Ponder like Mary in the new year, Homily for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

Today is the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, which is the Eighth Day in Octave of the Christmas Season where we recognize Mary’s special role in being Mother of God.   

 

This is a Holy Day of obligation, but I like to think of it as a Holy Day of opportunity to spend another day to receive Jesus and be together with our family of faith during the Christmas season.

 

Many of us make resolutions for the New Year as a new beginning. 

 

I was curious about the most popular resolutions and found the Marist poll of annual New Year’s Resolutions with the top five being:

 

1)   Eating healthier

2)   Exercising more

3)   Being a better person

4)   Losing Weight

5)   improving one’s health

 

I really like being a better person.  One of the best models in being a better person is the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Of course, Mary always leads us to Jesus, the model we all strive for, as she was his first and best disciple. Mary brought about a new beginning for mankind through the birth of her son, Jesus, by her strong faith.  Mary’s faith and prayerful pondering are great examples as we make our own New Year resolutions.

Mary was prepared for her special role as being the Mother of God by being preserved from Original Sin from the time of conception. Even though she was given this special grace, Mary still had the freedom to choose in cooperating with God’s plan.  When the Angel Gabriel greeted her with, “Hail, Favored One, you will conceive a son who be the Messiah and Lord”, Mary must have really been tested.  Since she had no relations with Joseph, conceiving a child would have been a scandal and possibly life threatening. 

Trying to understand God’s plan, Mary asked the angel how this could happen. Who responded: Through Holy Spirit she would conceive the Son of God.  After pondering the angel’s response, Mary answered a resounding yes! 

Now what is pondering? 

For Mary it is prayerfully reflect on the meaning of life’s events in relation to God.  Our reading today tells us that Mary “kept all these things in her heart”.   She took the time to be quiet and reflect on God’s presence in her life. We hear today Mary’s pondering the shepherd’s message who came in search of the infant lying in the manger.  The angel’s message to the shepherds was: Good news of great joy for all the people!  A savior was born who would be Messiah and Lord. This was very similar to Gabriel’s annunciation to Mary.   

Another time we hear of Mary’s pondering was in response to Jesus being lost in the Temple where he says to his parents after being found, “Did you not know I must be in my Father’s house”.  When Mary ponders she’s prayerful reflecting over time of God’s plan for her and her Son.

Mary’s pondering gives us a good model to follow in reflecting on God’s plan for us.   She’s a very good intercessor in prayer for our own joys and sorrows.   Even though she’s the Mother of God, she has a lot in common with us.  She is a mortal human being like each of us and a mother who cared for and loved her child.  Mary experienced many joys and sorrows in her life that we can unite to ours:

-       She rejoiced to God in learning of her conception of Jesus.

-       She was told her heart would be pierced when presenting Jesus in the Temple.

-       She was a homeless refugee as she fled with Joseph and Jesus to Egypt.

-       She lost her child for three days in the temple.

-       She lost her husband and was a widow

-       She met her Son on his way to be crucified.

-       She witnessed her Sons’ crucifixion.

-       She received the Her Son’s dead body and buried her Son.

 

Mary is also like a mother to us.  She gave birth to the Son of God, Jesus, who made us children of God.  She is now in heaven with her Son and we can develop a relationship with Mary as our Heavenly Mother which will help us to grow closer to Jesus. Many of us ask our friends and family to pray for us when we have struggles.  So if we ask our friends and family to pray for us, why not ask our Blessed Mother in heaven who is closest to Jesus, to offer prayers for us?

So how can we ask for Mary’s prayers and follow her model of pondering?  One way is by praying the Rosary. The prayers of the Rosary, the Apostles Creed, Hail Mary, Our Father, and Glory be, are all familiar to us. In praying these on the  beads of the Rosary it provides a quiet rhythm as we meditate on the life of Jesus and Mary through the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious mysteries.   While praying the Rosary, we can ask Mary to intercede in prayer for our life’s challenges.   Praying the Rosary allows us find some quiet time and peace to be with our Blessed Mother and our Lord.  

 

It also gives us an opportunity to become better disciples of Jesus, by meditating on his life.   If praying a full Rosary seems to be a challenge, consider praying just one decade to start.    Another prayer to consider is the Magnificat, Mary’s prayer of gratitude found in the 2nd chapter of Luke. Every evening clergy, religious, and even some lay people pray this as part of the Liturgy of the Hours.  It’s a good way to close each day reflecting on God’s blessings in your life and uniting them with Mary’s gratitude for the gift of Jesus.

