My Fifth Sunday of Easter 2013 Homily

“I give you a new commandment: love one another.  As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.  This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  (Gospel according to John)

Love one another; this is the new commandment that Jesus gave to the Apostles, as recorded by John the Evangelist, on that night before his Passion, death and resurrection.  This theme of love, loving one another, we see throughout all of the Gospels.  Jesus expresses this commandment in different ways in the Good News as written by Mark, Matthew, and Luke.  The greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul and mind.  And we are to love one another as we love ourselves.   But what does Jesus mean when he commands us to love one another.  Sometimes when we hear the word “love,” we have images of little hearts floating around lovers.  We think of spouses being kind to one another; parents being nice to their children; brothers and sisters being kind to one another.  Everything is all very nice and sweet, like in a movie we see on the Hallmark Channel.

Let me remind us all again of what Jesus said: “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”  Look at the crucifix!  “As I have loved you...”  Jesus loved us so much that emptied himself totally for our sake, was willing to suffer and die for us, so that we can be free from the power of sin and death.  He, who is the Messiah, the Son of God, was willing to become a servant for all, healing the sick, freeing those possessed by evil, welcoming and caring for the outcast. 

It is His example that we are to follow.  Whenever, wherever the opportunity presents itself, we must be ready to feed the hungry, care for the sick, welcome the stranger.  And our love is not just restricted to members of our family, our parish, our faith, or the “nice people.”  Our love must be given to those whom we are uncomfortable with; the ones we would have called strange.  Love must be given to those who hate us, are unkind to us. We are called to love them just as strongly as our families and friends.

Now to love as Jesus expects us to love a challenge!  But it is not impossible, we see in the lives of the saints, persons who have been able to love others totally.  Francis of Assisi lived among lepers, cleaning and bandaging their wounds, as did Damian of Molokai, Theresa of Calcutta lived among the sick and dying, giving them love and comfort.  Dorothy Day lived among the poor, the addicts, the alcoholics, the disturbed of the streets of New York, and welcomed them all.  And there are many more out there and in our midst, in big ways and small, who love others as Christ loves us.  But I will be the first to admit, it is a challenge, and we are not all going to be able to succeed keeping this commandment.  In fact at times it may seem impossible, but that is when we turn to Him who is the source of all love, Jesus.  We seek inspiration from Him through His words in Scripture.  We gain strength from Him when we receive Him through the Eucharist.  He will help us overcome our weaknesses; give us the courage to reach out to others, in love.

And when we love as Jesus has loved us, we will be evangelizers to the world.  When we love as Jesus loves us, we will be living the Good News.

Pope Francis Makes A Curial Appointment That Is A Franicscan Surprise!

The Italian news website, The Vatican Insider, has posted a story about Pope Francis' first major Curial appointment.  He has appointed Father Jose Rodriguez Carballo, OFM, as Secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated life and the Societies of Apostolic Life (formerly known as ‘The Congregation for Religious’).  Father Carballo is currently serving his second term as the Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, (The Franciscans).  The Pope will raise the Spanish friar to the office of archbishop. 

This will be the second religious to hold the office in recent memory, the first being Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis, who is a Redemptorist, and held the office from 2010 to 2012.

It will be interesting to see how this appointment will affect the relationship between some American religious women communities and the Vatican. This Papacy continues to be full of surprises!

Easter Sunday Homily 2013

I belong to a Franciscan Third Order Fraternity that meets at St. Anthony Shrine in Boston.  One of our spiritual directors was a Franciscan priest by the name of Father Philip.  Now Father Philip was originally ordained in the Eastern Rite, before transferring to the Roman Rite.  Now members of the Eastern Rite are Christians, who are like the Eastern Orthodox, but they recognize the authority of the Pope and accept Catholic doctrines.  Now there is an Eastern Rite practice that on Easter, people greet each other by one saying: “Christ is Risen!” and the other responding “He is risen indeed!”  Now at the first Mass he celebrated with us after Easter, Father Philip came out and greeted us enthusiastically with “Christ is Risen!”  Now some but not all of us knew the response, there was a weak “He is Risen indeed!”  This was not good enough for Father; he repeated the greeting: “Christ is Risen!”  The response came back a little stronger: “He is Risen indeed!”  But Father Philip was still not satisfied, he repeated the greeting louder: “Christ is Risen!”  And this time we responded with gusto: “He is Risen Indeed!”  Father Philip nodded and began the celebration of the Eucharist.

Now I ask that we take a closer look at that declaration, “Christ is Risen!”  Present tense!  It is acknowledging a reality that is happening here and now, not something that occurred only is the past.  Jesus Christ is our Risen Savior; he is present, here, now.  As he said in the Gospels, “Where to two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them.”  He is present in the Scriptures, because he is the Word of God.  He is present here and now in the Eucharist, the Bread of Life.  And He is present in each one of us, when we open ourselves, open our hearts to Him.  He is present in the joys of life that we all have experienced.  He is present with us during the challenges of life, guiding us, inspiring us, supporting us with power of His Love.  And He is present with us during the tragedies and sufferings that sometimes afflict us, helping us to bear the load, helping us to carry our daily crosses, comforting us when we are grieving. 

Christ’s Resurrection is a sign of hope for us, that suffering and death is no longer all that we have to look forward to.  The power of sin and death is broken forever, humanity has been transformed.

