Is our love super-natural?

Homily: 5^th Sunday of Easter – Cycle C

          I would dare to say that most of us know what self-sacrificial love looks like.  This is because most of us have had opportunities to exercise this type of love in our lives.  If you’re parents, you know that, to give your children the best opportunities in this world, you have to make sacrifice after sacrifice: both in little things and in big things.  If you’re married, you know that, to give your wife or husband the happiness that he/she deserves, you, too, have to make sacrifice after sacrifice: again, both in little things and in big things (and you recognize it even when you fail to do it… and sometimes especially when you fail to do it… am I right?).  Best friends, too, know that they show their love most when they make sacrifices for each other.

          Now these sacrifices of self are called love because they are made for the good of the other and not for the good of the one making the sacrifice—but rather purely because the one making the sacrifice desires the good of the other.  Although we often look at this type of love as heroic, the fact of the matter is that it is quite natural for us.  When we feel an affinity for or with someone, we become willing to suffer many things for them.

          As Christians, however, we are called to take this kind of love to the next level.  We are asked to love everyone—including those with whom we may have no connection—and we’re called to love them as if they were our wife, our son, or our best friend.  This is a new kind of love: a love that goes beyond our natural inclinations—beyond, at least, our natural inclinations weakened by sin.  This is a love, therefore, that is beyond nature: a love that is truly super-natural.

          The apostles Paul and Barnabas show us an example of this kind of super-natural love in our first reading today.  To see this, we must first take a closer look at a part of the reading that we might just ignore if we didn’t know the context.  Therefore, let’s take a closer look at the beginning of the reading.  The reading opens by saying: “After Paul and Barnabas had proclaimed the good news to that city and made a considerable number of disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.”  “That city” is Derbe, which is the place to which Paul and Barnabas went after they had been driven out of Lystra, which was the city to which they went after they had been driven out of Iconium.  The Scriptures tell us that the Jews and Gentiles in Iconium plotted to stone Paul and Barnabas, but that Paul and Barnabas discovered the plot and so fled to Lystra.  While they proclaimed the Good News there, Jews from Iconium showed up, stirred up the crowds, and actually succeeded in stoning Paul; after which they dragged him out of the city, supposing he was dead.  He wasn’t dead, but the next day Paul and Barnabas left Lystra for Derbe to proclaim the Good News there.

          Now, doesn’t that first line seem much more significant?  It said, “They returned to Lystra and to Iconium…”  They returned to the very place where the people wanted them dead!  And why?  Well, the Scriptures don’t say it plainly, but I believe it is because of the love that they had for the people of those cities.  These were not people that they knew.  Rather, they were people who needed to receive the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ; and Paul and Barnabas would not be stopped until the people of these cities received this Good News.  Their efforts were of no benefit to themselves—the Scriptures show us that it brought them nothing but death threats.  Rather, their efforts were purely for the benefit of those who received them: the sign of true self-sacrificial love on the super-natural level.

          This kind of super-natural love is the kind of love that Jesus commands for his disciples when he gives them the “new commandment” to love one another.  And just to be sure that his disciples knew that he meant something more than our natural ability to love one another, he followed this command by saying, “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another”.  And what was Jesus’ super-natural act of love?  The cross, of course.  There, he handed over his life completely for everyone—everyone who ever existed, everyone who existed then or exists now, and everyone who will ever exist—regardless of whether they accept him or not.  And he did it not for any benefit that he would gain for himself—he is the Son of God, he has no need of anything—but rather for the benefit of everyone else, simply because he desired it for them… for us.  This is the same super-natural love that led Paul and Barnabas, filled with the Holy Spirit, back into Lystra and Iconium; and this is the same super-natural love that we are still called to offer in our own lives today. ///

          A few years ago, Penn Jillette (who is one half of the comedy duo “Penn & Teller” and who is an avowed atheist) recorded a little video describing how a man approached him after one of his comedy shows and gave him a little book of the New Testament and the Psalms.  He said that he appreciated receiving it.  As an atheist, he was commending this man for proselytizing because, he said, it seemed to him to be a logical consequence of belief and of being a good person.  “How much do you have to hate somebody,” he said, “to believe that everlasting life is possible and then not tell them [about it]?”  I dare say that his question is a challenging question to us all.  Do we really love with the super-natural love that Christ commands us to have if we believe what we profess to believe, but then choose not to share it?  My friends, the answer is “no”.

