God's plan for the kingdom

Homily: 11^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B

          One of the most prevalent ideologies of our day—one, in fact, that covers many other ideologies—is that we make can make ourselves.  This is the idea that there is no set plan for our lives and so our job is simply to decide what we want to make of it and then to go and do it.  Our scriptures today remind us, however, that there is a plan, much bigger than us, that God is working around us and with which he wants us to cooperate so as to bring about his kingdom; and that our fulfillment comes not when we make ourselves, but when we participate in God’s plan.  Let’s take a look at what I mean.

          Like all good ideologies, the ideology that we can make ourselves is founded in truth.  Having been created in the image and likeness of God, we have freedom to determine our lives.  This is important: because, without this freedom, we would be less than human.  But where the ideology goes wrong is when it assumes that our freedom begins with a blank slate.  In other words, the ideology that states that we can make ourselves assumes that we can be anything we desire—that is, that, if we are free, we are free from all restrictions—and so we must determine for ourselves what we are going to be and then go out and do it ourselves.

          This type of freedom can certainly take us far; and thinking beyond all restrictions has helped us to achieve amazing things (space exploration being one of the most amazing ones, in my opinion).  It has the potential to lead us to great satisfaction in our lives—like when we set out to achieve a dream and then achieve it—but it also can lead us to the depths of despair—like when we realize that the goals upon which we had set all our hopes become unachievable (or, even worse, when we achieve the goals and find the achievement disappointing).  In either case, however, much is lost because this idea of freedom doesn’t take into account the bigger picture: that there is a plan, much bigger than us, that God is working around us and with which he wants us to cooperate.  This is the message in our scriptures today.

          In the first reading and the reading from the Gospel, we hear about how God’s plans are working mysteriously around us in order to build his kingdom.  In the beautifully poetic passage from the prophet Ezekiel, we heard an allegory for how God will build his kingdom.  From the many branches of the cedar tree, which represent the many nations of the world, some big and strong, others less so, God will choose a tender, young branch from the top of the tree, that is, a nation that doesn’t seem significant, and he will remove it from the tree and plant it in a choice place where not only will it grow, but it will grow and stand tall above all of the other nations.  It will be fruitful, meaning prosperous, and the birds of the air, meaning the peoples of all nations, will flock towards it to nest among its branches.

          Notice in this allegory that the tender branch doesn’t choose on its own to be removed from the tree and planted on the place where it can grow to be greater than the tree from which it was taken.  Rather, it is God who chooses the branch and the place where it would be planted so that it can flourish and become the place to which all the birds of the air will flock.  In other words, the “tender branch” couldn’t make itself into God’s kingdom, nor did it prove itself worthy, but rather cooperated with God and his plan working through it in order to achieve the full flourishing for which God had made it.

          This is the message for us.  Certainly, we can make a lot of ourselves in this world by our own doing.  We will never achieve the greatness that God wants for us by working on our own, however.  Rather, we must recognize that, if we exist, we do not exist for ourselves alone, but for a greater purpose: which is to be part of a plan that is working around us, orchestrated by God, to bring about his kingdom: the kingdom in which everyone will discover the full flourishing of happiness (which is the image of the birds of the air that nest in the tree’s branches).  We become part of the plan when we use our freedom to choose to cooperate with it.

          As the Gospel reading shows us, this cooperation doesn’t need to be very complicated.  In it, Jesus gives us two parables about the Kingdom of God.  “What is the Kingdom of God like?”, he asks.  Well, it’s like seeds sown in a field.  The farmer sows them and they become part of the earth.  Then, through the mystery of nature, they begin to grow and eventually produce fruit.  The farmer, having watched all of this, then comes to reap the harvest. 

          For us, this simple image still applies.  Our baptismal call is a simple one of spreading the seeds of the Gospel in the hearts of those around us.  We do this when we speak about our faith, telling others how the love of Christ has made a positive difference in our lives, and by our good works, showing that the love we receive is an unconditional love that begs to spill out to others.  Then, after spreading these seeds of faith, and by watering them by our constant witness to it, we wait as God then works mysteriously in the hearts where these seeds have been sown.  Soon, we begin to see the fruits of our labors in the form of conversions to the faith or in the fulfillment of vocations to Holy Marriage, the priesthood and the religious life: all of which are the harvested fruits of the Kingdom of God.

