The Mission to Proclaim the Good News about our Humanity

 Homily: The Ascension of the Lord – Cycle B

         Friends, today we celebrate this great feast of the Ascension: the final, culminating act of our redemption.  This is not, of course, the crucial act: that was Jesus’ Passion, Death, and Resurrection.  Rather, it is the culminating act: the ultimate reason for which Jesus took on our human flesh, which is, to re-unite our humanity to God.  This, of course, is a joyful thing.  I mean, just think about your humanity for a moment.  Think about what happens when you don’t take a shower or a bath for a couple of days.  Think about changing diapers on babies or when they spit up on your shoulder.  Our humanity—as we experience it in this world, at least—is a messy (and often gross) thing.  Yet the Divine Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, took on our humanity, in all its grossness, suffered all of the worst things that it can experience in this world, and glorified it in his resurrection so that it could be restored to its perfect communion with the Holy Trinity: which is to say, into an existence of perfect and eternal happiness.

         Yet, in our Scriptures today, the greatness of this event does not seem to be the message.  The message, rather, seems to focus on the mission that Christ gives to his apostles.  In the first reading from the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, we hear Jesus speaking about the Holy Spirit that Jesus will send to empower his disciples to be his “witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  Then, in our reading from the Gospel of Mark, we hear Jesus giving his disciples this specific command: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.”  Notice at the end of that reading, after it describes Jesus’ ascension, it doesn’t say “And the disciples sat around and marveled that Jesus has taken our human nature to be re-united with the Holy Trinity.”  Rather it says that “they went forth and preached everywhere”.  So, if the Ascension is the culminating act of our redemption, why would the Scriptures spend so few verses on it and so many on the mission?  Let’s take a moment to reflect on that.

         I would argue that this is because the Easter season is not only about celebration, but also about preparation.  If you know me at all, you’ll know that I consider this time of Easter as a time of preparation to be re-sent out on mission.  If we think about it, we can recognize that this is what the original “Easter Season” was.  The Acts of the Apostles records this for us when it says: “[Jesus] presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”  What else could this have been, but a preparation for being sent out to be his “witnesses … to the ends of the earth”?  Therefore, if our celebration of Easter is going to be anything more than an excuse to eat our favorite foods that we gave up for Lent (at this point, do you even remember what you gave up for Lent?), and if our celebration of Pentecost is going to be anything more than a brief flash of red at church before going back to the green of Ordinary Time, then we, too, should have been preparing to renew our efforts to fulfill this great mission to proclaim the Gospel.

         Nevertheless, this begs the question… “What is the ‘gospel’ (that is, “What is the ‘good news’”)?”  The gospel is exactly that of which I spoke at the beginning of this homily: that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  Now, you might be saying to yourself, “Wait, that’s not what you said at the beginning of the homily.”  If so, you are both correct and incorrect.  Although I didn’t use those exact words, I did express that same idea.  The Life, Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ is what “giving his only Son” looked like.  And restoring our humanity to its original glory so that it may dwell with God in eternal happiness once again (meaning that each of us with a human nature can also dwell with God in eternal happiness) is what is meant when Jesus said that they “might not perish, but might have eternal life”.  This is the “gospel”—the “good news”—that Jesus commissioned his disciples to proclaim. ///

         Notice, for a moment, what this gospel doesn’t say: it doesn’t say that Jesus came to show us how to be good persons and, therefore, we are eternally grateful to him for it.  Rather, it says that our broken, messy, and often gross humanity has been perfected (that is, glorified) in Jesus Christ; and that, through him, we, too, can achieve and enjoy that perfection.

         Friends, if you need any sign that this gospel is needed in today’s world, you don’t have to look too far.  Ever since Adam and Eve’s sin, humankind has been plagued with pride: the kind of pride that makes us believe that we can perfect ourselves by our own ingenuity and, thus, have heaven right here.  Unfortunately, this usually results in things looking more distorted (and, therefore, less perfect) than they were in the first place.  In a recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan described her observation of modern art forms as pursuing the “uglification of everything”.  In theater and film, she’s watched as producers strive to display humanity in all its ugliness and brokenness and then just leave it there, unredeemed, as if there was nothing more to hope for except some sort of sympathy in our ugliness.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer for anyone whose pride or despair has led him or her down this dead-end road.

         Sadly, (as Ms. Noonan has observed) many people around us do not even know that there is anything more for which to hope than this disfigured humanity and our attempts to perfect it by ourselves.  Thus, we, who have received this good news, must be re-sent out on mission.  Just like Jesus’ first apostles, we, too, are called to be his “witnesses … to the ends of the earth” to bring this good news: that life is not just about how good you can make it in this world or learning to resign to its ugliness, but that it’s destined for something so much greater; which Jesus, in his ascension, has shown us.

