Deacon Ron's Homily - Christ's Mercy is the key to enter the narrow gate - Week 21, cycle c

Today’s readings seem to pose a contradiction.  The first reading from Isaiah paints a picture of the gathering of all nations of every language to come to see the glory of God.  It names the lands of Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubul and Javan, where a sign will be set and God’s glory will be proclaimed.  This prophecy states these foreigner will somehow be gathered together in Jerusalem.  They will be brought as brothers and sisters as an offering to the Lord.  The Psalm seems to echo this same sentiment, “Praise the Lord all you nations; and glorify him all your peoples”, and Response, “Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.” This surely sounds like a glorious prophecy where all the people will finally be gathered together in God’s glory.

In contrast the Gospel message seems to indicate that only a limited number of people will be saved. A question is posed to Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem: “Lord, will only a few people be saved?”     Jesus answers, but not directly to the question posed.  His response seems to be directed back to questioner, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you will attempt to enter, but will not be strong enough”.    It sounds like many will try, but few will enter.  

  A little background is needed on the “narrow gate” to make sense of Jesus’ response.  At that time in history most cities had an entrance gate that was a high and wide archway flanked by two entrances that were low and narrow.  The narrow entrances were just enough room for a person to get through without any extra baggage.  The wider entrances were for those who had camels, mules, and carts packed high and wide with all their with belongings.  They needed the extra room to get through.  The quicker and easier entrance to the city was the narrow gate.  If you were laden down with a lot of baggage, you wouldn’t be able to get in through this narrow door.  The wider gates were slower and harder to pass through due to all the traffic of those waiting to bring in all their belongings. 

Jesus’ answer to the question was not so much of “who would be saved”, but what do WE need to do be saved.    In order to be saved we need to get rid of our own baggage: our prejudices, judgments, and sins.  We may think we’re ready to get through the narrow gate because we profess a certain religion or perform certain actions.   We don’t need to worry about others getting through until we first address what’s keeping us from getting through the narrow gate. How can we do this? By recognizing the two things that we have in common with the people of all nations: that we are human, made in God’s image, and we are sinners. Since we are all sinners, we need to depend on Christ’s mercy to get through the narrow gate.  The mercy of Christ is the doorway to enter God’s kingdom.

Friday I had the opportunity to spend some time with some foreigners trying to enter through the narrow gate.  I was at the Johnson County Jail for a communion service in my ministry of charity.  Even though it’s in the same county I live in, it’s a place with can seem really foreign.   I have to enter through a heavily secured electronically locked door escorted by guards.  I’m in a stark barren room surrounded by surveillance cameras.   All of the inmates appear quite different from me.  They’re dressed in yellow jumpsuits, exhibit physical signs of addiction, and some are covered intimidating tattoos.   I’m there to minister to them, but I battle my own prejudices of judging their appearances.   But as I conduct the service I am humbled by the humility they express.  I don’t ever ask about the crimes, but their prayers they share sometimes give me an idea.    Yesterday all but one of the women prayed for God’s mercy for themselves or a friend in battling addictions.  Their sharing of their struggles and praying for others shows their dependence on God’s mercy.   This experience really made me think about my need for humility and being just as much in need of God’s mercy. 

We too can enter through the narrow gate, but only through depending on the Mercy of Christ.   The Church provides us with the opportunity to do so through the Word and sacraments.  We hear the Word each week that instructs us on how to be Disciples of Christ.  We strive to live as Christ models for us in the Word, but we don’t always succeed.  And when we don’t, we need humility to approach the sacrament of reconciliation to ask for God’s Mercy. We also receive Eucharist to help strengthen us to go through the narrow gate.  But as we heard in Hebrews we need to have the discipline to listen to the Word and receive the sacraments.

            So we do have the hope of the restoration of all of nation’s to be gathered together in God’s glory as we heard in Isaiah.     We just need to have the discipline to depend on Christ’s mercy to lead us through the narrow gate.   Lord Jesus, we trust you will come in glory with salvation for your people.

Response to tragedy: Prayer is one of the most essential things we can do, Deacon Ron's Homily, Week 17, Cycle C

With the news of all the recent violence affecting innocent people around the world and our own country many of us may have concerns and wonder what we can do. We are all pretty far removed from most of the situations and not personally involved. But we can have empathy for those impacted and may have concerns about something happening in our own community. What can we do in response to these troubling situations? Prayer is one of the most essential things we can do.

I’d like to share a story from someone who was personally affected by a recent tragedy and how prayer helped. 