          In the second parable, Jesus again describes the Kingdom in simple terms.  He says that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed and notes that, though one of the smallest seeds, it nonetheless produces a large bush in which birds can make their nest.  What he is emphasizing is that something small and seemingly insignificant can—through God’s mysterious work—grow into something significant that can benefit many.  In doing so, he reminds us that even our smallest good works—a simple gesture, or a smile, or a kind word in a tense situation—things that don’t seem worth saying or doing—can and are used by God to produce great fruits in the lives of others.

          This is a great example for our fathers here today.  Though rarely easy, the task of being a father is simple.  There is no magic formula except to love your children and your spouse, to pray for and with your family, to teach your family the faith and to give example of living it in your own life, and to courageously stand up for the truth—both in your home and in the public square.  These are the seeds of faith that you as fathers are called to sow.  These are the seeds that God will use to produce a great harvest for his Kingdom.

          Friends, we are free to make of ourselves nearly anything that we desire.  But if an all-powerful, all-knowing, and infinitely loving God already has a plan for our eternal happiness, why would we want to follow our own plans?  Why not, instead, give ourselves over to cooperating with his plan, in which we are promised to find great fulfillment and peace?  Let us give ourselves, then, to this good work of planting the seeds of God’s kingdom: for when we do, we’ll find that the happiness that we were pursuing, has actually been pursuing us; and God’s kingdom, the tender shoot that has been planted here among us, will flourish so as to draw all of God’s children back to himself.

Given at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – June 17^th, 2018

Fatherhood and the Eucharist

Homily: the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ – Cycle A

          Father’s Day, like Mother’s Day, is a great day because it is a day of remembering: remembering so as to honor.  If we stop for just a moment and think about it, we’ll see that this truly is a beautifully human thing: that we pause to recognize that there is something honorable in parenting (and, specifically, this weekend, in fatherhood).  That this year’s celebration of fathers coincides with our celebration of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ provides us with an excellent opportunity to reflect on fatherhood and the Eucharist.

          When we look at the Sacred Scriptures and the life of Jesus we detect many aspects of what it means to be a father.  A father has a real love for his children no matter how they may respond to him.  A father’s deepest desire is for his children to know and experience his love.  He desires the well-being of his children and teaches them how to love others by his example.  A father must at times correct, admonish and warn his children for protection’s sake.  A father always speaks the truth with love, even when it is difficult.  Christian fathers, in particular, must know how to teach their children to receive God’s love in prayer and to taste and see God at work in everyday life. Ultimately, when examined closely, we acknowledge that the fullness of fatherly love is the complete surrender that a man makes of himself for his children.

          We recognize these qualities in the life of Jesus in his preaching, in his teaching, in his healing and deliverance ministry, and especially in his loving relationship with his closest disciples, the apostles.  He speaks of his love for his apostles when he says "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you, abide in my love."  He calls them friends.  He corrects them when he overhears them arguing over who is the greatest.  In order to remain faithful to the Father’s ways, Jesus strongly rebukes Peter with the words, "Get behind me Satan."  He prays for Peter personally as well as for the well-being of all the apostles and those who will believe in him in the future.  Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, calling God “Father”, and teaches them by his example to go off in quiet prayer.  Jesus promises the Advocate who will instruct the apostles in all matters and keep them in the truth.

          Since Christ is the “image of the invisible God”, we can see in him and by his example, the fullness of the Father’s love for us.  Truly, the giving of his Son is the fullest surrender of himself that God the Father could make for us.  The fact that this surrender continues to happen each and every day—each and every hour—on countless altars throughout the world, is evidence of the Father's unfathomable love for us.  Thus, in celebrating the real and enduring presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, what we are celebrating is the real and enduring Love of the Father poured out for us.

