A New Pentecost for a New Evangelization

Homily: Pentecost – Cycle C

As you all remember, this past week Fr. Neterer and I were at our biennial priest convocation down in Brown County State Park.  It was a lovely couple of days to be away with our brother priests.  At the convocation, there is always a speaker that speaks on some theme of priestly life and ministry.  This year, our speaker was Dr. Ralph Martin, an author and professor of theology at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit.

I have to say that Dr. Martin was quite refreshing.  He shared with us his story of how he ended up as an author and seminary professor and I was edified that his path began in relatively normal circumstances.  For example, the Holy Spirit first touched his heart when he participated in a Cursillo weekend.  All of you who are Cursillistas, or who have been through Christ Renews His Parish or even an Antioch retreat, have had very similar experiences to the one that opened Dr. Martin’s heart to the grace of a spiritual awakening.  He spoke very plainly and humbly, and he was a great witness to us.  And, after sharing his witness, he spoke to us about the New Evangelization.

The “New Evangelization”, if you’ve never heard of it before (or, if you have, but don’t understand what it is), is something for which our Popes have been calling for the last 40 years or so.  If you think that it has something to do with going out and finding people who have never heard of Jesus to tell them about Jesus and the saving news of the Gospel, then you will have thought well, but you will have thought wrong.  The New Evangelization is not about evangelizing those who have never heard of Jesus Christ (though that work is still necessary), but rather about evangelizing those who are already in the Church.  Sounds strange, perhaps, but here’s what it means:

Since the Second Vatican Council, it seems, there has been a disconnect between the initiation of men and women to the faith and their evangelization.  In other words, we’ve sacramentalized millions of people (meaning, we’ve given them the sacraments), but we’ve done a poor job of introducing them to the person of Jesus (that is, the person for whom and through whom they have been sacramentalized).  In the past, this didn’t seem to be so big of a problem, since the surrounding culture supported and encouraged men and women to continue the practice of the faith, even if they didn’t always have an understanding of the relationship with God that their practice maintained.  Today, the cultural support for religious practice has disappeared (in fact, it has become hostile to it); and so, those who have been sacramentalized but not evangelized fall away from the faith since they see no underlying reasons to continue to practice it.  The New Evangelization calls us to take up the task of evangelizing the baptized so that the sacramental grace that they have received may become active in their lives and draw them back into the practice of the faith.

Perhaps some of you are thinking to yourselves, “surely it is not I, Father, who hasn’t been evangelized?”  Well, chances are that a number of you sitting here this morning do fall into this category.  If so, don’t worry.  It is not a sin to be sacramentalized and not evangelized, if it happened due to no fault of your own.  And most of the people who fall into this category have already left the practice of the faith, anyway, so they wouldn’t be here (and certainly not at 7:30 in the morning!).  Regardless of whether you’d count yourselves among the evangelized or the merely sacramentalized, there is a message for us here today.  That message is the connection between Pentecost and the New Evangelization.

Dr. Martin, echoing the Popes all the way back to John XXIII, said that the New Evangelization demands a new Pentecost.  Just as the first evangelization began when the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples in the Upper Room, so too will the New Evangelization take flight when the Church, on a large scale, calls for the Holy Spirit to descend upon her again.  This has already begun in a smaller scale as Ecclesial Movements like the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Cursillo (and all its permutations), and the Neo-Catechumenal Way have found a footing in the Church and are evangelizing the baptized: that is, helping men and women—long since baptized—to find and establish a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  We have these movements here in the Midwest—some right here in Lafayette—and so if something is stirring in you right now as you hear about these evangelizing groups, let me know and I’ll be more than happy to connect you to them.  All of these groups rely heavily on calling on the Holy Spirit to enlighten them, to guide them, and to strengthen them in their efforts to evangelize.

Nonetheless, you do not have to be a part of an ecclesial movement to participate in the New Evangelization; our scriptures today show us that.  In our second reading, Paul, writing to the Church in Corinth, says “to each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit”.  Did you hear that?  He said, “to each individual...”  That means that each and every one of you here—if you have been baptized—has been given a manifestation of the Holy Spirit.  And so, there’s no one here (again, if you’ve been baptized) who can say, “Oh, that Holy Spirit stuff is for other folks, not me.”  Each of us has been given a manifestation of the Spirit, “for some benefit”.  If we don’t know what those spiritual gift or gifts might be, then our task is to call on the Holy Spirit to enlighten us to those gifts so that we can begin to manifest them for the benefit of the kingdom of God, which has, at its root, the evangelization of peoples.  If we remember the Gospel parable of the talents, we remember that the master did not look kindly on the one who hid his talent instead of trading with it so as to multiply it.  So, too, it will be with us who have been given a manifestation of the Spirit for some benefit, but then failed to discern that gift and to apply it for the building of the kingdom.

And so, how do we come to know those spiritual gifts?  Well, the simple way is to call on the Holy Spirit regularly!  “Come, Holy Spirit” is a great prayer to the Holy Spirit that anyone can pray.  In our Gospel, today, however, Jesus shows us another way to open ourselves to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  He says: If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always...  The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”  In other words, if we love Jesus and keep his commandments, then Jesus himself will take care of sending the Spirit to us.  I like this method, because it keeps us focused on fostering our own relationship with Christ, which will be essential in any evangelizing work that we are given.  It also reminds us, however, that we cannot expect to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit if we refuse to turn away from our sins: that is, if we fail to keep the commandments of the Lord.  Thus, it is a constant urging to turn away from sin and be cleansed of it (especially in Confession) so as to remove all barriers to the Spirit’s manifestation in us.  Thus prayer, in which we communicate with Jesus daily, and frequent reception of the sacraments, are keys to unlocking the outpouring of the Spirit in us.

Friends, on this holy day—and at the end of this holy season—let us be bold in asking for a New Pentecost so that the work of the New Evangelization might be accomplished through us: the work of bringing our brothers and sisters to (or back to) the practice of the faith through a personal relationship with Jesus.  For it is this work that will make us saints; and it is this work that will usher in the day when Christ will return, in all his glory, to take us home to himself.  Come, Holy Spirit, Come!