(From National Catholic Register, July 22, 2016)

Some people have difficulty praying in times of trouble. But for Magnificat magazine columnist Jennifer Hubbard, prayer got her through one of the worst times of her life.

“We’re all going to face trials; we’re all going to face tragedies,” Hubbard said. “My tragedy was my daughter being murdered. Someone else’s tragedy could be [hearing] the doctor, who says the cancer is no longer treatable.”

“When you are intimate with that darkness, prayer turns your attention to God, in allowing this peace to settle on your soul, despite whatever chaos is circling around you,” she told CNA.

Hubbard and her family know times of tragedy, indeed. Her 8-year-old daughter, Catherine Violet, was one of the 20 children and six adults killed by a solo gunman in the December 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Conn.

For Hubbard, the prayers of others meant the world to her and her husband.

“There’s no way, I believe, that we as a family, we as a community, could have walked through the darkness without the prayers of so many,” she said.  “There were many days that were just very dark.”

She suggested that people who have problems praying sometime struggle with the fact that there is not something physical or material they can do or give.

“They feel like prayer is not enough,” she said.

But as she sees it, prayer prepares people “to focus on God and the love that he has for us vs. the trial and tribulation.”

“I truly believe that if you do nothing else in the course of a day, if you spend your time praying, you’ve done more than you can ever imagine,” she added.

“You’re praying with the trust that your prayer is going to be answered, but you’re also praying with the understanding that God’s will is going to be best,” Hubbard said.

In the first reading we have a good example of Abraham in a relationship and

dialogue with God in prayer. Abraham pleads with God on behalf of a few innocent people to relent in his punishment.  Abraham doesn’t just ask once, but six times for God to be merciful to the people. This exchange really sounds like a personal relationship going on between Abraham and God. This example is one we can use in our own prayer by personally speaking to God.

Prayer is not just a one-way conversation.   It is a dialogue where we are talking and also listening to God.  Very few of us will have the direct feedback from God like Abraham did. But we do have the gift of the Holy Spirit, through our baptism and confirmation, which helps in discerning God’s response. Sometimes it takes time, quiet reflection, and new insights to determine how God answers.

I’d like to share some more from Jennifer Hubbard’s regarding answer to prayer:

The answer to prayer is not always what one expects.

During the attack on Sandy Hook, Hubbard and her husband waited at the firehouse with other families of staff and students, awaiting news about their loved ones.

“My prayer, when we were waiting for Catherine, was: ‘Bring her home, bring her home, dear God; keep her safe, and bring her home,’” she recounted.  “Yes, the prayer was: ‘Bring her back to the firehouse,’ and that didn’t happen.

Time continues to march forward — I see that my prayer was answered, over and over again.”

“Catherine’s home [with God]. He answered my prayer,” Hubbard added.

“And in answering my prayer and bringing her home, there’s the hope and understanding that I’ll see her again.

For Hubbard, sincere prayer expresses a hope that something will change.  For the one who prays, she said, there is beauty in that the change is in a person’s heart.

I really find this insight into prayer very helpful.  Prayer often is a request for God to do something: for him to directly intervene and change the situation to what we view as a positive outcome.  God can certainly do that. But the answer to prayer may most often be the change it brings in us to accept the situation and trust that God cares for us in the midst of difficult situation.  

I’d like to close with a final thought on the importance on being persistent in prayer just as Jesus tells us in our Gospel today.  We need pray not just when there is trouble, but also when times are good as well.  When we are persistent in prayer we are continually strengthening our relationship with God.  Having an ongoing consistent prayer life with God open us up to the graces that build a strong foundation to weather the storm when we encounter life’s challenges. It will provide us hope that we are not alone in our struggles and that God cares for us.

One final thought from Jennifer Hubbard on prayer:

“Prayer and hope go hand in hand,” she said. “Prayer is this ongoing, deep-rooted relationship and dialogue with the only One who can provide direction and meaning and peace to our lives.”

Now let us continue on with our prayer of the Mass and be strengthened in the Eucharist by the one who listens and answers our prayer.

God's mercy is scandalous, Homily, Week 11, Cycle C

God’s mercy is scandalous.   Or so it appears from the perspective of how the world looks at David and the sinful woman. David was a great King, but he had his faults.  He had everything, but it wasn’t enough.  He desired Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, so he had him killed.  David committed adultery and murder, two grave sins.  We don’t exactly know the sin of the woman in the Gospel, but its suspected she was a prostitute who committed adultery. The Pharisee judges her to be a sinner and doubts Jesus’ status as a prophet since he let her touch him. So we have two people guilty of grave sins: adultery and a murder.  The punishment for these sins at the time was death by stoning.  So what does God do?   He forgives both of them: a scandal, from the world’s perspective. But not from a God who extends his mercy. 