         We are witnesses when we live as Saint Paul exhorts us to live in today’s second reading when he says: “I … urge you to live in a manner worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace…”  In this way, we will model authentic human community, built on love, and, thus, attract those seeking a perfect humanity so that they might find it in its fullness through union with Jesus Christ.

         Therefore, my friends, in this final week of the Easter season—that is, the final week of preparation to be re-sent out on mission—let rejoice that God has restored our human nature to its original perfection in Jesus Christ.  Let us also pray fervently for a renewal of God’s Holy Spirit in us: so that we can be witnesses for Christ and the gospel of salvation once again.

Given at St. Patrick Parish: Kokomo, IN – May 12^th, 2024

The formula for complete joy

 Homily: 6^th Sunday in Easter – Cycle B

          Many of you know that I was an engineer before becoming a priest.  One of the things that drew me to engineering was that I have always been fascinated by making things work.  When I was young, I would sometimes disassemble my toys just so I could figure out how to reassemble them and make them work again.  As I grew older, this fascination expanded into my science classes: especially chemistry.  I loved learning the different chemical reactions and then watching them happen when I mixed chemicals in the lab.  When I was old enough to drive and had my own car, I loved (and still love) doing the maintenance myself: knowing how to disassemble and reassemble the parts to restore my car to working order.  I pursued engineering, in part, because I desired to be someone who designed products that work for other people.

          Whether or not you are “mechanically inclined” like I am, there is a part of each of our psyches that looks for a “functional order” to the world.  In other words, each of our minds are always looking for the way to make things work in the world, so that we can feel comfortable moving around in it.  Some of the things are very concrete: like how to acquire food, clothing, and shelter.  Other things are a little more abstract, though still functional: like how to be part of a social network in which resources can be shared and safety can be assured.  For example, we learn that by being kind and generous with those around us we create social bonds of kinship in which there is a mutual care and concern for one another.  Thus, we look out for one another and create a network in which our sense of security is increased.  Like I said, it’s more abstract, but the formula is the same: I do these things in this way and that result happens.

          In our Gospel reading today, Jesus gives us a “formula” for joy: For your joy to be complete, remain in my love. You remain in my love when you keep my commandments.  For us Christians, we know that the way to achieve a full and perfect joy in our lives is to be in the love of Jesus.  Put simply: the merciful love of Jesus is the only thing that can save us from the sadness that comes to us because we must enduring suffering in this world.  The love that we receive from others is good and does provide relief from the suffering of this world; but it is only temporary.  The love of Jesus is the love that can make our joy complete.

          Thus, the next question becomes, “How do I remain in the love of Jesus?”  Jesus himself gives us the answer: “Keep my commandments.”  By keeping the commandments of Jesus, we order our lives in such a way that we remain close to him and in kinship with him, in which we experience the benefit of his grace and the safety of his providential care.

          Okay, so then the next question becomes, “What are the commandments of Jesus?”  Again, Jesus gives us the answer: “Love one another as I have loved you.”  Jesus further defines the greatest love (the love with which he loves us) is “to lay down one’s life for his friends”.  In Jesus’ case, this meant making of himself a redemptive sacrifice that restores us to communion with God, thus making possible the eternal life of complete joy that he promised to give us.  For us, this means making sacrifices of ourselves for the good of others.  Husbands for your wives and wives for your husbands.  Parents for your children and children for your brothers, sisters, and friends.  Bosses for your workers and workers for your bosses.  Priests for your parishioners and parishioners for your priests.  Those who have material/emotional/spiritual comfort for those who lack it.  I think you get the idea.  Wherever we have a connection with others, we are called to be ready to “lay down our lives” for their good.

          This, then, is the “formula” for achieving our complete joy: “Remain in the love of Jesus by keeping his commandment to love one another.”  Amazingly, this idea is confirmed in the secular science of psychology.  Clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson has said this: “There is very little difference [technically] from being self-conscious, that is, thinking about yourself or being concerned about yourself—or, for that matter, even being aware of yourself… [and experiencing] negative emotion.  In other words, there is no difference from being concerned about yourself and being miserable.  Those are the same thing.”  What he is saying, from the science of psychology, is the same thing that Jesus is saying to his disciples: when you focus exclusively on yourself and your own concerns, you lose joy; but when you focus on others and their concerns, you find joy.