Given at Saint Mary’s Cathedral: Lafayette, IN – June 9^th, 2019

Pentecost: the gratuitous warehouse explosion of the Christian life

          For those of you who don't know, I announced this past weekend that Bishop Doherty has decided to transfer my assignment from All Saints Parish to the Cathedral Parish of Saint Mary, the Immaculate Conception in Lafayette, effective June 27th.  Fr. Jeff Martin will take my place as pastor of All Saints, effective the same day.  I refer to this announcement in the homily.

Homily: Pentecost Sunday – Cycle B

          With the action-adventure film The Avengers: Infinity War already making more money than any other film worldwide (…ever!), it seems like the summer blockbuster season is already upon us.  Deadpool 2, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Ocean’s 8, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom… these are some of the other blockbusters opening in the coming weeks and, I can tell you, the list goes on and on.  As we know, a “blockbuster” is a movie with a lot of action, usually some sort of “end of the world” threat, and, of course, plenty of gratuitous explosions.  One of the classic clichés of these types of movies is what I call the “gasoline fueled warehouse explosion”.  This is where the character douses a warehouse with gasoline (or, some other flammable liquid that, conveniently, is being stored in the warehouse) with the intent of setting it ablaze and destroying the whole structure.  Then, just as he or she leaves, the character drops a lighter onto the fuel and walks away, while the flames quickly spread.  Then, the “money shot”: a wide angle shot where the character is walking towards the camera, away from the warehouse, when suddenly the warehouse explodes in the background, without so much as a flinch from the character.  You’ve seen this, right?  How many of you have seen some version of this scene in a movie before?

          In a way, the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, which we celebrated last week, is kind of like that.  Since Easter, the day of his Resurrection, Jesus, in his glorified body, walked among his disciples, teaching about how his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead had fulfilled all that had been written about the Messiah and prepared them for that moment when he would ascend into heaven to return to the right hand of his Father.  Then, he ascended: leaving them the promise of something dramatic that will happen soon.  This “something dramatic” was the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  In other words, for 40 days, Jesus “set the stage” by pouring the fuel of his teaching all over the warehouse, which was his disciples; and as he left he dropped the lighter, which was the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit; and on Pentecost, the warehouse exploded as the Holy Spirit descended and gave the Apostles power to witness to Jesus to the ends of the earth.

          In a way, this is exactly how it had to be.  The blockbuster “money shot” isn’t when the character spreads the fuel.  If the movie ended there, we’d all be disappointed, right?  Instead, the character has to set the blaze and get away for us to feel satisfied by the explosion.  Jesus knew that God’s plan for the human race was bigger than his band of followers from Galilee, that it was bigger than the Jewish people, that, in fact, it was so big that it would encompass the entire world; thus, it had to be that, after Jesus had accomplished man’s redemption, he would then return to the Father so that the Holy Spirit—the power by which God’s plan for the whole world would be accomplished—could explode forth into the human scene.

          To use another example:  Many of us have seen what it’s like when 5 year olds play soccer.  Even though their coaches try hard to teach them to play different positions, as soon as that ball is loose, it’s a free-for-all scrum surrounding it.  This is kind of like the disciples while Jesus was with them.  Even though, on occasion, Jesus sent them out to preach, they always came back around him and followed him wherever he went.  After Jesus’ ascension into heaven and the descent of the Holy Spirit, however, the disciples looked much more like a professional team: spread out across the field, using their different talents towards one purpose, making them much more effective.  Jesus ascends so that his disciples could spread out and be more effective.

          I actually think that we can sum this up by referring to a statement Jesus made elsewhere in the Gospel.  One day, one of the Pharisees asked him “Why don’t your disciples fast like John’s disciples do?”  Jesus replied and said, “While the bridegroom is with them, they cannot fast, but when the bridegroom is taken away from them, they will fast.”  I don’t mean to change this into a homily about fasting, but rather to focus on how Jesus acknowledges that there will be different circumstances while he is here with us versus after he has been taken up from us.  Adapting this idea to today’s feast, I might re-write it that Jesus says “While the bridegroom is with them, they will be limited, but when the bridegroom is taken away they will succeed freely.”  Jesus ascends not to abandon us, but so that we can be “launched”, if you will, to fulfill the Father’s plan for all humanity.

          Thus, the Ascension, particularly in connection with Pentecost (and, by the way, it’s always in connection with Pentecost!), has something to say to us today.  Many of us are upset that I have been reassigned and, thus, will be leaving All Saints after 6 years of serving this parish.  But what if this is part of the Father’s plan to “launch” you all—the members of this parish—to the next level?  My job has always been to “set the scene”, so to speak, and I hope that I have done that; but now, perhaps, I must “ignite the flame and walk away” so that it can explode into new life for this parish.  My brothers and sisters, this is the hopefulness with which we need to step into this transition: that if I am going forth from this parish, it is so that you can continue to grow “to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ” as Saint Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians.

          Thus, today we celebrate and we look forward.  We celebrate that Jesus, Our Redeemer, has gone before us to prepare a place for us in heaven and to advocate for us eternally before the Father.  We celebrate that he has sent the Holy Spirit to us.  And we look forward beyond Pentecost: rejoicing that God has filled us more generously with his gifts—that is, the power of the Holy Spirit to explode into the world in order to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth for the building up of Christ’s Body “to the extent of the full stature of Christ”.

          Therefore, my brothers and sisters, let us not be afraid to worship with our whole hearts the Lord Jesus who, having risen from the dead so as to destroy death forever, has ascended into heaven and now stands eternally at the Father’s right hand; and let us not be afraid to pray fervently for God’s Holy Spirit to fill us more abundantly with his power: the power to witness to Jesus and his saving love to those suffering in mind, body, and spirit—the power of Jesus which has overcome the finality of death—the power that we encounter when we receive his Body and Blood from this altar.

          Friends, the summer blockbuster season is, indeed, upon us.  May our blockbuster—the feasts of Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost—be the live action film that tops the Box Office here in our community.

Given at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – May 20^th, 2018

Easter Preparation for Mission

Homily: 6^th Sunday of Easter – Cycle B

          Friends, today our Gospel reading presents us with a contrast of contexts, so to speak.  The text is taken from Jesus’ beautiful Last Supper discourse in John’s Gospel.  Next to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel, the Last Supper discourse is the longest continual sermon recorded in all of the four Gospels.  In the context of the Last Supper, these words serve as a “farewell speech”, of sorts, to his disciples on the night before he was going to be betrayed, tortured, and killed (that is, the day in which all of his disciples would “have their faith in him shaken”).  We, however, are hearing these words in the context of our continuing celebration of Easter.  Therefore, while they still express for us Jesus’ deep affection for us, his disciples (as they expressed to his disciples at the Last Supper), they nonetheless don’t have the same “dark gravity” for us that they did for the Apostles, given that we are no longer anticipating Christ’s Passion, but rather celebrating his victory over death.