          Thus, I’m glad that these readings come to us today, during this Easter season, because they remind us that Easter isn’t just about “alleluias”, but that it’s also about inspiring our apostolate—that is, how we live as apostles—those sent to proclaim this Good News.  Here in the Eucharist, we encounter the super-natural love of Jesus—the re-presentation of the sacrifice of his body and blood for us—and in the dismissal at the end of Mass, we are sent to go forth from here and to give that love to everyone around us: both by proclaiming this good news to anyone who will listen and then by walking with them as they come to know the love of Christ for themselves.

          Therefore, my brothers and sisters, let us not allow our celebration here to be incomplete: that is, something which we enjoy for ourselves and then leave here.  Rather, let us ask in this Eucharist for the grace to go forth from here with hearts full of love—true, super-natural love—ready to sacrifice our own lives so that others may live; and so that John’s vision of a “new heaven and a new earth”, made new by Christ’s death and resurrection, may be known to us now, in our own time.

Given at Saint Mary’s Cathedral: Lafayette, IN – May 19^th, 2019

Super-natural Love

Thank you for all of your prayers last week!  I had a very blessed retreat.

Homily: 5^th Sunday of Easter – Cycle C

          I would dare to say that most of you know what self-sacrificial love looks like.  This is because most of us have had opportunities to exercise this type of love in our lives.  Parents know that, to give their children the best opportunities in this world, they have to make sacrifice after sacrifice: both in little things and in big things.  Married men and women know that, to give their wife or husband the happiness they deserve, they, too, have to make sacrifice after sacrifice: again, both in little things and in big things (and they recognize it even when they fail to do it… and sometimes especially when they fail to do it… am I right?).  Best friends, too, know that they show their love the most when they make sacrifices for each other.

          Now these sacrifices of self are called love because they are made for the good of the other and not for the good of the one making the sacrifice —purely because the one making the sacrifice desires the good of the other.  Although we often look at this type of love as heroic, the fact of the matter is that it is quite natural for us.  When we feel an affinity for or with someone, we become willing to suffer many things for them.

          As Christians, however, we are called to take this kind of love to the next level.  We are asked to love everyone—including those with whom we may have no connection—and we’re called to love them as if they were our wife, our son, or our best friend.  This is a new kind of love: a love that goes beyond our natural inclinations—beyond, at least, our natural inclinations weakened by sin.  A love, therefore, that is super-natural.

          The apostles Paul and Barnabas show us an example of this kind of super-natural love in our first reading today.  To see this we must first take a closer look at a part of the reading that we might just ignore if we didn’t know the context.  The reading opens by saying: “After Paul and Barnabas had proclaimed the good news to that city and made a considerable number of disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.”  “That city” is Derbe, which is the place that Paul and Barnabas went to after they had been driven from Lystra, which was the city to which they went after they had been driven out of Iconium.  The Scriptures tell us that the Jews and Gentiles in Iconium plotted to stone Paul and Barnabas, but that they discovered the plot and fled to Lystra.  While they proclaimed the Good News there, Jews from Iconium showed up, stirred up the crowds, and actually succeeded in stoning Paul; after which they dragged him out of the city, supposing he was dead.  He wasn’t dead, but the next day they left Lystra for Derbe to proclaim the Good News there.

          Now, doesn’t that first line seem much more significant?  “They returned to Lystra and to Iconium…”  They returned to the very place where the people wanted them dead!  And why?  The Scriptures don’t say it plainly, but I believe it is because of the love that they had for the people of those cities.  These were not people that they knew.  Rather, they were people who needed to receive the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ and Paul and Barnabas would not be stopped until the people of these cities received this Good News.  Their efforts were of no benefit to themselves—the Scriptures show us that it brought them nothing but death threats.  Rather, they were purely for the benefit of those who received them: the sign of true self-sacrificial love on the super-natural level.

          This kind of super-natural love is kind of love that Jesus commands for his disciples when he gives them the “new commandment” to love one another.  And just to be sure that his disciples knew that he meant something more than our natural ability to love one another, he followed this command by saying “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another”.  And what was Jesus’ super-natural act of love?  The cross, of course.  There, he handed over his life completely for everyone—everyone who ever existed, everyone who existed then or exists now, and everyone who will ever exist—regardless of whether they accept him or not.  And he did it not for any benefit that he would gain for himself—he is the Son of God, he has no need of anything—but rather for the benefit of everyone else, simply because he desired it for them… for us.  This is the same super-natural love that led Paul and Barnabas, filled with the Holy Spirit, back into Lystra and Iconium; and this is the same super-natural love that we are still called to offer in our own lives today.