          Okay, this sounds very idealistic, but practically it doesn’t seem possible to live this way, right?  I mean, at some level, I have to be concerned about myself, no?  Yes, that’s true.  To balance this, let’s turn to another teaching of Jesus.  Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus is confronted by one of the scribes and is challenged to argue for the “greatest commandment” of the law.  Jesus responds by saying, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind… The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt 26:38-39)  I want to focus on that last part: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

          In my own prayer and reflection, I have found great wisdom in the fact that God framed the commandment to love my neighbor in the context of my capacity to love myself.  This is because I have found that my capacity to love my neighbor is limited by my capacity to love myself.  In other words, I have found that, when I love myself little, I love my neighbor little.  But when I love and care for myself in a generous way, I find myself capable to love my neighbor in an even more generous way.  Thus, it seems that the limit of my capacity to be generous and accepting of others and of serving their needs is the limit I place on being generous and accepting of myself and of taking care of my needs.  Therefore, to love myself—not in a greedy way, but in a healthy way of attending to my own needs—increases my capacity to love others; which, in turn, helps me to remain in the love of Jesus, through which I find complete joy in my life.  Can you see that there is no conflict here?  Rather, just a dynamic of love that lifts us out of our focus on the difficulties of life and into a focus on the communion with God and others that sustains us.

          My dear friends, as we continue through this Easter season—and prepare for the great feasts of Ascension and Pentecost in the coming weeks—let us not lose focus on Jesus’ command to remain in his love by keeping his commandment to love one another as he has loved us.  Here in this Eucharist, we are reminded of how he loved us: he gave us his Body and Blood to save us and to sustain us on our journey here on earth.  Strengthened, therefore, by God’s love poured out to us in this Eucharist, let us go forth from here to witness to God’s love in us; so that our joy, both in this world and in eternity, might be complete.

Given in Spanish at St. Joseph Parish: Rochester, IN – May 5^th, 2024

La formula para la alegria plena

 Homilía: 5º Domingo en la Pascua – Ciclo B

          Muchos de ustedes saben que fui ingeniero antes de ser sacerdote. Una de las cosas que me atrajo de la ingeniería fue que siempre me ha fascinado hacer que las cosas funcionen. Cuando era joven, a veces desarmaba mis juguetes solo para descubrir cómo volver a armarlos y hacerlos funcionar nuevamente. A medida que crecí, esta fascinación se expandió a mis clases de ciencias: especialmente química. Me encantó aprender las diferentes reacciones químicas y luego observarlas cuando mezclaba productos químicos en el laboratorio. Cuando tuve edad suficiente para conducir y tuve mi propio carro, me encantaba (y todavía me encanta) hacer yo mismo el mantenimiento: saber cómo desmontar y volver a montar las piezas para que mi carro vuelva a funcionar. Me dediqué a la ingeniería, en parte, porque deseaba ser alguien que diseñara productos que funcionaran para otras personas.

          Ya sea que tengas o no “inclinaciones mecánicas” como yo, hay una parte de cada una de nuestras psiques que busca un “orden funcional” para el mundo. En otras palabras, cada una de nuestras mentes siempre está buscando la manera de hacer que las cosas funcionen en el mundo, para que podamos sentirnos cómodos moviéndonos en él. Algunas de las cosas son muy concretas: como cómo adquirir comida, ropa y refugio. Otras cosas son un poco más abstractas, aunque siguen siendo funcionales: como cómo ser parte de una red social en la que se pueden compartir recursos y se puede garantizar la seguridad. Por ejemplo, aprendemos que al ser amables y generosos con quienes nos rodean creamos vínculos sociales de parentesco en los que hay cuidado y preocupación mutuos unos por otros. Así, nos cuidamos unos a otros y creamos una red en la que nuestra sensación de seguridad aumenta. Como dije, es más abstracto, pero la fórmula es la misma: hago estas cosas de esta manera y se produce ese resultado.

          En la lectura del Evangelio de hoy, Jesús nos da una “fórmula” para la alegría: Para que su alegría sea plena, permanecen en mi amor. Permanecen en mi amor cuando cumplen mis mandamientos. Para nosotros los cristianos, sabemos que el camino para alcanzar una alegría plena y perfecta en nuestras vidas es estar en el amor de Jesús. En pocas palabras: el amor misericordioso de Jesús es lo único que puede salvarnos de la tristeza que nos sobreviene porque debemos soportar el sufrimiento en este mundo. El amor que recibimos de los demás es bueno y proporciona alivio del sufrimiento de este mundo; pero es sólo temporal. El amor de Jesús es el amor que puede hacer que nuestra alegría sea plena.

          Por lo tanto, la siguiente pregunta es: "¿Cómo permanezco en el amor de Jesús?" El mismo Jesús nos da la respuesta: “Cumplen mis mandamientos”. Al cumplir los mandamientos de Jesús, ordenamos nuestra vida de tal manera que permanecemos cerca de él y en parentesco con él, en el que experimentamos el beneficio de su gracia y la seguridad de su cuidado providencial.