          Nonetheless, in each context, the message that comes to us is similar: Christ is giving his disciples the most important things for them to remember before he leaves them on their own.  For the disciples at the Last Supper, these words would be critical in the days and weeks that followed: not just as they dealt with the intense events of Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection, but also as they tried to make sense of Jesus’ commission to take the Gospel to the ends of the world.  Those were tumultuous times when the prophesies that Jesus proclaimed began to become true: when father would be turned against son, and son against father; and mother against daughter, and daughter against mother.  In other words, when friends became enemies and enemies became friends.  How else could they have survived as a community unless they held fast to Jesus’ commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you”?

          For us here today, these words are also critical: and for much the same reason.  The Gospel is still a thing that creates division: both in our society (for example: pro-life v. pro-choice, sanctity of marriage v. same-sex unions, etc.) and in our personal lives (like when children rebel against their religious upbringing, or choose to take up religion in spite of their parents’ lack of religious practice).  In order for us to survive as a community, we too must hold fast to Jesus’ commandment to “love one another as he has loved us”.

          Still more, and I wonder if this isn’t something that we overlook each year as we celebrate the Easter season, these words are critical for us because we ought to be preparing to be re-sent out on mission.  As I’ve said in a number of different contexts this Easter season, too often, we Christians look at this time of Easter as a time of celebration only.  It is a time of celebration, don’t get me wrong; but it is also a time of preparation.  “Oh, Father, aren’t you confused?  Lent is a time a preparation: not Easter.”  Technically speaking, you’re correct; but I’d like you each to consider Easter as time of celebration and preparation.  And here’s why.

          In a couple of weeks, we are going to celebrate Pentecost—the birthday of the Church—in which the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles to empower them for their mission to take the Gospel to the ends of the world.  The days between Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension (a.k.a. the original “Easter season”) were days of preparation to begin this great mission.  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, 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 be preparing to renew our efforts to fulfill this great mission to proclaim the Gospel.

          And so, we return to the scene of the Last Supper and listen once again to Jesus’ beautiful words: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you.  I no longer call you slaves… I have called you friends.”  This, so that we can be comforted in our times of trial (especially when those trials are the result of our friendship with Jesus) and strengthened to fulfill his command: “Love one another as I have loved you.”  In order to prepare ourselves to fulfill this command, let us reflect briefly on what “loving as Christ has loved us” looks like.

          Loving one another as Christ has loved us means that we must give of ourselves for the benefit of others.  And so, we have to ask ourselves, “What is the very best thing that I can do for someone?”  There are, of course, many good things that we can do for others: giving food and clothing to those in need, giving education to the ignorant, and comfort to the sick and dying… These are what the Church traditionally calls the “works of mercy”.  But are any of these the best thing?  Not really.  Rather, the best thing that we can do for another person is to lead them to friendship with Christ.  This is what our first reading shows to us today.

          In that reading, we heard how Saint Peter brought the Good News of Jesus Christ to Cornelius, a high-ranking official in the Roman army, and to his family and friends who had gathered in his house with him that day.  This was, of course, remarkable in that Cornelius was not a Jew, and so was completely unfamiliar with the history of creation, the fall, and the plan for salvation.  Nonetheless, he was impressed by the Apostles and open to receiving the truth.  Peter, seeing that Cornelius was a Gentile, remembered Christ’s command, loved Cornelius as Jesus had loved him, and led Cornelius to friendship with Christ, which was confirmed through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

          Friends, as the great solemnity of Pentecost approaches, we must prepare ourselves to overcome our prejudices of others, like Saint Peter did, by remembering the generous outpouring of love that Christ has made for us so that we might find the courage to love everyone we meet with that same love: always striving to lead each one to friendship with Christ.  We do this first with our loving actions (that is, with the works of mercy), but then also with our words that invite them know Christ and to allow him to love them as he has loved us.  My friends, this is the greatest good that we can do for others.  Let us, then, spend this remaining time in Easter preparing ourselves well to take up this good work; and, therefore, to experience, once again, the complete joy that comes with being friends of Christ.

Given at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – May 6^th, 2018

The Spirit leads us through life's transitions

Homily: The Solemnity of Pentecost – Cycle A

          Yesterday I had the joy of concelebrating the ordination Mass for four men from our Diocese who are now priests: one of whom is Michael Bower, the seminarian (now former seminarian) who was with us last summer here at All Saints.  As a priest (just as, I imagine, it would be like for any of you), it is a great “shot in the arm” to my faith to see solid young men being ordained to the priesthood.  It often gives me pause to think and to pray, however, as I remember my own ordination and what it was like to move from seminarian to priest and I pray for the newly ordained who are making that same transition.

          Back in the seminary, one of the priests on the formation staff named Fr. Ron spoke often to us about what it would be like to transition from the seminary into priesthood and parish life.  He repeatedly quoted a certain bishop (whose name I can’t quite remember) who described the transition in this way: he said, “Leaving the seminary and entering the priesthood and parish life is kind of like leaving the hospital and having all of your IVs pulled out at once.”  What this bishop was implying was that there are many support systems built into seminary life (structured prayer schedule, ready-made food, and plenty of mentors and guides) that simply aren’t part and parcel of the life of a parish priest.  And so to leave the seminary is literally like “pulling the plug” on many of these support systems.  And if a new priest is not prepared for that, it can actually “shock” his system somewhat.

          In my own transition out of the seminary and into parish life, I can attest to the fact that there is a lot of truth in this bishop’s admonition.  My first (and only) assignment as a priest so far has been here at All Saints in Logansport, which was a town that, at the time, I had, perhaps, driven through one time, but in which I did not know anyone and which was at least an hour’s drive from any of my family or close friends.  Oh, and let’s not forget to mention that I had to start speaking Spanish almost from the moment that I arrived!  Even though everyone here was (and continues to be) very welcoming and assuring, it could not change the fact that I felt like I was very much alone as I made this transition.