So in making your New Year’s resolutions look to the Blessed Virgin Mary as a model of faith in saying yes to God and prayerfully pondering God’s will in your life.   The Mother of God can be a powerful prayer intercessor and lead you to grow closer to her son, Jesus.   Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with You!

 

 

 

 

Mary, a woman of action sharing the joy of Jesus: Homily for the 4th Sunday of Advent

 On this final Sunday of Advent, the Church provides a Marian lens for us to view Christ’s coming to us as a little baby at Christmas.    In today’s Gospel we hear of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth.   We are told that Mary travels in haste through the hill country.   We often think of Mary being passive, humbly pondering in contemplation.   But today she is a woman of action, traveling to share her cousin’s joy of finally conceiving a child as was told to her by the Angel Gabriel.  Elizabeth’s pregnancy was a sign of the impossible becoming possible.    Mary went in haste as she cannot wait to rejoice with Elizabeth and to share her joy of bearing God’s son.   

 

We don’t have a lot of details on Mary’s journey to visit Elizabeth in the Bible.  A commentary I read speculated it was about four days through difficult terrain.  This would be a dangerous journey for young woman, traveling alone.  Some scholars think Mary may have traveled in a caravan or possibly Joseph accompanied her.  She may have gone alone, feeling she was protected because of the holy child she bore within her would fend off evil.

 

To try to get a sense of Mary’s journey and the encounter with Elizabeth, I decided to pray over some artistic renditions of the Visitation.   Joseph Robusti Tintoretto, a 16^th century artist,  paintings depict Mary processing through

treacherous terrain looking up to Elizabeth, head encircled in a halo, humbly bowing, and clutching her chest, as she climbs roughhewn stone steps to meet Elizabeth.  The scene depicts Elizabeth, halo also encircling her head, bending down to Mary with arms open wide to embrace her.   Both Joseph and Zechariah are off to the sides in the background.   In a later Tintoretto painting Elizabeth

lovingly embraces Mary as she stumbles forward into her arms after a long journey.   Another 16^th century artist,  Jaccopo Pontomo, captures the younger Mary’s bright eyes looking intently at the much older and worn face of Elizabeth, as they embrace and share their miracles with each other.  Elizabeth’s face is visibly brighter, reflecting a glow radiating from Mary who is carrying God’s son in her womb. This scene captures the humble wonder

of Elizabeth who proclaims, “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me.”  If you would like to view these images, I will post them on my blog.  I would encourage to you to view them and prayerfully imagine Mary and Elizabeth’s encounter.  

 

Mary truly desired to personally encounter Elizabeth to share in her joy. She actively journeys to be with her, and both Elizabeth and her infant, respond to the presence of Jesus within her.  Elizabeth’s baby leaps in her womb in hearing Mary’s voice and filled with Holy Spirit, she proclaims, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb”.   These words uttered by Elizabeth are the scriptural basis of the Hail Mary prayer.    If you’re ever challenged by someone for praying this prayer, remember it is based on Elizabeth’s praise of Mary in Luke’s Gospel for carrying God’s son within her.  In praising Mary, she is praising Jesus.

 

This Christmas many of us will be traveling on a journey, like Mary, to visit family and friends.   The journey may be difficult with travel delays and traffic jams.  Some of us may have encountered a challenging personal journey over the past year since we have visited our loved ones.   We may have had illnesses, losses, and disappointments.  Maybe we didn’t experience any challenges, but our loved ones we visit may have.  As we visit, be aware of the journey that each of us have been on the past year, and that the joy of Jesus is needed in this world to help us through these challenging journeys.

 

Let’s keep in mind the joy of Elizabeth and Mary, that our Lord has come to be with us, as a humble little baby. He chose to enter humanity amid our trials and challenges to save us, not for what we have or have not done, but out of his love for each of us.  He can turn the impossible into the possible if we put our faith in him.   Please share the joy of Jesus like Mary did with Elizabeth with those you love.

 

Jesus came into the world at a distinct time in history, which is why we celebrate Christmas each year.  But keep in mind, he also continues to be with us in the presence of the Eucharist, which we will soon receive.   When we are filled with the Eucharist, made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit, we will carry Jesus in our own bodies, just like Mary did.   When we receive him, prayerfully contemplate in the wonder that the Lord is truly in each of us. May our hearts leap for joy like John the Baptist did in Elizabeth’s womb at the Lord’s presence.  As we visit with the family and friends this holiday season, let’s remember to share the joy of why we are celebrating Christmas, that God has truly come to be with us as a humble little baby, and invite them to share in this joy through our faith in Jesus as our Lord and savior. 

