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.  

 

 

 

 

Faith in Jesus and modern medicine can heal us, and be a sign to bring others to Christ, Homily 13th Sunday, Cycle B

In today’s Gospel we find two people suffering from illness who sought the help of Jesus to heal them.   Jairus, the synagogue official, feared his daughter was at the point of death, and pled to Jesus help cure her. The women with the hemorrhage had been suffering from her affliction for 12 years without any relief and she heard of Jesus power to heal.  They both had faith in Jesus to heal.  Our own faith in Jesus can have a powerful effect on others and ourselves if we put our trust in him.

In the Gospel we have the faith of Jairus that led him to ask Jesus to heal his daughter.  This took a lot of courage on the part of Jairus.   He was a leader in the synagogue, and many people in the Jewish community were quite at odds with Jesus.  Jairus’ faith in Jesus could threaten his position in the synagogue.  But in desperation, Jairus fell at Jesus feet pleading with him to lay his hands on her to get well and live. This was a heartful intercession on behalf of his daughter, because Jairus had faith in Jesus’ power to heal. 

The woman with hemorrhage for twelve years had suffered a long time without any relief.   She had placed all her trust in doctors, had run out of money, and her condition got worse.  The woman endured more than physical ailment, but also spiritual and social suffering as well.  Her condition would make her ritually impure and anyone who encountered her or anything she touched impure as well.   This ritual impurity would prohibit participation in worship and socially interaction with anyone from the community.   After a period, people could return to worship, but the woman could not because of her chronic condition.  Could you imagine not be able to be able come to church or socially be with people for such a long time?   We all kind a went through this for a much shorter period during the pandemic, and it was quite difficult 

            Without any relief from her condition, she had heard about Jesus, and hoped that he could help her.  She had such faith in Jesus that if she could only touch his clothes, she would be healed.  It must have taken a lot of courage for the woman to seek out Jesus.  She

probably had to conceal herself to get through the crowd to approach Jesus.   But she was able to get close enough to Jesus’ clothes and experience immediate healing.    Imagine how this completely change her life, allowing her to return to the community.   Her healing was unique in that it was her faith that drew the power to heal.  Jesus did not know who touched him but recognized the power coming out of him.  Jesus acknowledged her role in the healing telling her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you.”

            Jesus gave Jairus hope in the faith he had, telling him, “Do not be afraid; just have faith”.   The people who were with the girl ridiculed Jesus, thinking she was dead.  But laying his hands on the girl and commanding her, “Little girl, I say to you arise”, she immediately arose and walked around.  And to show she was alive, he ordered that she be given something to eat, showing she had fully recovered. The faith of Jairus in Jesus’ power to heal, brought about this miraculous healing.  He provides us with a model of intercession in prayer to Jesus. 

Both healing stories have several common elements: asking for Jesus’ help and having faith in him.  The most important element of both healings was faith.  When Jesus healed the young girl, he only had people of faith present, her parents, and his disciples.  People of faith help to lift you up.  Prayer and faith in Jesus led to the healing of both women.   I think we can learn from them. 

Our world today has certainly been blessed through the advances of science and medicine to cure illnesses that were totally unheard of in the times of Jesus. The one problem with all these advances is that we can leave God out of the healing process.  We may experience physical or mental healing, but our spiritual healing is ignored.  As humans we are both body and soul, and our souls need healing as well.  Fortunately for us we have the Church and the sacraments to heal our soul in dealing with difficulties.  

When we encounter illness in our life one of the best things we can do is pray to Jesus for the help in our trials.  We can also intercede in prayer for our family and friends, who are struggling with illness to help them heal as well.  Some of them may not have faith in Jesus, but our faith in Jesus can be of tremendous help to them.

We also have healing presence of Jesus through the sacraments, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to perform His work of healing and salvation. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick. The anointing of the sick is not just for people who near death.   This Sacrament can be received by anyone who struggling with physical or mental illness or having surgery as well as their caregivers. When we are faced with these challenges our spirits need healing too. When our spirits are healed, it can help to strengthen our faith.  