          Nearly five years after ordination, however, I feel like I can say that I’ve weathered the storm pretty well (so far, at least).  There have been lots of challenges and new and exciting experiences, and many moments when I was about to enter into a new situation feeling like I might make a complete mess of it all, but turned out to be very beautiful.  As I reflect on all of these situations, I realize that there is one very real aspect of what we describe as the “grace of ordination” that has helped me through it all: and that’s the promise of the Holy Spirit.

          In our Gospel reading for today, the resurrected Jesus breathes on his disciples and says “Receive the Holy Spirit”.  This is Jesus empowering his disciples, who will be his first apostles, with the gift of the Holy Spirit.  He had promised this gift to them before his resurrection when he told them that “the Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”  In many ways this is the same promise that the seminary makes to each man as they send them forth to be ordained, and it is the promise that every bishop makes to them as he ordains them.  It’s as if they are saying, “We’ve done our best to teach you everything, but inevitably there will be things for which we could not have fully prepared you.  But don’t worry because the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will teach you everything and remind you of all that we have told you.  After nearly five years of priesthood, I can say that this promise certainly rings true.

          This promise, however, isn’t limited to the newly ordained transitioning into parish life.  Remember, the Gospel tells us that Jesus said these things “to his disciples…”  Therefore, this promise is for all of us; something that is especially true when we are experiencing any big transition in our lives.  This could be individually, as we transition from single life to being married and then from married life to having children.  It could also be when we are moving from high school into college or from college into the working world, or if we are changing jobs or even careers.  So, too, once all of the children leave the house and we transition back to the “solitary married life” or when we transition from working into retirement.  But it could also be a communal experience, like the one that we are about to embrace here in the transition from one associate pastor to another.  In all of these cases Jesus’ promise remains with us: that the Holy Spirit would be with us to teach us and remind us of what it was that he told us.

          The danger in each of our vocations, however, is becoming too comfortable in how we are living it out, because when we become comfortable, we start to close in on ourselves.  We think, “I have this all figured out and now I can just cruise from here.”  What this does, however, is close us off to the voice of the Spirit and we start to get stale.  After a while this staleness can lead to disillusionment and apathy.  How many people do we know who have said “Well, there’s not much I can do about it now, so I guess I’m stuck here”?  But it’s precisely in these moments that the Holy Spirit is most available to us and when it is most likely that he is waiting to show us a new avenue—or a new aspect of our vocations—that he is calling us to embrace: something, perhaps, that will take us out of our comfort zones and move us towards a place we never imagined we would go.

          My brothers and sisters, times of transition can be exciting times; but they can also be scary.  More than anything, however, they are chances to shake off the cobwebs of our routine lives and wake up to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit moving us once again: the Spirit who Jesus promised to his disciples nearly 2000 years ago and who has remained with the Church ever since; guiding her and each of her individual members even to this day.

          And so today let us give thanks for the great gift of the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit; and let us renew our trust in his presence and guidance in the life of the Church.  Let us also, however, renew our trust in his presence and guidance in each of our lives so as to joyfully embrace all that the God wishes to give us.  My brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit is alive and well in the Church and in this parish.  Perhaps it’s time for us to let him loose once again.

Given at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – June 4^th, 2017

Let nothing disturb you...

Let nothing disturb you,

Let nothing frighten you,

All things are passing away:

God never changes.

Patience obtains all things

Whoever has God lacks nothing;

God alone suffices.

~ St. Teresa of Avila

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Homily: 6^th Sunday in Easter – Cycle A

          I don’t know if any of you have noticed, but Easter season is getting real.  We are at the sixth Sunday of Easter, which means we’ve completed five full weeks of Easter already and we have only two full weeks before the feast of Pentecost.  This means that our readings have begun to shift their focus away from the event of the Resurrection and towards the coming of the Holy Spirit.  We have not yet celebrated the feast of the Ascension, nevertheless all three readings from today’s Mass speak of the Holy Spirit.

          In the Gospel reading, Jesus is talking about significant mystical realities.  He is talking about sending the Holy Spirit upon his disciples, the Spirit who will remain in them and be in them.  He is talking about his death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, but that he will, nonetheless, come back to them and remain in them, even though he is in the Father and the Father is in him.  As we hear these things and consider them, we need to stop and ask ourselves this question: “How does my religious sense react to this?”

          Now, if you’re anything like me, your first reaction to hearing all of this might be one of confusion.  “I’m not really sure what Jesus is talking about here”, you might think to yourself.  If so, that’s okay, the challenge here is to engage the confusion and to try to resolve it, rather than passing it off and moving on to the next thing.  In order to engage our confusion we need to acknowledge the thing that I’ve already mentioned—that these are significant mystical realities—and then ask ourselves this question: “Do I ever spend time thinking about what is beyond this world?”

          My friends, it’s really important that we ask ourselves this question because the great danger in Christianity is that we would see it only as a tool (an excellent tool, even) to get the most happiness out of this world.  In other words, it’s dangerous to believe that keeping Jesus’ commandments is nothing more than a complex good-luck charm that will keep us out of harm’s way so that we might avoid suffering.  First and foremost, it’s dangerous because it’s simply not true!  Christians continue to be the most persecuted persons throughout the world, so following Jesus’ commandments is obviously not a fool-proof way to stay out of trouble in the world.  Second, however, it’s dangerous because it ignores the great mystical reality that it is meant to open for us—a reality that doesn’t seem possible: that is, that we can enjoy communion with God on a completely different plane of existence, which is the source of our hope in a world of turmoil.  Thus, to ignore this reality is to risk losing hope.

          Christians who do not ignore this great mystical reality that loving Jesus opens up for us live life differently, right?  These Christians live life as persons who have an incomprehensible hope: a supernatural gift that allows them to stand firm even when the turmoil of the world is directed squarely at them.  The first apostles lived like this and, thus, drew many people to know and love Jesus.  In our first reading, we heard how Philip, who had been driven out of Jerusalem by the first persecution, had gone to Samaria and proclaimed Christ.  Many were drawn to him and he worked many miracles in Jesus’ name.  When the turmoil of the world was directed at him, Philip remained aware of the mystical reality that Jesus was in him and he was in Jesus and so could continue to proclaim Christ—and, thus, fill others with that same supernatural hope—in spite of the danger.