David and the woman provide a good model in receiving God’s Mercy by their humility, faith, and gratitude.  When Nathan confronted David for his misdeeds, David didn’t respond in defense.   He humbly admitted: “I have sinned against the Lord”.  Admitting your sins can be something that’s very hard to do.   It takes humility to admit you’ve done something wrong.  It’s especially a challenge in our culture today, where there is very little sense of sin.  Living a sinful lifestyle seems to be the norm and accepted if you follow the secular media and entertainment in today’s world. But if you have David’s humility to examine your life and admit sin, you can hear Nathan’s words to David: ”The LORD on his part have forgiven your sin: you shall not die”.  All you have to do is to go to confession.

The sinful woman showed great faith in Jesus’ power to forgive.   She was so confident in Jesus’ ability to forgive she risked showing up as an unwelcome guest to

express her gratitude.  Due to her faith, Jesus forgave her. Now it may have seemed like Jesus forgave the woman because of the great love she showed him.  But it’s really the other way around.  The woman was showing great love for Jesus in gratitude for his forgiving her sins.  We can’t earn forgiveness. Forgiveness is a free gift from God.  God forgives us because he loves us, not because we love him.  Our love for him is a response to the grace given to us through His mercy. 

It’s essential for us to recognize our sinfulness, so we can receive God’s Mercy.  In doing so we can also be instruments of God’s mercy.   Two lines from today’s Gospel really hit home on this for me:  Jesus said: So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love.  But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.  The Pharisee, Simon, showed little love for Jesus, because he thought he was righteous.  This was obvious by his lack of hospitality.  He showed little love for the woman.  His judgment of her made this clear. He could use a little humility and faith, so he could be grateful and show great love.

This year Pope Francis has declared an Extraordinary Jubilee Year dedicated to Mercy.   The theme of this Jubilee is “Merciful Like the Father”. Pope Francis has done this to make the world more aware of the infinite mercy of God.  As part of the Year of Mercy each diocese throughout the world has a Holy Door of Mercy that anyone can make a pilgrimage to pass through. By passing through the Holy Door of Mercy you’re able to receive a plenary indulgence.  We have two Holy Doors of Mercy in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, one at Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral in downtown Indianapolis and another at St. Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, IN.  In order to receive the plenary indulgence you need to make a profession of faith, pray for the pope and his intentions, and receive Holy Communion and confession within 20 days of passing through the door.  An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due sins whose guilt has already been forgiven.  The indulgence can be applied to yourself or to someone who has died. Making a pilgrimage to one of the Holy Doors of Mercy can be a great way to experience God’s mercy in a profound way.

We’re all welcome to receive God’s Mercy.  We may feel we’re in right relationship with God and have no need to confess our sins. But if we don’t make the effort to go to the sacrament of reconciliation we will miss the grace of receiving God’s mercy.  Has it been a while since you’ve received the sacrament of reconciliation?  If so pray for humility and faith to help you go. Let the priest know if it’s been a while since your received the sacrament.  He will help you through.  If you’re concerned about your sins, don’t worry. Remember, God’s Mercy is scandalous.  Receiving God’s Mercy will heal your soul and help you to share great love with others.

Homily, Pentecost, "Come Holy Spirit, Come", Cycle C, May 15, 2016

Today we celebrate the feast of Pentecost which known as the birth of the Church.  Why would this day be called the birthday of the Church?   Because it’s the day when the Holy Spirit was sent spread the good news of Jesus as the Christ to the many nations gathered in Jerusalem.  In the first reading from Acts we hear about many Jews who had came to Jerusalem celebrate Pentecost.  Pentecost was a Jewish feast 50 days after Passover to commemorate when Moses received the Law from God at Mt. Sinai.   This feast had been going on for over 3000 years.  We heard that, Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, and many others were gathered in Jerusalem at the time.   Even though they were all Jews thy all didn’t speak the same language.  

