Here is my homily for the THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER - the readings can be found at http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/042609.shtml. Sorry for the delay in posting this - my computer had a melt down earlier today (the modern day version of the “dog ate my homework” excuse; except it REALLY did!!)
HOMILY:
Out of Britain came this story a few months ago. It seems that there was this large sculpture of a crucifix – the image of Christ on the cross that has been removed from outside of a church in West Sussex after one of the clergymen said it was disturbing to people. The 10ft sculpture crucifix, which had been mounted on the front of St. John’s Church since the early 1960's was, according to parish leaders, "a horrifying depiction of pain and suffering" which was "putting people off and scaring children." It has now been replaced with a new plain, stainless steel cross. The leaders of the Church said that in survey’s they had conducted on the crucifix the results came back with every comment about the sculpture being negative.
Reverend Souter, the vicar of the church said: "Children have commented on how scary they find it and [parishioners remarked] how off-putting they thought it was as a symbol outside the church. As the key exterior symbol for us it made people more uncomfortable rather than having a sense of hope and life and the power of the resurrection."
So the sculpture was taken down prior to Christmas and was mounted on a wall in the grounds of a Museum. The curator of the museum observed that it was a very powerful image displayed in that sculpture of Christ in pain. He remarked "That today isn't an image which a lot of churches want to follow. They'd much rather see an empty cross where Christ has risen," he said.
That speaks of a reality of humanity. Everyone wants to be with the winner, the victor, the triumphant one. Few of us would know any of the people who competed against Michael Phelps in last year’s Olympics where he won 8 gold medals. American Idol celebrates the winners - they make clip shows lampooning all of the “rejects.”
Yes, the notion of winning appeals to us for obvious reasons. The idea of focusing on a crucified body is at a minimum, disturbing to us.
There’s a temptation for us in this season of Easter joy to kind of agree with our Anglican friends at that church who’ve removed the crucifix in favor of the empty cross. We are celebrating with great joy for 50 days (10 longer than Lent!!!) this tremendous feat, this history changing, eternity changing event that the man Jesus Christ who was crucified has been raised from the dead.
Hymns, scripture readings, prayers all keep repeating ALLELUIA! HE IS RISEN! JESUS HAS CONQUERED DEATH FOREVER! ETERNAL LIFE IS OUR HOPE, IS OUR PROMISE! So why would we want to look at a depiction of his crucified body?
Looking at the Gospels from the last three Sundays of Easter, we start to learn things about Jesus post Resurrection. Jesus in his resurrected body is able to do all kinds of things. He keeps getting into these locked rooms without a key and seems to appear and disappear with relative ease, sometimes without even saying goodbye, he just seems to disappear from their midst (which is why people think he’s a ghost).
Yet he makes it very clear and says to them No, I’m not a ghost – touch me and feel that I am flesh and bone; watch me as I eat (he seems to like Fish a lot). So there he is in this glorified body, that enables Jesus to do all kinds of things that we aren’t able to do. And yet, there’s one important detail we hear about –
He still has the wounds on Him.
The nail marks that pierced his hands, and feet, they’re still there. Did God forget to fix that? If you’re raising your son from a horrific death like that, you would think that you’d want to clean up all those wounds, those marks, those terrible reminders of what happened. Or perhaps there’s a reason they’re still there. Maybe there’s something that those wounds, and the image of the crucified Jesus is there to reminds us of.
In today’s Gospel, after they have kept encountering Jesus risen from the dead, we keep reading in the Gospels that the disciples are scared. They’re hiding in fear. In fact today’s Gospel has Jesus asking WHY ARE YOU TROUBLED. I wonder if any of them are as sarcastic as we can be and said “Oh I don’t know Jesus, my Lord - a few days we saw you tortured, killed and left for dead, and now you somehow are able to get around with no trouble at all...” WHY DO QUESTIONS ARISE IN YOUR HEART, Jesus asks... because the reality for us in our mortal, pre-resurrected bodies is we have troubles - we have questions...don’t we?
So the resurrected, glorious Jesus turns and answers those troubles, answers those questions as he says - look - see my hands and my feet... It’s almost like Jesus saying - I haven’t forgotten what Good Friday is like - I know you are going through your own Good Fridays. When you’re feeling abandoned, alone, abused. Like the whole world has turned it’s back on you and leaving you completely broken. I know you’re troubled. I know you have questions. I haven’t forgotten how that feels. I haven’t forgotten you.