          This is a gift that our recently departed seminarian Will has.  After spending nearly three months with him, I was amazed that nothing really seemed to faze him.  He has a firm grasp on this supernatural hope that stems from the mystical reality that he is in Jesus and that Jesus is in him and he simply refuses to be affected negatively by the turmoil of the world.  His demeanor was so authentic, yet so appealing, that I considered writing in the card that I got him to wish him blessings for the future that line that we write in yearbooks when we don’t know what to write, but want to write something nice: “Don’t ever change.”  Except I would have meant it!  I don’t want him to change, because he is a witness to us of how we should be in the world: engaged, steadfast in hope, and secure in Christ.

          Friends, when we do this, people will be drawn to us because they will want to know: “What is the reason for your hope?” and when they approach us it will be an opportunity to proclaim Christ; and the world is desperately in need of men and women who proclaim Christ: that is, men and women who give witness to the mystical reality of communion with God that Jesus has made available to us—the mystical reality that we are in Jesus and that Jesus is in us—a reality that makes it possible to live steadfast in hope of a life of peace and harmony in the face of a world full of turmoil and strife.

          My friends, the feast of Pentecost is coming soon: the feast in which we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised to send.  In preparation for this feast, we should prepare to renew our commitment to living our lives “in the Spirit”.  We do this by staying aware of the things beyond this world: the mystical realities in which we participate because we have been united to the Father, through Jesus, in baptism.  In doing so we will become the witnesses to hope that our world and community so desperately need and we will find the grace to remain peaceful in the midst of the world’s turmoil.

          Let us, then, take up this good work to prepare prayerfully over these next couple of weeks to celebrate this great feast; so that, with hearts full of the power of the Holy Spirit, we might draw all of those around us into this great mystical reality: the communion with God that we receive here in this Eucharist.

Given at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – May 21^st, 2017

Pentecost and the Church's unifying mission

Homily: Pentecost – Cycle C

          Many of us, I dare say, remember the events surrounding the death of Saint John Paul II in 2005.  It was really extraordinary how, from the moment that news broke that he was approaching death, up to and through his death and his funeral, the world became fixated on the life of this man.  Those extraordinary few weeks also gave us a brief glimpse of mankind somewhat united as men and women throughout the world watched with and prayed for this man who had had such an impact on the world.

          It was counted that more than three thousand foreign journalists descended upon Rome as John Paul II was dying; and, almost overnight, hundreds of media broadcast tents sprang up on the outskirts of Vatican City.  This worldwide media gave around-the-clock coverage to viewers across the globe, to people of every age and ethnic group.  Then, during the week before the funeral, it was estimated that 2 million pilgrims paid their last respects in person to the pope as he lay in state: some of them waiting in line up to 24 hours to do so.

          On the night before the funeral, more than 800,000 pilgrims spent the night praying and waiting in the streets and plazas of Rome.  Most of these were young people who had come to the Vatican from all five of the continents.  All night long you could see them waiting in line for confession at makeshift, outdoor confessionals that Rome's priests had set up on doorsteps and under lamp posts.

          The funeral itself was followed closely by millions via television and radio and the amount of world leaders who were present was extraordinary.  It included four queens, five kings, seventy prime ministers or heads of government, and more than 100 other recognized dignitaries.  Dozens of Orthodox, Protestant, and Jewish leaders joined them, as well.  Yes, one wouldn’t have been exaggerating if they would have said that the funeral of Saint John Paul II looked and sounded like Pentecost.

          Many of us might be surprised to discover however, that Pentecost is not a Christian festival in origin.  Rather, it was a Jewish festival (which is why it is named as if it already existed in the Acts of the Apostles).  For the ancient Jews, Pentecost was one of the top three religious holidays (known as “pilgrimage feasts”, because believers were expected to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in order to celebrate it).  Pentecost was known also as the feast of “weeks” because it falls seven weeks (or 50 days) after Passover.  (The word “Pentecost”, in fact, comes from the Greek word for “50”.)  For the Jewish people, this feast celebrates two important things: things that make it fitting to be the day on which the Holy Spirit descended from heaven to give birth to the Church.

          First, on Pentecost, the first fruits of the spring grain harvest were offered to God in a special sacrifice at the Temple.  Now, that may sound strange to us, because we live in a climate that has only one harvest each year.  In Palestine, however, they have two yearly harvests: one in spring and one in fall.  In this sense, it is appropriate that God sent the Holy Spirit to his Church in a public way on Pentecost.  This is because the Holy Spirit is the first fruit of the harvest of the New Covenant; and the New Covenant is Christ giving us a new, redeemed life of grace; and this life begins here on earth under the action of the Holy Spirit; and, just like the first sweet corn to come off of the stalks does not make the harvest, but is enjoyed and offered to those we wish to honor the most, so, too, the action of the Holy Spirit, which came as first fruits nearly 2000 years ago, will only reach its fulfillment—i.e. the full harvest—in heaven.

          The second thing that the Jewish festival of Pentecost celebrates is the commemoration of when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai.  Soon after the Israelites had miraculously escaped from Egypt, God sent them the Law, which would be a guide for them on how they should live now that they were freed from slavery to Pharaoh.  And so, in this sense, too, it was appropriate that God sent his Church the Holy Spirit during Pentecost.  This is because the Holy Spirit is the bond of unity between the Father and the Son; and the Law of the New Covenant, that is, the Law of the Church, is unity.  Thus, the unifying power of the Spirit is the new “Law of the Covenant”, which descended upon the Church at Pentecost.  In a way, the descent of the Holy Spirit fulfilled the old covenant Law by making it universal.  For this reason, Saint Paul could write to the Corinthians and say that the Church is a body that has many parts yet remains one, united body.  Bringing unity, in Christ, to the divided human family; this is the work of the Church, which began on Pentecost and won't stop till history ends.

          If we think back now to the funeral of Saint John Paul II, we see a further illustration that this effort of the Church to reunite the human family continues today, symbolized by the architecture of the Church's most famous plaza, the place where Saint John Paul II’s funeral was celebrated: that is, Saint Peter's square, in Rome.  Almost a hundred thousand people can fit inside that plaza, which is as wide as three football fields and located in front of Saint Peter's Basilica.  It is constructed in the shape of a rectangle connecting the basilica's entrance with a huge oval space surrounded by almost 350 massive columns and pilasters.  If you look down at the plaza from above, those curved lines of columns surrounding the oval look like huge arms spread in welcome.  The artist who designed the plaza, Gianlorenzo Bernini, described this as a symbol of "the maternal arms of Mother Church".