I’d be remiss if I did not mention the living presence of Christ available to us daily, in the Eucharist, which can bring us healing as well. It is the source of where sacraments flow from. I think when Jesus told the people to give the little gift something to eat, he was also pointing us to the spiritual nourishment of the Eucharist.  Through the Eucharist we are fed and strengthened through the presence of Christ. If you are suffering from physical or mental illness, or emotional distress an encounter with Jesus, in the healing presence of the Eucharist, may be the best remedy to sooth your soul and help life your spirit, to help you heal.

 

 

Jesus' Ascension empowers us to be His eyes, hands, and feet in the world to love as he did - Ascension, cycle B

         As I entered the Plainfield Correctional Facility, I felt a bit intimidated. I had been ministering in Johnson County jail for several years, but the state prison was a totally different environment.    I had been training for 16 weeks to go on a Kairos prison retreat with 25 other men. The retreat lasted four days which included reading scripture, giving witness talks, and praying together with the inmates. Many of the men had been on prior retreats were preparing us newbies for the experience. The most important thing we were told to do on the retreat, was not to preach, but to listen and show love for the inmates. Listen-Listen, Love-Love was the motto we practiced at every meeting.  We were told that almost all the men attending the retreat had requested to be there.   But one person, I’ll call him Joe, did not volunteer to attend.  He was chosen by the prison chaplain due to his challenging attitude and hardened outlook on life. The chaplain thought this retreat could be an opportunity for Joe to have a breakthrough. We were told that Joe would be a challenge.  

        Before being allowed to enter we were screened by a metal detector, frisked by the guards, and then escorted to the holding area to enter the prison. The large metal electronic door slowly opened to allow us in and then clanked shut behind us. We were now inside the prison, which was very daunting. Several guards escorted us to the gym where the retreat was being held.  We were assigned to tables where we met the inmates who were our retreat partners. Mine was a quiet young man that was glad to be there and had been looking forward to the retreat. I spotted Joe sitting at another table across the room. He was very mean looking man with white supremist tattoos covering his entire body, including his face and forehead. He had a scowl on his face and was not engaged at all with his table mates.   He obviously did not want to be there. I thought it was going to be impossible for any of us to make a connection with him.  We needed to trust in Jesus that the Holy Spirt would empower us to break through.

         Today we are celebrating the Ascension of our Lord. Jesus ascends into heaven, returning to be with his Father. He came into the world in human form, so we could come to know the love of the Father.  Now in returning to the Father he opens the gateway to heaven for each of us.  But with his Ascension, Jesus is leaving the disciples.

        Don’t we want Jesus to be with us always? He is, but in a different way, through the divine power of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit came to empower the disciples spread the Gospel to the entire world. Jesus gives the disciple their marching orders: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”. This is a tall task for the disciples. After telling them this Jesus is lifted up and taken away.

Now that Jesus is gone, how were they going to accomplish this task?  By ascending to

heaven, Christ gave them the divine power to accomplish their mission where His presence is without limits through the power of Holy Spirit in Church and the Sacraments.  The Church is where heaven meets the earth.   It’s each one of us, as the Body of Christ, is doing our part in witnessing to the Gospel.  And how do we do this?   By our words and deeds to announce the good news by being Christ-like in showing our love to others. 

A famous quote of St. Teresa of Avila sums up our role in spreading the Gospel:

“Christ has no body on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassionately on this world.  Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world.  Christ has no body now on earth but yours!"   To strengthen us in this mission we receive the graces of the Eucharist to be Christ’s body, hands, and feet in the world.

On the fourth day of the retreat the inmates seemed to have really had a good time. They had a change of pace from their monotonous routine, enjoyed some delicious home cooked meals, and spent time in Christian fellowship with other men who listened and showed them love. The closing session of the retreat was an opportunity for the inmates to witness how they were impacted. Surprisingly, the first person to come forward was Joe. I don’t think that anyone expected him to do so, because he didn’t seem to be engaged throughout the entire retreat, but he did stay all four days. Joe took the stage and said, “I’d like to introduce you to my new brother in Christ”. A large African American man came up on the stage and gave Joe a warm embrace and stood next to him as he continued his witness. At the start of the retreat, I would have never expected this to happen. Joe shared with us that his entire life, he had never been treated with love by anyone. Every interaction he ever had in his life was someone trying to hurt him or take something away from him. In defense to protect himself, he told us that he built up a wall of hatred, because that is all that he knew.  But the four days he spent on the retreat changed his heart to become a Christian, because he experienced being loved and listened to for the first time in his entire life.  The only way this could have happened was by the power of the Holy Spirit empowering the retreat leaders to listen and love like Christ did. 