 

 

When you see the signs, be joyful for your redemption is at hand! 1st Sunday of Advent, Cycle 3 - 11/28/2021

            Happy New Year!   We are beginning a new year in the Church.   We just lit the first purple Advent Candle.   The priest and deacon are now wearing purple vestments.  These are signs of the Lord’s coming.     

We are of course anticipating Jesus’ arrival as a little baby, but early in Advent we focus on the Lord’s second coming at the final judgment.    

            In today’s Gospel Jesus speaks of signs.  He references the sky:  the sun, moon, and stars that the people of His time relied on for guidance in their travels.   If these changed the people of the time would be lost.  These were their GPS.  He also spoke of nations in 

distress and being perplexed by the roaring of seas and the waves. These were disorienting situations where control and order was lost. The is a world in chaos and people are in fear anticipating what is coming next.    They don’t know what to rely on because the signs they trusted are passing away.

            People today like to reference these signs of uncertainty to predict the coming of the end times.   When they see these signs of chaos in the world they predict the end is coming causing people to be afraid.  But throughout history there have been many of these signs that have come and gone.   Nobody knows the day or the hour when the Lord will come again.  So what are we to do?  

            Jesus tells us, “When these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads, because your redemption is at hand.”  By living as faithful Christians, loving God and neighbor, we look forward to the coming of the Lord, because we have the hope that the justice of the Lord will be ours.   Our hope is that He will find us worthy to join him in His heavenly Kingdom.  

            In order for us to anticipate His coming we need to stay awake.    Jesus tells us not to let our hearts be drowsy from carousing, drunkenness, and anxieties of daily life.    When we are focused on these things we’re focused on ourself and not loving God or others.    We know the Lord will come again, but we don’t know exactly when.   To be ready we can listen the Lord’s advice: “be vigilant and pray for the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”   We need to always be ready to meet the Lord when he comes again.  Saint Paul offers us some insight on how to do this, to grow in love.   He tells us, “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you, so as to strengthen your hearts, and be blameless in holiness before our God and Father.”  

This is possible by conducting ourselves to please God, showing our love for Him and our neighbor, walking in the Way of the Lord.

 

            There have definitely been signs in our faith community showing this love for one another.   The hundreds of people in need that showed up for the Thanksgiving food distribution last weekend.  The thousands of items donated and service to the Thanksgiving food distribution, food pantry, Christmas store, Pro-vida toy drive, and Gabriel project baby showers over the past year.  The many volunteers who prepared and served food at funeral meals throughout the year.  The hundreds of visits by Eucharistic ministers to bringing the life giving food of Jesus in Communion to the sick and homebound.  The numerous volunteers and teachers of the faith in RCIA, religious education, school and athletic ministries. There are of course countless signs seen only by the Lord himself in acts of love serving others in the name of Jesus.

            So as the New Year in the Church begins, it’s a good time to reflect on spiritual resolutions to work on so we can grow in love and be ready when the Lord comes again. Try to find some quiet time to pray for the strength to grow in love and listen to the Lord of any changes He’s calling you to.  By striving to live a life of loving of God and neighbor we can be ready to stand erect and raise our heads with joy when the Lord comes again.

When end times come remember: You are my inheritance O Lord! Homily for the 33rd week in ordinary time

The readings that we hear today sound a bit ominous, like a plot for a blockbuster disaster movie.  It’s the end of the Church year, and the readings we hear are about the end times, the final coming of Jesus.  We hear in the first reading from prophet Daniel, “It shall be a time

unsurpassed in distress since nations begun in that time”.   In the Gospel we hear Jesus tell his disciples, “In those days after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.”  What are we to make of such distressing signs?

These occurrences would cause the people of Jesus time to be disturbed.   The people relied on the natural phenomenon of the sun, moon, and stars as their GPS to navigate them in the day and night.    They did not have the modern conveniences of GPS on cell phone to give them directions.  Without them, they would be lost. 

Jesus was trying to tell them that the world they relied on to guide their lives was about to change.  But when was this change going to happen?  Even Jesus did not know.  He says, “But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, no the Son, but only the Father.”  If Jesus did not know, this certainly was a cause of anxiety for the disciples.  