The disciples were all in Jerusalem as Jesus had instructed them.   Jesus told them just before he ascended they would be baptized by the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit came in dramatic fashion, making a loud like driving wind and appearing as tongues of fire above them.  The Holy Spirit gave the disciples the gift to speak to the Jews in their own languages so they could understand the good news of Jesus as the Christ.  This brought about the unity of Jews of many nations to belief in Jesus.   This was like a reversal of the events that had occurred at Babel thousand of year before.  Babel was the place where God had confused the languages of the people due prideful ways and caused disunity.  At Pentecost the Holy Spirit came to the restore unity of the separated people through the belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior.   They now shared a common foundation of Life giving Truth. When the Jews returned from Jerusalem to share the good news of Jesus this started the growth of the Church to the Jews of many nationalities.

Today the Church continues to grow and is present throughout the entire world through the power of the Holy Spirit.   The Church does this by reminding and teaching us through the sacraments of the Church. We are reminded of Jesus sacrifice every Sunday through the memorial of the Mass.  At Mass we are learn about Jesus through the Scripture and homily.  We affirm our beliefs in the Church by reciting the Creed. The Eucharist spiritually nourishes us to grow in union with Christ.  The Church empowers us, the Body of Christ, to be witnesses to others by our actions and words.   This helps us to grow the Church by attracting others by our way of life, loving God and our neighbor. 

During this Easter Season we’ve witnessed how the sacraments grow the Church. At the Easter Vigil we added 20 new members to our parish through the grace of Holy Spirit in baptism and confirmation. There were over thousand people who came into the Church in Central and Southern Indiana this Easter.   We’ve also had many youth who were confirmed at Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral just this last month.  Our youth were empowered with the fullness of the Holy Spirit to spread the growth of the Church through each of the their unique individual gifts.

How is the Holy Spirit at work in us today to help grow the Church?    We live in America and most of us don’t have the opportunity to encounter many people who don’t speak our language. We may all speak English, but there are many people we encounter who don’t know the Christian way of life or believe in Jesus.  Think about people and experiences you encounter every day.   It may be co-worker that is always negative and complaining.   Or possibly some kids at school that excludes others at the lunch table or at recess.   Maybe you have a supervisor that is always treats people unfairly.  Do you see people ignoring the homeless person sitting on the corner on the way to your office every day?  Are there friends or loved ones in your life that don’t go to church anymore?

These are all opportunities to call on the Holy Spirit to act or speak in the right way to build up the body of Christ.  The Holy Spirit might compel you to say something or do something to reach out to a person in need or to share your faith.   It may even tell you to wait and pray for them.  The important thing is to remember to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. There is a favorite prayer I like to prayer in situations like these to call on the Holy Spirit for help.   It’s very short: Come Holy Spirit, Come.   This prayer to the Holy Spirit will help you to use the gifts you received at baptism and confirmation.   I pray this quite often when I’m at a loss of what to say or do. Each time I preach or proclaim the Gospel I try to always pray for the help of the Holy Spirit. There’s been many times I’ve preached with a certain message in mind and someone will tell me how the homily spoke to them in a totally different way than I intended.  I’m amazed the way the Holy Spirit works and give praise to the Holy Spirit for providing the help.  

Jesus told his disciples: 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.  So please remember to call on the Holy Spirit who is there always to empower and help us 

Diving Mercy: Jesus, I trust in You - Deacon Ron's Homily for Divine Mercy Sunday, April 3, 2016

Today concludes the Octave of Easter and is known as Divine Mercy Sunday. Easter is an eight-day Feast.  One day is just not enough to celebrate the joy of the Risen Lord.  Last week on Easter Sunday, we heard about the empty tomb. Today we hear about Jesus appearing to the disciples after his resurrection.

In the first encounter the disciples were together on the first day of the week in a locked room, for “fear of the Jews”.  They all knew Jesus suffered a brutal death and feared that they may suffer the same fate.  When Jesus appears to them it must have been frightening. Put your self in the place of the disciples.  Imagine if one of your friends has just died and you were at your home mourning their loss with a group of friends. It’s late at night, the doors are locked, and the security alarm is set.  All of the sudden your friend appears in your room live in the flesh.  Wouldn’t you be frightened?

Jesus must have sensed the disciples fear and so he greets them with, “Peace be with you”.  THEY REALLY NEEDED TO HEAR THIS. Jesus shows them his hands and feet and feet so they’ll believe it’s him. Jesus then offers his peace a second time. He does something truly amazing: He breathes the Holy Spirit on the disciples and gives them the power to forgive sins.  Jesus then sends his disciples on a mission to extend his mercy. In this action Jesus institutes the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Today we have the great gifts of encountering Jesus through the sacraments of reconciliation and Eucharist.  But like Thomas there are some who don’t yet believe that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist and that he can forgive all of our sins.  The second Sunday of Easter was declared Divine Mercy Sunday to help spread the message of how we can be reconciled to Jesus by the grace of sacraments. 