          As we know, the arms of a mother are always ready to welcome all her children, both the ones who are already full members of the family, and those still looking for their spiritual home.  And these arms of Mother Church have indeed welcomed pilgrims from every continent, age group, and walk of life for the last 500 years—ever since this expanded plaza was first constructed.  And the crowds are still coming. Every Wednesday the Pope welcomes pilgrims to the plaza, and in the last two years the number of pilgrims in those audiences has averaged 20,000 per week.  The unity symbolized by this space even goes beyond the limits of time; because lining the columns and walls around the plaza are 140 taller-than-life-sized statues of saints: men and women, peasants and kings, hermits and housewives, who come from every period of history and every corner of the globe.   Again, this is the Church's work—reuniting the divided human family with God and with each other—a work that began on Pentecost.

          Now, there are many people, many of whom are non-Christians, who would agree that uniting mankind is a worthy goal.  In fact, there are many international lobbying groups who are dedicated full time to noble causes like achieving world peace, eradicating poverty, and reducing the sale of military weapons.  Indeed, the modern world is full of creative initiatives for unity.

          As Christians, though, our efforts are different.  This is because we aim not only at the symptoms of disunity, but at its cause.  The Church has taught us throughout its history that the fundamental cause of disunity in the human family is sin, the rebellion of the human heart against God.  “How can we all be united in one family,” she argues, “unless we all love and obey one Father?”  Now, we know that it wasn't the Apostles' human brilliance that enabled them to speak in foreign tongues on that first Pentecost, but rather that it was God's grace—the Holy Spirit—working in and through the Church.  And so, if we are to fulfill our role as members of this Church whose mission is building unity—that is, if we are to be active, efficient, and effective builders of unity in our families, schools, communities, and workplaces—then we must, first and foremost, be men and women of prayer.

          Prayer, my brothers and sisters, binds us firmly to God, so that through us his strength can bring together the scattered pieces of fallen humanity; and a mature prayer life makes us partners in the work of the Holy Spirit in the world.  Today, therefore, when the Holy Spirit renews his presence in us and in the world during this Mass, let's renew our commitment to becoming mature men and women of prayer, so that we can then become mature men and women of action and boldly advance the Church's beautiful and urgent mission to bring true unity to the human race: the unity in God’s Spirit that we hope one day to know fully in heaven.

Given at All Saints Parish, Logansport, IN – May 14^th & 15^th, 2016

Love and do what you want.

          Okay, so I had a little trouble getting my homily from last week posted (and it's almost time to post this week's!).  We've had an extraordinary number of funerals this past week, so posting this homily was pushed to the bottom of the priority list multiple times this week.  Nevertheless, here it is!

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Homily: Pentecost (Day) – Cycle B

          “Love, and do what you want.”  Perhaps for some of you who grew up in that era (or, perhaps, if you are like me and you’ve watched too many movies or TV shows about that era) these words might sound like a “hippie mantra” from the late 1960’s.  “Hey man, why can’t we all just love each other and do what we want?”  (And yes, I know that I am caricaturing this era, which isn’t fair, so I hope that nobody is offended by it.)  Would you be surprised to know, however, that this is actually a quote from a fifth century bishop?  Saint Augustine, to be exact.  Now, it might seem that Saint Augustine wouldn’t have much in common with a 1960’s hippie, but if you look at what each would be implying by this statement you might find that they are more similar than you think.

          Regarding the first part—to love—I would guess that Saint Augustine and hippies might mean the same thing.  Love, in its simplest definition, means to do good, positive things to others and, thus, to do no harm.  Hippies from the 60’s were upset that our political differences and agendas were causing uprisings and violence throughout the world.  By preaching “love”, they were hoping to bring us back to the realization that we are all one human family and thus should care for one another.  Saint Augustine—who was the bishop of Hippo, by the way… (coincidence?  I think not!)—would also proclaim that love demands that we put aside our differences and agendas and care for one another as brothers and sisters.  Both have touched on the very essence of love, thus, these two very different people, seem to agree.

          Regarding the second part, however, their meanings seem to diverge.  For the hippie, love was a license for licentiousness.  “Do whatever you want”, therefore, would have been a cry for freedom to engage in whatever he or she felt like doing, as long as it didn’t seem to hurt anyone else.  For Saint Augustine, however, what you “want” must be ordered to love.  In other words, love, in his understanding, shapes what it is that I want and so puts certain limits on it.  Thus, Saint Augustine wasn’t calling for a freedom from restraints, but rather a freedom for fulfilling the demands of love.  His conclusion: if we are totally focused on love—that is, true self-sacrifice for others—then all of our desires will be ordered to love.  Thus, since there is no law limiting love, then I am free to “do whatever I want”, because “whatever I want” will be good for me and for all those around me.

          Saint Paul clarifies this for us in his letter to the Galatians, which we read in our second reading.  Throughout his preaching, Paul claimed over and over again that those who put their faith in Christ find freedom: true freedom for fulfilling the demands of love.  The Galatians, however, must have thought otherwise: that the freedom we have in Christ is really a freedom for “whatever” (that is, the licentiousness that the ‘60’s hippies wanted to claim for their own).  Paul, therefore, explains the difference between the true freedom of the Spirit and the false freedom of licentiousness.  He says that “the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh” and that “these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want.”  In other words, living in the flesh leads to doing what it is that you don’t really want to do; and what else is slavery if it isn’t “being forced to do what you do not want to do”?  However, “if you are guided by the Spirit,” Paul continues, “you are not under the law.”  In other words, life guided by the Spirit is true freedom, for there is no law to restrict it.

          My brothers and sisters, because of the sin of our first parents our human nature has been wounded and the desires of the flesh have overcome the power of the Spirit.  This effect on our human nature was a punishment for our sin.  Christ, by his death and resurrection, has redeemed our sin so that we might be saved from eternal death.  Nevertheless, our nature remains the same: we are still naturally driven by the desires of the flesh.  God has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit, however, to guide us so that we might overcome the desires of the flesh and enjoy the true freedom of the Spirit.