The world that the disciples lived in was the Roman empire.  This was a culture that certainly had great disregard for human life. If you wanted to survive in the Roman empire, it was necessary to follow the ways of the ruling power.   Their rulers, Caesar, were thought to be divine.   They also had many pagan gods.  To survive in this world, it was necessary to worship these gods, and offer sacrifice to them through offerings of animals or grains.  On top of these the people were required to pay taxes to the Roman government. These practices were a threat to the Jewish people, who only worshipped the one true God.  If you did not comply with the demands, there were visible signs to warn the people.  These signs were the so-called criminals who were crucified to warn the people of what happened if they were not compliant with the Romans.   To survive in this world their guides were to follow the demands of the Roman rulers.  They were the sun, moon, and stars that the people had to follow if they did not want to meet their end. What were the people to do? 

The Psalm that we heard today was the key: You are my inheritance, O Lord!   Instead of trusting the culture of the world, they were to trust in the Lord.   Their inheritance is life in the Lord.  The Psalm states: Therefore, my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices,
    my body, too, abides in confidence;
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
    nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.

And

You will show me the path to life,
    fullness of joys in your presence,
    the delights at your right hand forever.

By trusting in the Lord, Jesus Christ, their inheritance would be eternal life.  Jesus overcame the instrument of death, crucifixion, that the Romans used to control the people.   Jesus’ rising from the dead was the new sign that the ways of the world no longer had power over the lives of the people.   The real power was not that of brute force, but of sacrificial love.  

Jesus told his disciples, “They will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds' with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.”

So, if we believe that the Lord is our inheritance, we should not fear in Jesus coming, because we are living as the Lord Jesus has taught us, loving God and loving neighbor.   And by doing so, we will be the elect that is gathered from the four winds to be with him.

As the end of the Church year comes to an end, it’s a good time to reflect on whether we are loving God and our neighbor, or if we are following the culture of the world.   If there is some way of the world that we are struggling with that causes us to sin, we don’t have struggle alone.  We can come to Jesus, and ask him to forgive us, because as we heard in Hebrews, “he offered one sacrifice for our sins and took his seat forever at the right hand of God.” He took on our sins, so we can be reconciled to God. The Sacrament of confession is a tremendous healing remedy to return us to be in a right relationship with God.  To continue in that relationship the Eucharist provides us the graces we need to overcome the power of the world and remind us of what we all desire, to be the elect that the angels gather to be with God.  To remind us of this desire, remember to pray Psalm we sang today, You are my inheritance, O Lord!

 

 

Have faith in Jesus to be healed of blindness, seeing others as he sees them - Homily 30th Sunday, cycle C

 In today’s Gospel we hear about how persistent faith of Bartimaeus brings about a miraculous healing.   Of the healings in the Gospel of Mark, this is only the healing where the person’s name is given.   I looked up what this name meant.  The first part, Bar, stands for “Son of”.  Aramaic and Greek were two common languages in use at the time and there were two meanings for Timaeus.  In Aramaic it meant unclean and in Greek it meant honored one. It’s quite interesting how these contrasting names reflect how Bartimaeus is perceived by people in the story.

In the Gospel, Jesus is traveling from Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd.  Jericho was the city in the Old Testament where Joshua led the Israelites carrying the Ark of the Covenant for seven days around the city walls, which miraculously came tumbling down. God’s presence led the Israelites to conquer Jericho.   The presence of God, in the person of Jesus, can conquer injustices in the world.

The blind man Bartimaeus is begging by the roadside and hears that Jesus is coming.   Why do you think that Bartimaeus is in need to beg? Many during Jesus time thought that a disability was a result of the personal sin of the person, or their family.  Consequently, they were excluded by society in participating in worship and engaging in meaningful work to support themselves.   They were outcasts seen as being unclean.

Bartimaeus has heard about Jesus miraculous healings and tries to get his attention.   He cries out, “Son of David, have pity on me.”  The crowd responds telling him to be quite and stop bothering Jesus. They don’t see any worth in him due to their view of him being unclean.  Bartimaeus again calls out, “Son of David, have pity on me.”  He is quite clever in using the title, “Son of David”, which is an honorary reference to the great King of Israel, inferring a messianic title upon Jesus.   Such a public acclamation of honor by Bartimaeus, would require a favorable response by Jesus.   He was putting Jesus in quite a predicament.