Saint John Paul II declared on April 30 of 2000 that the second Sunday of Easter to be known as Divine Mercy Sunday at the canonization ceremony of St. Faustina Kawalksa.  St. Faustina was a humble Polish nun who lived during the early part of the 20^th century. There were many evils at that time due to the rise of Nazism and Communism.  Jesus chose this humble Polish nun to His receive private revelations from him concerning Divine Mercy to help combat these evils. The Church approves this revelation and there’s nothing in this revelation beyond what scripture tells us in the Divine Mercy revelation. It helps us to emphasize the Gospel message that God is infinitely merciful and that we are called to offer mercy to others. It also helps to emphasize the special graces we receive through the sacrament of reconciliation and Eucharist.

            In the private revelations to St. Faustina, Jesus requested that on the second Sunday of Easter that the Feast of Mercy was to be observed.    On this Feast those who go

to confession and receive the Eucharist will receive the same graces they their Baptism. The Lord Jesus also revealed the image of Divine Mercy to St. Faustina and instructed her to have it painted. In the image Jesus has his right hand raised in a blessing and his left touching his garment above his heart. Red and white rays emanate from his heart, symbolizing the blood and water that was poured out for our salvation.  The words, “Jesus, I trust in You”, is inscribed under his image.  Jesus asked for this image be venerated around the world and said:

“I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish” (Diary, no. 48). 

The Divine Mercy Image is normally found in the chapel, but today we have it displayed in the Narthex.  We also have Holy Cards available for you to take as you exit the center doors of the Narthex. It has the image of Divine Mercy on the front and instructions on the back on how to pray Divine Mercy chaplet using the Rosary.

If you participate in a Divine Mercy service today and perform prescribed actions the Church provides the opportunity to receive a plenary indulgence.  An indulgence is obtained through the Church that provides the remission of the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven which can be applied to your self or to those who have died.  If your interested in attending a Divine Mercy service our Connected in the Spirit sister parish,  Our Lady of the Greenwood, is having a celebration at 2 pm.  If you’d like to learn more about Divine Mercy we are currently having an Adult Faith Formation series on Wednesday evenings or go to divinemercy.org

The Feast of Divine Mercy reminds us of the infinite mercy of God, and our call to be merciful to others.  A good way to help us practice mercy is to look at the Divine Mercy image daily.  The image shows the blessing and mercy Jesus extends to us.  We can also think of the image as a mirror.  We can look into it and read the words, Jesus I trust in you, and ask ourselves: Are we being the Divine Mercy image we see to others in our lives?  Do we trust in Jesus, bringing others to trust in His Mercy?

Remember me when you come into your Kingdom, Palm Sunday, Cycle C, 3/20/2016

As we enter into Holy Week Luke’s Passion of the Lord provides us with the model of Christian discipleship:  being a humble servant, obedience to God’s will, and extending mercy and forgiveness.    There’s quite a bit to absorb in the Passion story and it would be good idea to read this on your own and reflect on it throughout Holy Week.   As I reflected on the Passion, Jesus’ acts of mercy really stood out to me.  Jesus was ministering to others, as he was being persecuted and crucified.  I suspect that the Jubilee Year of Mercy really helped me to focus on this aspect of Jesus’ Passion.

There are three acts of mercy that I’d like to point out.  Jesus healed the servant’s ear that was cut by Peter’s sword.  Jesus also forgave his executioners stating, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”.   He was extending mercy to those who were persecuting him.

 The repentant criminal asked Jesus to remember him when he comes into his kingdom. Jesus responded, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise”.   In this final act of   Jesus extended his mercy to a man who admitted he was justly condemned.  What a beautiful example of why Jesus obediently followed the Father’s will in dying for us.   He did it to take on our sins and extend mercy on us so we can be reconciled with the Father.  Jesus didn’t come to condemn and judge us. He came to extend his mercy and welcome us into Paradise. We just need to ask to receive his mercy.

As we enter into Holy Week let’s act in ways to be instruments of God’s mercy.  There are many people who stay away from the Church because they feel like they’re being judged. If you know someone who’s been away from the Church invite them back to receive the sacrament of reconciliation or to attend Holy week services.  Holy Thursday’s foot washing is a beautiful witness of Jesus humble service extending his love and mercy.  Also pray for those who’ve felt judged or we may have judged ourselves.   Let’s ask for the grace to be merciful to others as we continue on to receive the Eucharist.