          A couple of years ago, Penn Jillette (one half of the comedy duo “Penn & Teller” and an avowed atheist) recorded a little video describing how a man approached him after a show and gave him a little book of the New Testement and Psalms.  He said that he appreciated it.  As an atheist, he was promoting proselytizing because, he says, it seems to be a logical consequence of belief and of being a good person.  “How much do you have to hate somebody,” he said, “to believe that everlasting life is possible and then not tell them [about it]?”  I dare say that it is a challenging question to us all.  Perhaps we can stretch what he is saying a bit to say that, if you truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died for our sins but now lives eternally and that those who believe in him will have eternal life, then you do not yet have super-natural love within you—the love that Jesus commanded his disciples to have—if you do not strive to share this Good News with everyone you encounter who has either not yet heard it or has heard it but does not yet believe.

          And I think that this is true.  I’m glad that these readings come to us today, during this Easter season, because they remind us that Easter isn’t just about “alleluias”, but that it’s also about inspiring our apostolate: that is, how we live as apostles—those sent to proclaim this Good News.  Here in the Eucharist, we encounter the super-natural love of Jesus—the re-presentation of the sacrifice of his body and blood for us—and in the dismissal at the end of Mass, we are sent to go from here and to give that love to everyone around us.  Therefore, let us not allow our celebration here to be empty.  Rather, let us ask in this Eucharist for the grace to go forth from here with hearts full of love—true super-natural love—ready to sacrifice our own lives so that others may receive this Good News and live.

Given at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – April 24^th, 2016

The gates of the netherworld shall not prevail

          I cannot chalk it up to anything but God's providence that a federal judge in Indiana would declare it unconstitutional to deny same-sex couples marriage licenses in this state during the Fortnight For Freedom and when we are celebrating the feast of the Church's greatest martyrs, Saints Peter and Paul.  It provided a great opportunity for me to speak about how our faithfulness to God and the mission we have received from him will keep us under God's sovereignty, in spite of whatever our government tries to throw at us.  Therefore be bold!  Confess the truth about God and the human person, in love, wherever you are and you, too, will come to share the crown of righteousness!

          Click here to read the Indiana Bishops' statement regarding this week's ruling.  Take note of what they highlight as the difference between what we know as marriage and what our courts are trying to define it as.  If you are married, you should make sure that your marriage falls on the correct side of that distinction.

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Homily: Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles – Cycle A

          Well, my friends, let’s face it.  When it comes to national politics, Indiana just isn’t on anybody’s radar.  If you’ve been around for a while and have been through a few election cycles, you’ll know that the words “Indiana” and “swing state” or “critical to this election” are almost never uttered in the same sentence.  Although big in size, we just don’t have enough people to make a difference one way or another.  Oh sure, perhaps one of our senate seats will be up for grabs and the outcome of that race might be important for which party has the majority, like it was in the last election cycle, but other than that Indiana doesn’t get a lot of air play on the national scene.

          The ancient Jewish nation of Judah experienced much of the same thing during the time of the early Church.  Occupied by the Roman Empire, the nation that, at different times in its history, was a powerful nation in the area was simply a small outpost along the Roman trade route with Egypt.  Nothing that happened there really made news elsewhere in the Roman Empire.

          Unlike other empires before them, the Roman Empire didn’t try to wipe out the culture of the peoples that they conquered.  Rather, they kept the local government intact, as long as it made itself obedient to Caesar.  Thus, during the time of Jesus and the early Church, a Jew named Herod was still in place as the King of Judah, in spite of the Roman occupation.

          Now Herod knew that his place as king was a tenuous one.  Many of the Jews were not happy with the Roman occupation and it looked like Herod wasn’t trying to do anything about it.  Yet he knew that to try and do anything against them would mean almost certain destruction—both for the nation and for himself—so he walked the line between the two.

          This followed into his dealings with Jewish religious life.  John the Baptizer had made quite a stir with his teachings; and when Herod let himself get tricked into having him killed, he knew that it didn’t bode well with the people.  And so when Jesus came his way, he basically ignored him, sending him back to Pilate to be judged.