In a surprise response to the crowds, Jesus tells them to call him. Jesus is responding not in disdain, but in honor of Bartimaeus. He sees his human dignity of being created in the image and likeness of God, and instead of ignoring him, Jesus engages in a relationship. Bartimaeus is told to “take courage, Jesus is calling you.”  

Bartimaeus responds by throwing away his cloak, springing up, and coming to Jesus. Throwing away his cloak was a sign of letting go of his most trusted possession, to put his trust in Jesus.   His cloak probably gave him protection and comfort in his lonely existence, isolated from the community. His trust was in an object rather than a relationship.  Jesus was offering a relationship by engaging in dialogue with Bartimaeus, asking him, “what do you want me to do for you?” to which, Bartimaeus responds, “Master, I want to see.”  

His response really made me think.  Does Bartimaeus really want to see?   In his isolation as a beggar and exclusion from the community, he may have been longing more so to be seen, rather than to physically regain his sight.  If people would recognize him as Jesus did, a person created in God’s image, with dignity and respect, he would be seen and welcome him into the community as he was.   Instead of being isolated and labeled as the blind beggar, he would be known as Bartimaeus, the son of the honored one, and welcomed into the community.

Jesus responds to Bartimaeus with, “Go your way, your faith has saved you”.  Bartimaeus faith in Jesus results in him gaining his site.  And with the restoration of his sight, his so-called disability is gone, and returned to the community. In the time of Jesus, these miraculous healings were done signs of his divine power to heal, leading people to believe in him.  But there were more importantly about uniting the person to return to community to worship God. 

Bartimaeus really takes a leap of faith in throwing off his cloak, which was his most trusted possession.   He put his total trust in Jesus, has his sight restored, and is restored to relationship in community. This cloak is a symbol of what we cling to that prevents us from seeing others as Jesus sees them. Do we see others as being unclean like the crowds because have a disability, an immigrant, a different ethnicity, race, or sexual orientation?  Or do we see them as being sons and daughters of honor, with the eyes of Jesus, as a person created in the image and likeness of God?

Many times, we can be blind to others because we don’t see as God sees them.  We each may want to ask ourselves what we are clinging to that blinds us from seeing others as God sees us.  As we close out the month of October, which is Respect Life month, let’s put our faith in Jesus, to help throw off the cloak that blinds us, from seeing others in our community as God’s children. God’s desire is to have all to come into communion with Jesus.  As we come forth to receive the Eucharist, ask him to give us the faith, to see others as beloved sons and daughter of God, through His eyes of love. 

Should I stay or should I go? Choose to stay with Jesus! - Homily 21st Sunday, Cycle B

Darling, you got to let me know

Should I stay, or should I go?

If you say that you are mine

I'll be here till the end of time

So you got to let me know

Should I stay, or should I go?

These are the lyrics from The Clash’s 1981 hit, “Should I stay, or should I go?”, that came to me after reflecting on today’s Gospel. There’s a bit of the truth that resonates in this catchy tune of what that Jesus disciples were wrestling with: Should I stay, or should I go.

The last three weeks we have heard Jesus telling the Jews and his disciples in Capernaum, that he was the bread of life that came down from heaven, and if they ate his flesh and drank his blood, they would have eternal life. For the Jews this was unacceptable, as eating anything that contained blood was forbidden in their tradition.  So many of the Jews probably had moved on, and in today’s reading we hear Jesus is speaking to his disciples.  

The disciples had been following Jesus witnessing the miracles he had performed.  They experienced the feeding of the multitudes, 5000 people, with 5 loaves and two fish. Many of them had witnessed other miracles, turning the water into wine at Cana, giving sight of the blind, and restoring the lame to walk. They were following Jesus because these miracles were signs indicating that he was someone special, possibly the long-awaited Messiah.  But now, even his disciples were having a hard time accepting what he was telling them. Instead of backing down, Jesus doubles down, asking if they are shocked by his teaching that he came from God, asking them, what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? This was too much for them, so they returned to their former way of life. 

I think we all know people today, who are just like the disciples who left Jesus, who have a hard time accepting many of the teachings of the Catholic Church, especially Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist.  The purpose of the National Eucharistic Revival held over the past three years, was to help Catholic’s belief in the Jesus real presence’ in the Eucharist and His desire to be in an intimate relationship with us. There’s still a large percentage of Catholics who struggle with this belief and many attend Mass infrequently or have stopped attending Mass altogether.  Sadly, many people are missing the intimate relationship of a God who loves us so much that he became food to spiritually nourish us with His Body and Blood in the Eucharist. 