          Bueno, entonces la siguiente pregunta es: “¿Cuáles son los mandamientos de Jesús?” Nuevamente Jesús nos da la respuesta: “se amen unos a otros como yo los he amado”. Jesús define además que el amor más grande (el amor con el que nos ama) es "dar la vida por sus amigos". En el caso de Jesús, esto significó hacer de sí mismo un sacrificio redentor que nos devuelva a la comunión con Dios, haciendo posible así la vida eterna de alegría plena que prometió darnos. Para nosotros, esto significa hacer sacrificios por el bien de los demás. Maridos para sus esposas y esposas para sus maridos. Padres para sus hijos e hijos para sus hermanos, hermanas y amigos. Jefes para sus trabajadores y trabajadores para sus jefes. Sacerdotes para sus feligreses y feligreses para sus sacerdotes. Los que tienen consuelo material/emocional/espiritual para los que carecen de él. Creo que entienden la idea. Dondequiera que tengamos una conexión con los demás, estamos llamados a estar dispuestos a “dar la vida” por su bien.

          Esta es, pues, la “fórmula” para alcanzar nuestra alegría plena: “permanecen en el amor de Jesús, cumpliendo su mandamiento de amarlos unos a otros”. Sorprendentemente, esta idea se confirma en la ciencia secular de la psicología. El psicólogo clínico Jordan Peterson ha dicho lo siguiente: “Hay muy poca diferencia [técnicamente] entre ser consciente de uno mismo, es decir, pensar en uno mismo o preocuparse por uno mismo... [y experimentar] emoción negativa. En otras palabras, no hay diferencia entre preocuparse por uno mismo y sentirse miserable. Son lo mismo”. Lo que está diciendo, desde la ciencia de la psicología, es lo mismo que Jesús les está diciendo a sus discípulos: cuando se centra exclusivamente en sí mismo y en sus propias preocupaciones, pierde la alegría; pero cuando se concentra en los demás y sus preocupaciones, encuentra alegría.

          Bueno, esto suena muy idealista, pero prácticamente no parece posible vivir así, ¿verdad? Quiero decir, en algún nivel, tengo que preocuparme por mí mismo, ¿no? Sí, eso es verdad. Para equilibrar esto, recurramos a otra enseñanza de Jesús. En otra parte de los evangelios, Jesús se enfrenta a uno de los escribas y se le desafía a defender el “mandamiento mayor” de la ley. Jesús responde diciendo: “Amarás al Señor, tu Dios, con todo tu corazón, con toda tu alma y con toda tu mente… El segundo es semejante: amarás a tu prójimo como a ti mismo”. (Mt 26:38-39) Quiero centrarme en esa última parte: “Amarás a tu prójimo como a ti mismo”.

          En mi propia oración y reflexión, he encontrado gran sabiduría en el hecho de que Dios formuló el mandamiento de amar a mi prójimo en el contexto de mi capacidad de amarme a mí mismo. Esto se debe a que he descubierto que mi capacidad de amar a mi prójimo está limitada por mi capacidad de amarme a mí mismo. En otras palabras, he descubierto que, cuando me amo poco a mí mismo, amo poco a mi prójimo. Pero cuando me amo y cuido de mí mismo de manera generosa, me encuentro capaz de amar a mi prójimo de una manera aún más generosa. Así, parece que el límite de mi capacidad de ser generoso y aceptar a los demás y de atender sus necesidades es el límite que le pongo a ser generoso y aceptarme a mí mismo y a ocuparme de mis necesidades. Por lo tanto, amarme a mí mismo—no de manera codiciosa, sino de una manera saludable de atender mis propias necesidades—aumenta mi capacidad de amar a los demás; lo cual, a su vez, me ayuda a permanecer en el amor de Jesús, a través del cual encuentro plena alegría en mi vida. ¿Pueden ver que no hay ningún conflicto aquí? Más bien, simplemente una dinámica de amor que nos saca de nuestro enfoque en las dificultades de la vida y nos centra en la comunión con Dios y con los demás que nos sostiene.

          Queridos hermanos, mientras avanzamos en esta temporada de Pascua—y nos preparamos para las grandes fiestas de la Ascensión y Pentecostés en las próximas semanas—no perdamos de vista el mandato de Jesús de permanecer en su amor cumpliendo su mandamiento de amarnos unos a otros como él nos ha amado. Aquí en esta Eucaristía se nos recuerda cuánto nos amó: nos dio su Cuerpo y Sangre para salvarnos y sostenernos en nuestro viaje aquí en la tierra. Fortalecidos, pues, por el amor de Dios derramado sobre nosotros en esta Eucaristía, salgamos de aquí para dar testimonio del amor de Dios en nosotros; para que nuestra alegría, tanto en este mundo como en la eternidad, sea plena.

Dado en la parroquia de San Jose: Rochester, IN – 05 de mayo, 2024