The world today certainly needs to experience God’s love. At the end of each Mass, we are sent on a mission: Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord. By each of us living this out, empowered by the Eucharist, we can do our part in spreading the good news making God’s love present to others. Jesus commanded his disciples to witness in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. We can do the same with the people in Greenwood, Bargersville, and Indianapolis in our daily lives. Throughout the day, we can call on the Holy Spirit to help us to spread God’s love, by praying: “Come Holy Spirit”. It can be very simple acts of love that we do, that can make a big difference in bringing others to Christ. We may not all be able to go on a Kairos prison retreat, but we can surely make an impact on others who are imprisoned by a lack of love in their life.  By living out the Kairos motto: Listen-Listen, Love-Love, we can make a difference. We can say a kind word to the person who rubs us the wrong way at home or work. We can invite a classmate to play who is normally excluded from our activities.  We can visit someone who is shut-in or at a care facility who doesn’t have any family or friends to visit. So don’t just stand there looking up at the sky now that Jesus has ascended into heaven.  Call on the Holy Spirit to be his eyes, hands and feet, to make God’s love present here in the world so people can come to know Jesus by our witness in being Christ’s disciples. 

 

 

 

 

The power of the Son overcomes the darkness of sin, Homily 3rd Week of Easter

 The past week we had the incredible experience of viewing the total eclipse of the sun. I hope you were able to take a few minutes to see the incredible phenomenon. Many people traveled from around the world to see the eclipse. I even heard about one young man named Evan that traveled from Wales in the United Kingdom to Evansville, Indiana to view the eclipse, to celebrate his birthday was April 8. There were all kind of parties and special events throughout central Indiana leading up to this once in a lifetime event. A friend of mine from Cincinnati invited me months ago to meet him in Greensburg, Indiana, as he thought it would be cool to

play golf during the eclipse. We finished the last hole when the totality approached with temperature cooling and sunlight dimming. We were next to the county fairgrounds where large crowds of people were cheering and blowing horns as the darkness appeared and the streetlights turned on. It was a much more memorable experience than I had anticipated and was something that I could witness to others of how impactful it was. I was amazed at how quickly the sky brightened and temperature increased after the moon passed to allow powerful rays of the sun to shine again.  The immense power of the sun is something that we can take for granted, without an event like the eclipse to remind us of its ever-present power to bring us warmth and light. In the same way, we can take for granted the ever-present power of the Son of God, to bring us peace through the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, without the experience of the Lord’s resurrection, which really and truly happened 2000 years ago. 

         In today’s Gospel we hear about the disciples who encountered the risen Jesus on their way to Emmaus and had returned to Jerusalem to share their experience. They were telling other disciples how they finally recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread, when he shared the Eucharist with them.As they were telling their story, Jesus appears to the other disciples. They were probably a bit anxious and afraid to see Jesus. They had abandoned him in the garden of Gethsemane and left him with the guards to be taken prisoner, put on trial, tortured, and then crucified to death.  They bailed out on Jesus and left him alone.  What they did would be hard for anyone to forgive.  Also, it must have been frightening to have someone who they thought was dead appear to them.  Jesus recognizes that the disciples are troubled and speaks these words of comfort to them: “Peace be with you.” He knows they are troubled and puts them at ease by offering them his peace.   It’s probably not what the disciple’s expected to hear, but what they needed. To show them that he is alive and not a ghost, he shows them his hands and feet and invites them to touch him.   He even asks them for something that any person who is truly alive needs: food to nourish their bodies!  So, the disciples, give him some baked fish which he eats in front of them. Jesus is showing them he is fully alive in a glorified body.  Jesus then explains to them how his resurrection was foretold in Scriptures said that he would suffer, die, and rise from the dead after three days. Finally, Jesus gives the disciples’ get their mission: You are witness of these things to go and preach repentance for forgiveness of sins in His name. 

 

Jesus’ encounter with the disciples in Jerusalem is a model of our encounter with the Lord each time we come to Mass. We bring our own struggles, anxieties, and stresses just like the disciples.  We have broken relationships that need mending. Health concerns for ourselves and our loved ones.  Many other challenges that seem impossible to overcome. To add more fuel to the fire we have sinned against God, others, and ourselves.  We, like the disciples, may be troubled, and question whether we can be forgiven by Jesus.  But each week as we come to Mass, we experience the same encounter with Jesus as the disciples did in Jerusalem.  The Mass begins with priest, in the person of Jesus, offering the greeting of “Peace be with you”.  We are welcomed with the peace of Jesus.  

We are then given the opportunity to recall our sins, not to be condemned, but to ask forgiveness, where the priest says: “May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.”  Our minds are opened to the Scripture in the homily to make sense of what Jesus’ resurrection means in the context of our lives.  We are then nourished in a meal where Jesus’s body and blood is truly present under the appearance of the bread and wine in the Eucharistic. Our bodies are nourished so we can become what we eat: The presence of Jesus to others, so we can love God and our neighbor. We are finally sent out to witness like the disciples by the priest or deacon to “Go announce the Gospel of the Lord.”  

It can be easy to take for granted the incredible gift that Jesus has given us: the forgiveness of sins through the sacrifice of his life for each of us and the whole world. This should fill us with great joy so we can be witnesses to our families, friends, and co-workers!  If we let our minds be opened to the true gift of all that is offered at Mass, that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist and through his sacrifice he can forgive our sins, it should bring us peace to help us through our troubles.  Our troubles may still be there, but with Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist it gives us grace and peace to help us through any challenging time.  

With the recent experience we all shared with the eclipse, it can be a reminder that the power of the sun, can’t be overcome by darkness.   It may be dark for a time, but the light of the sun soon overcomes the darkness.  Let this experience remind us that power of the Son of God, who overcame the darkness of sin by his death, and shines his redeeming light of mercy on us through his resurrection, if we ask his forgiveness, so that we can live with him for eternity. Let us not take this gift of grace and mercy for granted but seek to be witnesses as his disciples to all the nations.

 

The spiritual healing we need in our suffering: The peace of Jesus - Homily, 5th Sunday, Cycle B

 

The first reading from the Book of Job resonated with me, because there have been quite a few people that I’ve personally known recently that have been going through illness and suffering. Good people and it’s really hard to understand. If you are not familiar with the story of Job, you may want to read it. There is a recent modern day adaption of this story in the movie “The Shift”, if you prefer watching a movie. In a nutshell, The Book of Job is a story about a man whose life was going pretty well, but then had tremendous misfortune that would shake the faith of anyone. He was blessed with a large family, an abundance of livestock and land, and was faithful to God. Then Satan enters the scene, and contends with God that Job would lose his faith if he lost his family and fortune. God allows Satan to have power over the life of Job and puts him to the test. Job then loses everything, his family and livestock, are all gone, and he is afflicted with an illness. The story continues on, with Job’s friends coming to console and help him understand the reason for his suffering. They try to convince Job that he must have offended God which brought misfortune upon himself. But Job is persistent with them that there is nothing he has done to cause his plight.

The reading we heard paints the picture of Job’s heartfelt despair about his suffering. “Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery?”, “I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights allotted me”, and “I shall not see happiness again” Job did not sound hopeful at all. But throughout his plight, Job sustains his faith in God. In the end, Job is restored, over twice what he previously had. Why Job was allowed to suffer, remained a mystery that only God knew. Job appealed to God to know the cause of this suffering, but was only given the insight of God’s almighty power. Job was content with this answer, and put his trust in God. A purpose of Job’s story was that even people faithful to God may endure suffering.

When we listen to scripture, it can sound like our own story. Job’s words may be the reality of what you may be going through yourself. Or it can be the story of someone that’s close to us, like Eric Schommer, from the Criterion this last week.  When he was in the first grade, Eric had Perthes’ disease, a rare condition that disrupts the flow of blood to the head of the thigh bone, causing the bone to deteriorate and often leaving a child with pain, a limp and limited movement of the hip joint. “I wore a full leg brace for the duration of the diagnosis,” recalls Schommer, the principal of St. Monica School in Indianapolis. “This impacted my activities after school while running and riding bikes. It was also the focus of issues on the playground because we always played kickball.” It is difficult to understand why innocent people suffer, like Eric when he was in the first grade, but they do.