          Fatherhood, therefore, is fully realized when a father surrenders himself fully and continually for his children.  In other words, just as the outpouring of God the Father’s love for us is real and enduring, so the outpouring of a father’s love for his children must be both real and enduring.  While I could name for you a number of saints who demonstrated this fatherly virtue heroically, I’d like to introduce you to a great example who has not yet been nominated for sainthood, instead.  He is Karol Josef Wojtila, senior: Saint John Paul II’s father.

          The elder Karol was a retired soldier from the Polish army and a tailor.  He was widowed when young Karol, his son, was the age of nine.  He had already lost one daughter in infancy and later would suffer the loss of his eldest son, Edmund.  He was an upright man and a man of deep piety.  As an example, Saint John Paul II would recall that, after the death of his mother, his father took him into his parish church and led him to the image of Mary, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and said to him: “She is your mother now.”

          While other men may have gotten lost in their grief and become distant from their family, Karol senior remained engaged in the lives of his sons.  He made his young son’s clothes himself, he did the cooking and cleaning, and he encouraged his sons in their friendships, their studies and their sports.  Above all, and especially for Karol junior, Karol senior formed his son’s early faith.  The Pope, himself, describes this best.  He wrote: “My father [was] a deeply religious man.  Day after day I was able to observe the austere way in which he lived.  By profession he was a soldier and, after my mother's death, his life became one of constant prayer.  Sometimes I would wake up during the night and find my father on his knees, just as I would always see him kneeling in the parish church.”  This real and enduring outpouring of love for his children had a deep and enduring impact on a man whose real and enduring outpouring of love would have a deep and enduring impact on the world.

          My brothers and sisters, the example of Karol Wojtyla senior shows us that being a father is about generating life.  This generation of life doesn’t end, however, after the conception of a child.  Rather, it must continue throughout the child’s life.  In other words, every father must make a real and enduring outpouring of his life so that his children may grow into life.  Logic tells us, of course, that one cannot give something that one does not have and so the question arises: “How can a father be continually filled with life so that he can continually pour out his life for his children?”  The answer is in our Gospel reading today.  There Jesus says: “Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.”  The answer, in other words, is the Eucharist.  Therefore, fathers, it behooves you to approach this altar frequently—even daily, if possible—because by receiving the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus in the Eucharist you receive Life, himself, and thus are filled with life so that you can pour yourself out for your children.

          And so, my friends, as we celebrate this wonderful gift that has been given to us—the real and enduring presence of Jesus: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist—and as we recognize and honor the fathers among us, let us give thanks to God the Father in heaven for this amazing gift of his love and let us pray for the fathers among us that, strengthened by this Holy Sacrament, they might continually generate life in their children, like Karol Wojtyla senior did, and thus produce an abundant harvest of life for the world.  Saint Joseph, patron of fathers, pray for us!

Given at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – June 18^th, 2017

He's there in the storm

          Friends, thank you for your prayers this past week!  The entire Catholic Heart Work Camp experience was blessed from start to finish.  Our Lord touched the hearts of hundreds of youth (and their adults!) this week and everyone returned safe.  I can only praise God for his goodness and for the prayers and support of all of you who helped make it happen.  THANK YOU!

          During the last week before leaving, when everything seemed like it was about to fall apart, I knew that it was only by God's grace that this trip would happen, so I decided to praise God outwardly whenever possible.  Each time I saw Humberto (my "partner in crime" for planning this trip) I would say: "Hey Humberto, how often is God good?" and he would reply: "All the time!" And then I would say: "All the time God is what?" and he would reply: "Good!"  This helped us to place this trip completely into God's hands and he spoke to us in this storm by providing a solution that we thought wouldn't be possible.

          Now that we are back, we will continue to encourage our youth to Amplify their faith in actions so as to grow God's kingdom right here in Cass County.  May each of you have the courage to respond to God in this way so as to join us in this good work.

Happy Father's Day to all Dads (natural and spiritual)!