          The nascent group of Jesus’ followers, however, was causing a real stir in Judah and so, increasingly, Herod knew that he was going to have to act.  When he did take a firm action and had James the Apostle killed, he found that the people, in general, were pleased with this and, thus, that it boosted his image.  Emboldened by this, he then had Peter arrested so as to convict and execute him as well.  Perhaps he thought that if he worked swiftly and decisively against these followers of Jesus that he would get noticed by Rome (and at least secure his place as King of Judah).

          A federal judge here in Indiana has, in a way, done much of the same thing in this past week.  Seeing that bans on giving marriage licenses to couples of the same sex were being ruled “unconstitutional” in states across the nation, he ruled the same here in Indiana.  Now, I cannot stand here and claim that this was in any way an attempt by this judge to grab notoriety.  I don’t know anything about him except that he is the judge that ruled that Indiana’s ban on giving marriage licenses to same-sex couples is “unconstitutional”.  Nevertheless, it does seem to me to be an example of someone who might not otherwise tread out into tumultuous waters such as these being emboldened to do so because he sees that it is “pleasing to the people”.

          With Peter and Paul, however, we see that it wasn’t the political power that had the last word.  Although after having Peter arrested Herod had him bound and guarded tighter than any other criminal, God intervened and provided for Peter’s escape.  Of course, we know that this would be only a temporary escape and that in the not-so-distant future Peter would find himself in Rome where he would be crucified on the Vatican hill.  Nevertheless, this was a clear sign that God was in control and that he would not let Peter be martyred until he had finished the mission he had given him.

          In Paul’s letter to Timothy he speaks of how he, too, was delivered by God so that he could “finish the race”—that is, complete his mission here on earth.  He speaks of the Lord standing by him and giving him strength and of how the Lord rescued him “from the lion’s mouth” when all of his companions had abandoned him, so that “the proclamation might be completed”; which, for Paul, also led him to Rome where he, too, would be martyred.  These were meant to be proofs, both to Peter and to Paul—and to the Church and to those who were persecuting it—that God’s mission for these men (and, thus, the Church) would not be thwarted by the powers of this world.

          And this is the message that comes to us at this dangerous moment in the life of our nation (and, now, our state).  The powers that be continue to make decisions that undermine the institutions that are the foundations of our society.  These decisions are already negatively affecting the Church.  Catholic adoption agencies in states where couples of the same sex are given licenses to marry are forced to close their doors when federal funding is taken away from them because they refuse to place children in homes of same-sex couples.  Catholic health care institutions throughout the country are threatened by the Health and Human Services mandate that all employers must provide contraception in their employee’s health benefits.  Now, what constitutes a family is being completely redefined and it would be naïve to think that this will not, eventually, affect the Church.

          Yet what we celebrate today is that the sovereignty of God is greater than our fault-filled attempts to govern ourselves.  Just as God would not let Peter or Paul be martyred before their mission on earth was complete, so too he will not let these evil powers prevail against us until our mission here is complete.  We will only see that, however, if we remain faithful to our mission, like Peter and Paul did.  If we do, then we will be able to say, like Paul, that, even though we are “being poured out like a libation”, we know that the “crown of righteousness awaits [us]”; because we have “competed well” and have “finished the race”.  And, thus, we, too, will know that Jesus’ promise to Peter is true: for the “gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against [us]”.

          This, my brothers and sisters, is what we celebrate today: that, through Jesus, evil has been conquered, even if it still exists today; and that in his Church, founded on the pillars of the Apostles Peter and Paul, we are secure.  But, if we are secure, it is only so that we can fulfill our mission: the work of building up his kingdom that he has given to each one of us.

          Therefore, my brothers and sisters, we cannot lay idle.  Rather, we must finish the race.  Let us not think that we are too small to make a difference: for Peter was an uneducated fisherman, unqualified to lead, yet qualified by his faith in Christ, and Paul, although learned, was also a great sinner who, by God’s grace, turned from his effort to destroy the Church to become its greatest builder.  Each of us can and will make a difference if we remain faithful to our call and finish the race.  Fed and strengthened by this Eucharist—and by our support of one another—we cannot fail to finish it.

          Let us, then, take courage to continue to speak boldly the truths about God and the human person which God has revealed to us in Jesus Christ, and to act on them by serving one another, so that, when we have finished the race, we, too, might receive the “crown of righteousness” that both Peter and Paul received: the gift of eternal life.

Given at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – June 29^th, 2014

The Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles