed Himself to His disciples in the breaking of the bread.    
          Sometimes, though, it can become too routine; the goal is to look at the Mass with eyes of faith – how does God want to speak to YOU through this Mass?  How does God want to inspire YOU?  Sunday Mass can be your “God moment,” but only if you let it.  One thing we could all work on is our active participation in the celebration of the Mass.  Active Participation involves more than just saying the responses or singing the hymns – that’s a pretty basic level of participation.  
          What we really mean by “participation” is celebrating the Mass with your body, mind, and soul.  We can experience God in and through the Mass when we open our ears to really listen to His word being proclaimed in the readings; and we can experience His grace when approach Holy Communion with faith that what we receive is the real and true Body and Blood of Christ.  We’re only going to get more out of the Mass when we’re willing to give more to the Mass.
         
          Anyone can go to an amusement park, but you don’t have any fun until you get on the rides; in the same way, anyone can come to Mass, but you won’t have an experience of God until you truly start investing yourself in worship.  God gives Himself to those who are interested in receiving; He reveals Himself to those who are looking for Him; He is known by those who are seeking His friendship. 
          Every time we come to Mass, we have a choice – will we invest ourselves, or not?  Will we be active participants, or passive observers?  My recommendation is this: start coming to Mass with your body, mind, and soul and be prepared to worship – be prepared to hear God speak to you through His word; be prepared to encounter Him working through the people sitting around you; be prepared to receive the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. 
          And then when we come to Mass, we, too, will be able to recognize Him in the breaking of the bread.