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Homily: 12^th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Cycle B

          As most of you know, this past week I was with a group of 27 teens and their adult chaperones at Catholic Heart Work Camp in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  Although we call it a “summer mission trip”, in reality what the teens and adults participate in during this week is a Catholic summer camp for those who have been initiated into the faith.  The purpose of the camp is to provide Catholic youth with an experience of discipleship that will lead them to transition from having a faith that is merely received (that is, a faith that simply repeats what is taught) to having a faith that is owned (that is, a faith that is personally acknowledged and accepted as one’s own choice).  It does this by providing a dynamic environment that mixes high-energy programming with prayerful times of reflection and, most uniquely, the opportunity to experience what it means to truly live out that faith in actions by serving those in need through work projects.

          The hoped-for result from this camp experience is that the teens will bring this new-found energy for owning and living their faith back into their home communities and begin to act in order to be a force for building up God’s kingdom here on earth.  Thus, the camp programming emphasizes what we heard from Saint Paul’s letter to the Corinthians in today’s second reading: that “the love of Christ impels us” to go forward and to work for the building up of God’s kingdom in part through relieving the suffering of the poor.  I can personally testify that this is what happened with our teens (and the adults, as well) after this week of camp.

          One of the other things that the camp acknowledges is that there will be challenges to living out this faith once they return home.  There are many storms that teens face today: bullying, separation and divorce of parents, betrayals by friends, and the pressures that social media place on them to be noticed and liked by their peers.  For many teens, this leaves them fearful both that God may have abandoned them in their need or, worse yet, that God is not powerful enough to save them from these storms.  In reality, each of us must face stormy times in our lives and each of us has to wrestle with the fears that come with them.  Thankfully our Scripture readings speak to this today.

          First in the book of Job, we hear that God speaks to Job “out of the storm”.  Right away, we learn that it is not from outside of the storm that we encounter God, but rather that we encounter him right there in the midst of it.  In other words, God is there with us in the storm and if we seek him within it, instead of from without, he will speak to us there.  We also hear how God reminds Job of his power over the storm as he reminds him that he made the seas and the storm clouds and set for them the limits which they must not pass.  Job had feared both that God had abandoned him in this stormy time in his life and that God, perhaps, did not have the power to overcome them.  God, however, came to him to assure him of his presence and with great authority reminded him of his power over every storm.

          Then, in Mark’s Gospel, we hear the story of how Jesus and his disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee after a full day of teaching when a fierce storm rose up against them; and we hear that the disciples feared for their lives while Jesus slept.  Finally they gave in and cried out to Jesus: “do you not care that we are perishing?”  Their fear was not that Jesus didn’t have the power to save them, but rather that Jesus was choosing not to save them by remaining asleep.  In other words, their fear was that Jesus had abandoned them in their need.  Both of passages from Scripture, then, invite us to acknowledge in our own lives how we fail to recognize God’s presence in the midst of the storms in our lives as well as how we fail to have faith in his power to overcome them.

          The call that we receive today, therefore, is the call that Saint Paul gave to the Corinthians in his letter that we read from today: that is, the call to look at all things in a new way.  Paul boldly proclaims that, “once we have come to the conviction that one has died for all”, we must also acknowledge that in Christ “all have died”; and since Christ now lives so do we also now live in him.  Therefore, “the love of Christ impels us”, Paul says, to see all things in a new way: because worldly death is no longer death and thus there is nothing left to fear: because what greater fear could there be than the fear of an irreversible death?  Therefore, this new way of seeing leads to a new way of living: for now we must live knowing that Christ is with us in every storm; and thus we must take courage to acknowledge that he has not abandoned us to die, but rather that he is with us and that he has the power to calm every storm.  Armed with this knowledge and courage, we can go forward boldly to serve those feeling abandoned in their own storms so as to be Christ’s powerful presence to them.  This is the message that Catholic Heart Work Camp hopes to instill into the heart of every teen that participates in one of their camps, and it is the message that we are receiving in this Mass today.

          My brothers and sisters, this level of faith doesn’t bloom overnight.  Rather, achieving this level of faith is a process of growing and flourishing over time.  Nourished by the Sacraments and strengthened by our works of love, our faith grows and the kingdom of God is amplified here on earth.  Therefore, may the love of Christ encountered here at this altar impel us to this growth in faith: the faith that can make God’s kingdom truly present here.

Given at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – June 21^st, 2015