And as our first taste, first experience of the resurrection in our own lives, he tells us when we turn away from our lives of sin, when we bring to him all the things that make us feel unloved, unworthy, he says you are Loved, you are worthy “Be forgiven.”
We look to the wounds, we look to the image of the crucified one because we can relate to the wounds, relate to the crucified one.. we who are experiencing Good Fridays in our own lives... and see that true victory is there as Jesus comes in the midst of that and offers us his peace. And as we turn to him, embracing those glorified, pierced hands of His - we are with the ultimate “winner” trusting that he is with us, we become true witnesses that from the horror of Good Friday - Easter Joy and Hope is born. So we look at the crucified one, we remember those wounds not as defeatists, but to remember that what God has done for his beloved Son, he will do for us, his beloved sons and daughters.
If we believe that and have our faith and trust in that, how could that crucifix be anything but a sign of hope and victory?
"THERE PROBABLY IS NO GOD...SO STOP WORRYING AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE"
Here is my homily for April 19, 2009 the Second Sunday of Easter. The readings can be found at http://www.usccb.org/ nab/readings/041909.shtml . Thanks for reading and all of your feedback and comments! God Bless - Fr Jim
HOMILY:
"There probably is no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."
That was the message plastered on billboards on the legendary double-decker buses in London, England a few months back, a message which launched an atheism campaign that seems to have gained momentum in recent weeks. In fact, while it's still unsure if there’s a connection to those bus advertisements or not, the National Secular Society of the UK, recently announced that they now have over 100,000 people who have either downloaded or purchased a certificate of "de-Baptism." The success of it in England has sparked similar campaigns in Europe, South America. I’m a bit reluctant to ask, how long will it take to reach our shores?
There probably is no God... Now stop worrying and enjoy your life. There’s a bit of an irony here that even supposed "atheists" hedge their bets with a statement like that, isn’t there? There probably isn’t a God . .. We’re not sure... A doubting atheist, what next?
Maybe we have more in common with these atheists than we think. At least in one area - we all have doubts. Doubts about whether we’re all being conned here. Doubts about whether this is all real. Is there a God? Really? Okay, historically speaking there was this Jesus guy, but did he really come back from the dead? Because if he did, then it’s game over folks - then he’s God and we’d be foolish not to follow him. But, did he? Really? That guy Dan Brown with just two books "The DaVinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" is able to throw just enough questions into the mix, just a little more doubt into the equation...Now, who knows what to think, what to believe...
In some ways, it should be comforting to know that we’re not the first ones to go through this. Here we are, the week after we as a Church celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the Gospel we hear is all about doubts. We hear that right from the beginning, people had a hard time with this. Now it’s kind of normal for us to focus on Thomas in this gospel story. "Doubting Thomas" he’s been dubbed for thousands of years. But in reading and praying with this Gospel, something stood out that I hadn’t thought about before. This first time Jesus appears to all the disciples (well almost all, there's no Thomas, remember) they have this incredible encounter, Jesus comes to them, stands in their midst even though they’re hiding out in that locked room. Hiding out because of their fear. He physically shows them he’s alive, he’s not a ghost. "Here’s my hands and my side..." He breathes on them.
But then a week later, the Gospel of John tells us they were again in the room - this time with Thomas - yet, the doors were still locked.
So maybe Thomas wasn’t the only one that should be labeled "doubting." Maybe the other 11 disciples weren’t as believing as we thought. Yeah, maybe some doubts persisted in their minds after all – Maybe the idea that Jesus came back from the dead, while they had all experienced it for themselves - they had all seen Him - they all were given the gift of the Holy Spirit - they had all heard Him give instruction to go forth and "forgive sins" (one of our scripture passages that support confession, by the way) - then, maybe just a few minutes after Jesus disappeared from them again, they weren’t sure what had happened. Maybe they found Thomas to be a voice of "reason," throwing logic in their faces - saying things like- People don’t rise from the dead . . . you’re all emotional . . . do you want to end up like He did? . .. Stop being crazy guys and snap out of it. Let me see the nail marks...