          Who of us hasn’t struggled against at least one of the “works of the flesh” that Saint Paul lists in today’s reading: “immorality, impurity, lust, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like”?  And who of us hasn’t at one time in our lives been living in one or more of these sins—and suffering because of it—yet cried out to God saying “I believe in you, why am I suffering like this?”  We are living outside of God’s grace—that is, outside of the life of God’s Spirit—and yet we expect to experience its fruits: love, joy, peace, and the rest!  My brothers and sisters, if our lives are not producing these fruits then our first question ought to be directed not towards God—“Why are you permitting this?”—but rather towards ourselves—“What ‘works of the flesh’ are controlling my life?”  In other words, “What’s my favorite sin and why can’t I let go of it?

          My brothers and sisters, if we want to know the true freedom of the Spirit, that is, if we want to love and to do what we truly want, then we must crucify our flesh with its passions and desires so as to be guided by the Spirit.  Only then will we begin to discover the freedom that produces the fruits of love, joy, and peace in our lives.  Only then will we live free from the law, because our hearts will be so attuned to love that there could be no restrictions on doing whatever it is our hearts desire.

          This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day: a day in which we honor those men and women who have lost their lives serving in our nation’s armed forces.  It is a day in which we are reminded that the freedom that we enjoy in this country isn’t free: it came at price.  And so, as we honor those who fought and died for our freedom in this country, let us also honor the one who died for our true freedom—Jesus Christ—by following his Spirit, whose gift to us we celebrate this day.

Given at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – May 24^th, 2015

Summer blockbusters

          Although we don't have explosions, we do have a pretty dramatic story to tell.  Every drama needs actors, however, and so each of us needs to step up to play our part.  The Easter-Ascension-Pentecost drama is a story of blockbuster proportions, but no one will see it if we don't live it.  Jesus has promised power to those who follow him.  May the power of the Spirit move us to proclaim him in word and in deed to all around us.

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Homily: The Ascension of the Lord – Cycle B

          With this weekend’s opening of the movie Mad Max, among others, it seems like the summer blockbuster season is already upon us.  Terminator, Jurassic Park, Mission Impossible, The Avengers… the list goes on and on.  As we know, a “blockbuster” is a movie with a lot of action, violence, usually some sort of “end of the world” threat, and, of course, plenty of gratuitous explosions.  One of the classic clichés of these types of movies is what I call the “gasoline fueled warehouse explosion”.  This is where the character douses a warehouse with gasoline (or, at least, allows flammable liquid already in the warehouse to flow—and these days, it seems, the warehouses are almost always full of some sort of explosive material) with the intent of setting it ablaze and destroying the whole structure.  Then, just as he or she leaves, the character drops a lighter onto the fuel and walks away, while the flames quickly spread.  Then, the “money shot”: a wide angle shot where the character is walking towards the camera, away from the warehouse, when suddenly the warehouse explodes in the background, without so much as a flinch from the character.  You’ve seen this, right?  How many of you have seen some version of this scene in a movie before?

          In a way, this feast, the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, is kind of like that.  Since Easter, the day of his Resurrection, Jesus, in his glorified body, has walked among us, teaching about how his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead has fulfilled all that had been written about the Messiah and preparing us for this moment when he would ascend into heaven to return to the right hand of his Father.  Then, he ascends: leaving us the promise of something dramatic that will happen soon.  This “something dramatic” is the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  In other words, for 40 days, Jesus “set the stage” by pouring the fuel of his teaching all over the warehouse, which was his disciples; and as he left he dropped the lighter, which was the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit; and on Pentecost, the warehouse exploded as the Holy Spirit descended and gave the Apostles power to witness to Jesus to the ends of the earth.

          In a way, this is exactly how it had to be.  The blockbuster “money shot” isn’t when the character spreads the fuel.  If the movie ended there, we’d all be disappointed.  Instead, the character has to set the blaze and get away for us to feel satisfied by the explosion.  Jesus knew that God’s plan for the human race was bigger than his band of followers from Galilee, that it was bigger than the Jewish people, that, in fact, it was so big that it would encompass the entire world; thus, it had to be that, after Jesus had accomplished man’s redemption, he would then return to the Father so that the Holy Spirit—the power by which God’s plan for the whole world would be accomplished—could explode forth into the human scene.

          To use another example:  Many of us have seen what it’s like when 5 year olds play soccer.  Even though their coaches try hard to teach them to play different positions, as soon as that ball is loose, it’s a free-for-all scrum surrounding it.  This is kind of like the disciples while Jesus was with them.  Even though, on occasion, Jesus sent them out to preach, they always came back around him and followed him wherever he went.  After Jesus’ ascension into heaven and the descent of the Holy Spirit, however, the disciples looked much more like a professional team: spread out across the field, using their different talents towards one purpose, making them much more effective.  Jesus ascends so that his disciples could spread out and be more effective.

          I actually think that we can sum this up by referring to a statement Jesus made elsewhere in the Gospel.  One day, one of the Pharisees asked him “Why don’t your disciples fast like John’s disciples do?”  Jesus replied and said, “While the bridegroom is with them, they cannot fast, but when the bridegroom is taken away from them, they will fast.”  I don’t mean to change this into a homily about fasting, but rather to focus on how Jesus acknowledges that there will be different circumstances while he is here with us versus after he has been taken up from us.  Adapting this idea to today’s feast, I might re-write it that Jesus says “While the bridegroom is with them, they will be limited, but when the bridegroom is taken away they will succeed freely.”  Jesus ascends not to abandon us, but so that we can be “launched”, if you will, to fulfill the Father’s plan for all humanity.

          Thus, the Ascension, particularly in connection with Pentecost (and it’s always in connection with Pentecost!), has something to say to us today.  Some of us are upset that Fr. Mike has been reassigned and, thus, is leaving us after 13 years of serving this parish.  But what if this is part of the Father’s plan to “launch” us—the members of this parish—to the next level?  Fr. Mike has done a good job “setting the scene”, so to speak; but now, perhaps, he must go so that the flame that he has ignited can explode into new life for this parish.  My brothers and sisters, this is the hopefulness with which we need to step into this transition: that if Fr. Mike is going forth from us, it is so that we can continue to grow “to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ” as Saint Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians.