With many of the disciples leaving, Jesus asks the twelve apostles, “Do you also want to leave?”  Peter answers with hopeful faith on behalf of all the apostles, with one of the most important answers of all time, “Master, to whom shall we go?”   Peter realizes that while he

may not totally understand what Jesus means by eating his body and drinking this blood, that he has faith in him, and chooses to stay with him.  He affirms this faith in Jesus by proclaiming, “You have the words of eternal life, and we have come to believe that you are the Holy One of God.”  Without the faith of Peter, we would not have the Church nor the Sacraments to sustain and feed us. 

Jesus wants to be in an intimate personal relationship with each of us, so we can be with him forever. He does this through the Church and the Sacraments, most profoundly in the Eucharist.  We just need to have faith like Peter and trust that the words that Jesus proclaims are true.  Jesus says that the word he speaks are Spirit and life.  The Spirit is the divine power that creates. If Jesus is God who created the world, he surely has the power through the Holy Spirit to change ordinary bread and wine, into his Body and Blood, through the priests of his Church.  It’s amazing that the God of the universe chose to become one of us in human form, so we can intimately know him, and even more amazing that he continues to be with us in the Eucharist, so we can be spiritually nourished and become one with him.

Jesus wants all of us to choose to stay with him, just like Peter did.  Peter and the apostles were in a close relationship with Jesus, because they were with him daily, spending a lot of time with him.   The more time you spend with someone, the more you know them and grow in love with them.  

Someone who spent a lot of time with Jesus and developed a great love for him in our modern age, was Blessed Carlos Acutis.   Carlos was born in Italy in 1991 and grew up in a family that was not very religious, but after receiving his first communion, he desired to receive the Eucharist every day. Carlos said that the Eucharist is my freeway to heaven.  Carlos became very interested in Eucharistic miracles and desired share to the stories about them with as many people as possible.  He traveled to many of the sites of the miracles and developed a web site which contained posters explaining each of the miracles.  Unfortunately, Carlos died at the young age of 15, but the website he developed is still used today to share these Eucharistic miracles with the world.  The documents about the miracles on his website were on display at the National Eucharistic Congress and was one of most popular exhibitions at the conference.  If you have not seen them, I would encourage you to visit the website. Carlos will be canonized a saint in 2025 by Pope Francis.

These Eucharistic miracles have occurred to help those who doubt to have faith in Jesus real presence in the Eucharist.   One of the most recent miracles occurred in 2006 at Saint Martin of Tours Parish in Tixtla, Mexico, where a host that a religious sister was taking to the sick appeared to have blood coming out of it.  The sister returned the host to the parish priest and upon seeing this, reported it to the diocese and an investigation took place to determine what was happening. The independent scientific investigation concluded that the blood was of type AB and detected the tissue of living heart muscles. The same blood type found in similar investigations done on Holy Shroud of Turin, the burial cloth that covered Jesus in the tomb. There have also been many other Eucharistic miracles that have had the same results from scientific testing.  If you know anyone who has a doubt in Jesus real presence in the Eucharist, I encourage you to share these miracles with them to help bolster their faith.

So, you got to let me know
Should I stay, or should I go?

I hope that each of us, have faith like Peter, and choose to stay with Jesus, because he is the bread come down from heaven, which gives us eternal life.  May your choice to stay with Jesus, be something that you freely share to help lead others to have that same faith, so they too can have eternal life. 

 

 

Come to Jesus in the Eucharist always present to heal our brokenness, Homily 16th Sunday Cycle B

 This has been quite a week for me, and 60 other parishioners, along with 50,000 pilgrims who traveled to Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress.     It has been an amazing experience being with Catholics from all over the country and even throughout the world, who came to Indianapolis out of their love for Jesus in the Eucharist.   I need to admit it has been a little overwhelming with the pace of the schedule.    It has been hard for me to keep up with my prayer routine in the midst of all the activity.  But, I did each day, find time, to do what Jesus said in the Gospel today, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”  There was an opportunity each day to spend time with Jesus at Mass and just being with him Adoration of the Eucharist.