This mornings Gospel speaks of Peter and the other disciple seeing the empty tomb.  It reminds me of a scene from the miniseries, “Jesus of Nazareth,” by Franco Zeffirelli.  In the scene, the Temple official who had pushed for the execution of Jesus; arrives at the empty tomb, looks into it, and I believe says, “Now it begins; now it all begins!”  The Resurrection was and is a new beginning, those who witnessed, those who saw Jesus after he rose from the dead, were compelled to go out and proclaim to the entire world the Good News.  We, when we encounter Christ, also must give witness to the joy of that encounter by the way we live our lives, by the way we strive to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Our witness may be public for the entire world to see and hear; it may be hidden, shared with, or witnessed by only a few of our family and friends.  However it occurs, we cannot be silent, and we cannot keep this Good News hidden.     “CHRIST IS RISEN

Palm Sunday 2013 Homily

 Luke 19: 28-40

Isaiah 50: 4-7

Philippians 2: 6-11

Luke 22: 14--23:56

Who likes parades?  There are many different types of parades; some are with marching bands, soldiers, sailors, colorful floats.  Some are neighborhood parades, with Boy and Girl Scout troops, the little leagues, and the occasional school band.  And then there are parades that are spontaneous, with crowds of people, just marching together. 

This Sunday is Passion Sunday, but it is also known as Palm Sunday, because we remember the day that Jesus triumphantly entered the city of Jerusalem.  It started out with just him getting onto a little colt and riding it into the city, with his disciples following him.  However, when people saw him coming, they remembered the prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah, how the Son of King David was to enter the city. Crowds began to follow Jesus, waving palm branches; they were laying their cloaks on the road before him.  And they were all crying out, “hosanna, hosanna,” which is a word of praise for a savior.  So we see Jesus entering Jerusalem, proclaimed as a savior.  Yet, in today’s Gospel, we see how quickly the mood of the people of Jerusalem changes, from the people shouting “Hosanna, Hosanna,” to “crucify him, crucify him.” 

This week that we are entering, that the Church has traditionally called Holy Week, because of the events in Jesus’ life we are going to remember.  Events that occurred in a back water occupied country, thousands of years ago, to an itinerant Jewish preacher, and his followers.  These events did not warrant being recorded in the histories of the Roman Empire.  Yet, I will tell you here and now, that what we remember happening during that week in Jerusalem so many years ago, is the most important event that has ever happened for humankind, indeed for the whole universe.  The journey that began on Palm Sunday will become a journey of sorrow, of tears, but it will ultimately lead to a new dawn for all of creation.  The power of sin and death will be broken, and a new day of hope will be born.

Now either because we may be too young to realize this, or we have gone through this season so many times it has become routine, but we all need to realize what Jesus achieved, what he had to sacrifice to achieve it, and how much he loved all of us, those of the past, we here in the present, and the generations to come; that he was willing to make the sacrifice.  St. Paul realized this, those words he wrote to the Philippians, can be so stirring if we read them slowly and open our hearts to their power. 

I would encourage all of us during these coming days, to read over those words of St. Paul, reflect on them, and let them sink into our hearts and souls.  When we do, we may be able to see these coming days of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and dawn of Easter Sunday, with new eyes and open hearts; that what we will experience will cause all of us to cry out anew, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest,”

The Coat of Arms of Pope Francis

I have noticed that a lot of page views have been recorded for my posting about some confusion about Pope Benedict's coat of arms, when a new banner was hung from the center balcony at St. Peter's Basilica, some time ago.  I apologize if some readers were expecting something about our new Pope's coat of arms.

To remedy the situation, here is the coat of arms being adopted by Pope Francis.  The National Conference of Catholic Bishops have some detailed information about on their website.  And the liturgical blog, Pray Tell, has some comparisons of papal coat of arms, both past and current.

Habemus Papam; And a Jesuit Yet!

Okay, so this posting has the same title as a hundred plus other postings, but it hard to be more original.

This was a day of firsts; first Pope from South America; first Pope to use the name Francis; and the first Pope from the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits. 

I was at work when the announcement came in.  I hurried down to our building lobby, which has a flat screen TV.  They always show CNN, and there it was, the scenes from Rome.  They replayed the scene of the white smoke coming out of the smokestack.  It appears they finally got the right chemical mix, because I have never seen such unmistakable white smoke coming out of the Sistine Chapel.  Waiting for that announcement, I was experiencing conflicting emotions, fearful that the College of Cardinals may have taken Cardinal Sean from us, but hoping he received the nod.  I finally had to go back to my office, and saw the first appearance of the new Pontiff on somebody's computer screen.  I had to go to the National Catholic Reporter website to find his bio.

The Franciscan in me is thrilled that he selected the name of our founder.  That he is a conservative, well, one could not expect otherwise.  I think he could make some Catholic capitalists a little uneasy ( maybe very uneasy)!  It is still too early to know what course he will set for the Bark of St. Peter.  The next few months will tell.  He has definitely set a different style from the moment he stepped out on the balcony. We are in for some interesting times.

Dawn of the Conclave

The day of the Papal Conclave has dawned!  I am usually up early in the morning, so I was able to watch the opening Mass, celebrated in St. Peter's, with the cardinal's asking for help from the Holy Spirit.  I have to admit, as I watched the liturgy being celebrated, I was paying close attention to the role of deacons in the liturgy.  There is nothing as impressive as a liturgy in St. Peter's, it is the Catholic Church at it's grandest.

Now comes the waiting; and what is funny is that after such a gorgeous liturgy, the world will be focused on a simple stovepipe.  The press will be going crazy, they need feed the beast that is 24/7 media, and only crumbs may be coming out, if any. 

So settle in, folks, we may be in for a long day.