But our Gospel reminds us that we have a God who is always present and cares so much for us, that he became one of us enduring suffering himself to put an end to sin which is the ultimate cause our suffering. We hear today about healing that Jesus performed curing

Simon’s mother-in-law, and many who were sick with diseases, and possessed by demons, which may have been those with mental illness.  As a result of these healings, many people pursued Jesus, because they wanted relief as well. There were not doctors and medications like we have today. So in his divine power, Jesus miraculously healed the people, to relieve their physical and mental illness, so they could be spiritually healed as well, which they greatly longed for. It was thought by people at the time that those who had diseases and illness, were being punished by God due to their sinfulness. So they were not allowed into the synagogue to worship God. Healed of their illness and diseases they would be welcomed to join once again to worship God in the synagogue.

Jesus gives us a good model to follow, so we can help people heal physically, mentally, and spiritually as the Body of Christ. Before Jesus goes out to heal, he is in prayer with God.  He was in prayer in the synagogue, prior to healing Simon’s mother-in-law and went off to a deserted place to pray early in the morning before going out. Prayer is such as important aspect of Jesus’ healing ministry. He spends time in relationship with the Father, which gives him spiritual strength to be able to physically and mentally heal the people.   He was also being prepared to preach the Kingdom of God to overcome the power of sin. Jesus’ mission was to heal and preach, empowered by prayer with His Father.

We have been greatly blessed by modern medicine healing many illness, diseases, and injuries. God has provided us with the human ingenuity to develop medications, treatments, and surgeries to heal through these modern wonders. Even though we have these advances in modern medicine, people still need the peace of Jesus to ease their anxieties and fears as they go through in the healing process. Today the physical healing is addressed, but the spiritual healing is forgotten. Prayer and preaching about the Kingdom of God is something we can do to help the healing of the whole person, body, mind, and soul. If someone is going through a serious illness, they can receive the Sacrament of anointing of the Sick, administered by one of our priests. Too often this sacrament is only considered, when someone is terminally ill and near death.  This sacrament can be a tremendous blessing providing the grace and peace of Jesus for someone who is struggling with a chronic illness or major surgery as well as their caregivers. This sacrament is offered on a monthly basis after one of the weekday Masses and can also be scheduled with one of the priests. During the anointing of the sick, prayer and preaching is part of the rite to provide to support the spiritual healing of the person receiving the sacrament.  

As members of the Body of Christ, we can also provide prayer to help those going through these struggles.  When you hear about someone having surgery or a serious illness, ask them if it would be ok for you to pray for them.   You can do so privately in your own personal prayer time, or ask them if you can say a prayer with them.  I used to tell people I would prayer for them, but more recently have been praying with them at the time they tell me about their illness.  It can be a simple prayer such as, “Dear Lord, please be with Mary as she undergoes surgery tomorrow, so she can be healed, and guide the doctors and nurses who are caring for her, in Jesus name we pray. Amen.” If they are Catholic, why not invite with them to consider to ask their priest to receive the anointing of the sick.  And if they don’t have a particular faith, it can be a time to share your belief in the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus and your hope of eternal life.

        Returning to the story about Eric Schommer, he found a refuge while visiting his uncle who lived at the Little Sisters of the Poor’s St. Augustine Home for the Aged in Indianapolis. He would visit his uncle every week to hang out, play chess, eat in the dining room with the Little Sisters, and go to church.  When his uncle found out what was happening to Eric, he started praying for him intently while also attending daily Mass and multiple prayer services, with his healing intentions for me.“Before second grade, I no longer required a brace, and X-rays showed that I no longer had Perthes. The following two years, my doctor would have me walk down the hall every time I came in for weekly allergy shots so he could show other doctors and nurses how I no longer had a limp. He cited it as a miracle, as there was an expectation of a need for a brace for several years.”

Even though we have modern medicine, Jesus is still healing people today. May we always keep in mind those who are ill and offer our presence in caring for them and prayers to be healed in body, mind, and spirit and receive the peace of Christ.