          Thus, today we celebrate and we look forward.  We celebrate that Jesus, Our Redeemer, has gone before us to prepare a place for us in heaven and to advocate for us eternally before the Father.  We look forward to Pentecost: praying that God will fill us more generously with his gifts—that is, the power of the Holy Spirit to explode into the world in order to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth for the building up of Christ’s Body “to the extent of the full stature of Christ”.  Therefore, my brothers and sisters, let us not be afraid to worship with our whole hearts the Lord Jesus who, having risen from the dead so as to destroy death forever, has ascended into heaven and now stands eternally at the Father’s right hand; and let us not be afraid to pray fervently for God’s Holy Spirit to fill us with his power: the power to witness to Jesus and his saving love to those suffering in mind, body, and spirit—the power of Jesus which has overcome the finality of death—the power that we encounter when we receive his Body and Blood from this altar.

          My brothers and sisters, the summer blockbuster season is upon us.  May our blockbuster—the feasts of Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost—be the live action film that tops the Box Office here in our community.

Given at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – May 16^th & 17^th, 2015

To everyone... (yes, that means you!)

          What an awesome 50 days of Easter!!!  Today, when we celebrate the inauguration of the Church by the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, let us remember that we have each been given a manifestation of the Spirit for the good of the Church.  We must let the Spirit work in and through us!

          Congratulations also to Fr. Peter Logsdon, Fr. Stephen Duquaine, and Dcn. Daniel Shine, who were all ordained for the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana yesterday!  GOD IS SO GOOD!!!

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Homily: Pentecost – Cycle A

          I, for one, have often been amazed to think about the complexity of the human body and about just how many things have to go right at every moment for it to function properly.  I mean, just think for a moment about how many different functions are necessary—and, thus,  how many different organs or bodily components are necessary—for our bodies to do something as essential as converting our food into nutrition.  There’s the chewing and the swallowing, the breaking down of the food in our stomachs, there’s the absorbing of the nutrition that we need and the separating out of the stuff that we don’t need and then the expelling of that waste after it’s been separated…  That’s a lot of stuff that constantly has to go right just so that we can keep living!  If any one organ or component malfunctions, the whole system could fail.

          And this includes even the seemingly most insignificant, non-functional parts of the system.  Take the Appendix, for example.  Although current research has begun to show otherwise, the Appendix is an appendage of the large intestine that for years doctors have considered to be “expendable” because it serves no apparent function in an otherwise healthy person.  I mean, just look at its name… “appendix” means “something extra” and thus “non-essential”.  Regardless of whatever the Appendix does or does not do, however, if it begins to malfunction or becomes infected it can disrupt and threaten to shut down the entire body.

          I myself had appendicitis when I was 17 years old.  It took a day or two to really develop and, before I could get to the doctor to have it treated, it ruptured.  Although I did get treatment soon after that, I realized that, had I not made haste in getting treatment, it would not have been long before my life would have been in real danger.  That’s a serious effect for an appendage that seemingly has no function.  I guess it just goes to show you that every part of the body—no matter how insignificant it seems—is important.

          Today on this Pentecost Sunday we are reminded by Saint Paul that we, the Church, are a body.  More specifically, he states that we are Christ’s body and that, because of that, we have been given the Spirit—Christ’s Spirit—who inspires us to call Jesus “Lord”.  We, of course, have heard this before: that “though many, we are one and, though one, we are many.”  If we aren’t careful, however, we’ll kind of gloss over this fact and miss what Paul is really trying to say.

          Without all of the detailed scientific knowledge that we have today, the people in ancient Palestine also knew that the human body was a complex thing: made up of many members—each with its own function—that together make a whole; and that if any one part of the body were to be removed, its unity—that is, its “oneness”—would be diminished.  Thus Paul, speaking from this knowledge, uses the body as an analogy to represent the reality of the Church.  The Church is made up of many members, he sees, and each of those members has a function—a very specific function, given to it by the Holy Spirit; and if any of those members fails to fulfill their function, or is removed from the body, then (at best) the whole is diminished and (at worst) its very life is threatened.

          Moreover, Paul says that it is the very Spirit himself that gives the body its unity.  Just as with each human body it is the personal soul that gives it unity and animates it, so too it is the Holy Spirit, in which each of us has been baptized, that animates and gives unity to the Church.  Thus, when Paul says that “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit has been given for some benefit”, he is saying that each member of the body—no matter how insignificant he or she may seem—has something to offer the whole.  In other words, he seems to be saying that even someone who feels, perhaps, like an Appendix nevertheless has something important to offer.

          My brothers and sisters, it’s no secret that the Church in the United States is languishing.  Less and less Catholics are regularly participating in the Sacramental Life of the Church and many are turning away from the Church all together.  One of the most rapidly increasing categories of religious practice among Americans is “none”: that is, those who claim no religious affiliation or belief at all.  Much of this can be attributed to the influence of the secular culture, or course, but I also think that we have to look at ourselves.  Have we been open to discerning the gifts that the Spirit has given to each of us throughout our lives and thus to using them for the benefit of Christ’s Body, the Church?  And have we worked hard enough to help our young people to do the same?

          If we have not been open to discerning the gifts that the Spirit is giving to each of us, then we are like Appendices: members whose function is not really clear and who pose a significant threat to the body if they begin to malfunction.  And if we aren’t helping our young people to do the same then it’s even worse: for they will often drift away before becoming permanently attached, thus leaving the body without necessary members for the future.

          Nevertheless, my brothers and sisters, we have Good News (I mean, that’s why we call it the “Gospel”, right?).  The Good News is the very thing that we celebrate today: that Jesus, now seated at the right hand of the Father, has sent his Spirit into the Church; and this Spirit is a mighty force that not only has the power to unite us as one body—as it did in Jerusalem that day, drawing “devout Jews from every nation under heaven” together—but who also gives us power to go forth to fulfill Christ’s mission of bringing salvation to all men by incorporating them into his Body through baptism in his Spirit.

          And so, as we close our Easter celebration of 50 days, let us each pray intentionally to the Holy Spirit, asking him to show us the unique gift—big or small—that he has given each of us for furthering Christ’s mission; and let us ask for the courage to go forth boldly so as to manifest that gift in the world—that is, right here in our community—and thus build up the Body of Christ: whose Body we are and whose presence we celebrate, sacramentally, at this altar.

Given and All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – June 8^th, 2014