Coming into this week, I had the intention of experiencing Jesus in the people that I met at the National Eucharistic Congress.   I really did not know what to expect.    As I arrived at the congress it was a bit like what Jesus encountered when he got off the boat with the apostles. 

When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.    Indeed, this is exactly what I saw many people gathered in vast crowds, being taught many things, by people who our Shepherds, the Bishops, who organized the event thought best to shepherd their people.    I am grateful for our Bishops in organizing this conference to help us grow in our love for Jesus in the Eucharist. In the sessions I attended one of the consistent messages I heard was about our God, who wants to be in personal relationship with us, to heal us through his grace and mercy, in the Sacraments of the Church, especially in the Eucharist and Reconciliation

I did want to share with you a few of the experiences I had encountering Jesus at the conference.     The first one was a woman who came to the Saint Meinrad booth to learn about retreats.  She had recently moved to West Lafayette, IN and was interesting in finding a spiritual place that she could also bring her family.  She had a nine-year-old son, and I told her that Holiday World was right next to Saint Meinrad and would be a great place where the family could come visit or even stay.   I let her know the Benedictine hospitality of the monks to greet all visitors as Christ would be a welcoming place for her family.   She then told me that she had a recent reversion back to the Catholic faith.   She had been raised Catholic, but married a man who was from the AME tradition, and had left her Catholic faith for years.   She then had contracted cancer in her eye that had cause her to lose her vision.   She was on chemo to battle the disease with the hope of a cure.  A friend of her recommended that she pray a rosary daily, asking for the intercession of St. Padre Pio to heal her.    She did so and returned to practicing her Catholic faith and receiving the sacraments.  Her friend also encouraged her to make a pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Padre Pio.   She made that pilgrimage and after attending Mass at the Shrine, she regained her sight.  This was a beautiful example of the healing power of Jesus.

Another lady named Joan who is a 17-year cancer survivor, told me her story of healing, and then gave me a wrist band.   Before she gave it to me, she asked me, what can I do about changing the past.   I told her nothing.   She then asked, what can I do to affect the future?  I again told her nothing.   She then put a wrist band on me that said “Be in the moment”, and said, all you can do is to be in the moment, seeing the presence of God in your circumstance that you are in.   I really took this to heart.   I just read a book on the ministry of the diaconate that emphasized to be present in the moment to be Christ the Servant.   It emphasized that deacons can be so involved in the ministry of doing, and not being present to others as Christ the Servant.   I think we can all take to heart to be present to people that we encounter and trying to see Jesus in them.  Many people are hurt and broken, and really need to be present to them, so we can be the presence of Jesus to them.

Yesterday my wife Linda and I took a break from attending evening sessions and went off by ourselves to a restaurant.   On our return to go home we stopped at Saint John Church which was the Adoration Chapel for the Congress.  As we entered a little girl escorted by a religious sister, gave us a flower and said to give them to Jesus. What a beautiful gift! We sat down and prayed for a while and Linda asked me what I saw in the flowers. I told her that I saw the beauty of God’s creation.    She told me to look closer.   Each of the flowers was broken in one way or another, but they were still beautiful. 

She said that how God sees us, broken but still beautiful. Broken, but still beautiful!  After some time in prayer, we went up close to Jesus on the altar to offer the gift the little girl gave us to offer Jesus.  We had to wind our way through dozens of people that were kneeling on the floor to be at the foot of altar where Jesus was.  As we approached, we could see dozens of bouquets of flowers surrounding the altar.   Linda placed the flowers in one of the vases.

Seeing them from a distance, they were beautiful.   We couldn’t see the imperfections of the broken flowers. All we could see was the beauty surrounding Jesus and that is how He see us! The little girl gave us a beautiful opportunity to give Jesus the flowers in love and recognize how he loves us in our brokenness. 

I thought this gesture of love of giving Jesus the broken flowers is symbolic of the relationship he has with us.   In our brokenness, we come to Jesus in the Body and Blood of the Eucharist, who willingly allowed his body to be broken, so he could spiritually heal us in our own brokenness.    For he knows each one of us are all broken in some way and wants us to heal.   We just need to be willing to come to Jesus and allow Him to bring us healing with his grace and mercy.   Jesus becomes broken for us, so we can heal our brokenness, each time we come to be with him in the sacrifice of the Mass. The Eucharist is the remedy to heal our broken world. Be in the present moment each day and invite those you know who have been away from the Church, to come back and receive the healing presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.