So we read what happens. A week later, it’s a Sunday again. The community of believers, perhaps still doubting (remember the locked room!) but believers nonetheless - and they still come together. Thomas is with them this time - (so he missed Mass the week before, it happens) And what happens? Thomas experiences Christ. The community of believers experiences Christ. And Jesus says to Thomas, "Okay, here I am, put your hands in my hands, and in my side..." Thomas has a physical encounter with the LIVING GOD on a SUNDAY! Thomas is in the true presence of God and Thomas’ heart and soul respond My Lord and my God!
And so it’s been for some 20 centuries since. Imagine that - 20 centuries, uninterrupted we trace back our coming together as the community believers here at this Sunday Mass to that locked Upper Room. For these generations upon generations the believers have kept coming together. Kept worshiping together. Sure, with their own doubts and fears. Yet, the eyes of faith telling them that Jesus would continue to truly come to them, to continue to be really present to them... in the Word... in the Eucharist... in the Church... in one another.
Jesus continues to come to us - as we gather again on a Sunday. His day. He knows that it’s hard in a sense to believe this, which is why he commands us to come together each week. And we find that Jesus meets us in our doubts. Encounters us in our fears. That’s where faith sees how "nothing is impossible for God." I come here realizing some of this doesn’t make sense and I don’t have all the answers - but he does...
I find my mind moving,
I find my heart moving from saying, "There probably is no God"
to the fantastic possibility of, "There probably is a God..."
to the ultimate realization of "There is a God - and he cares for me."
I find my mind moving,
I find my heart moving from saying, "There probably is no God"
to the fantastic possibility of, "There probably is a God..."
to the ultimate realization of "There is a God - and he cares for me."
And because Jesus has risen from the dead, defeated death, and promises us his love, his life, in abundance - both in this world and the next - I can stop worrying and enjoy my life.
I WILL RUN AGAIN
HAPPY EASTER - ALLELUIA! JESUS CHRIST IS RISEN!
(Readings for today can be found at http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/041209.shtml)
This is my homily for Easter Sunday - my prayers and best wishes to you and yours that the Risen Christ may bring the joy, the peace and the hope that only he can bring. God Bless! Fr. Jim
Back in December of 2005, New York City Firefighter Matt Long was assigned as the fitness instructor at Randalls Island, the place where new recruits (probies) are trained to become one of New York’s "Bravest." It probably was the best job for Long to have because he was the epitome of an athlete. Earlier in 2005 he had completed his 30th triathlon (yes, you heard that correctly THIRTIETH Triathlon!) – and if you’re not sure what a triathlon is, to give you an idea, the last one included swimming two and a half miles, biking 112 miles (!!!) followed by running 26.2 miles. You could say the man was in phenomenal shape.
(Readings for today can be found at http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/041209.shtml)
This is my homily for Easter Sunday - my prayers and best wishes to you and yours that the Risen Christ may bring the joy, the peace and the hope that only he can bring. God Bless! Fr. Jim
Back in December of 2005, New York City Firefighter Matt Long was assigned as the fitness instructor at Randalls Island, the place where new recruits (probies) are trained to become one of New York’s "Bravest." It probably was the best job for Long to have because he was the epitome of an athlete. Earlier in 2005 he had completed his 30th triathlon (yes, you heard that correctly THIRTIETH Triathlon!) – and if you’re not sure what a triathlon is, to give you an idea, the last one included swimming two and a half miles, biking 112 miles (!!!) followed by running 26.2 miles. You could say the man was in phenomenal shape.
So on this cold December morning in 2005, some of you might remember, the transit bus workers had gone on strike - effectively crippling New York City. There were restrictions placed on people, forbidding them to drive into the city. Firefighter Long decided he would bike it to work. Sure it was cold out, but he figured it was only 3 or 4 miles anyway. He got up at 5 am, and started to make his way into work.
As he was en route, a bus that was hired by a local company to bring employees into work, made a wrong turn and crashed into him. This 40,000 pound vehicle pinned him and his bicycle in a mid-town intersection. The critical injuries were so bad that he was initially given a 1 percent chance of survival and if somehow he were to survive, they never expected him to walk again.
In those first days he had 3 emergency surgeries, received more than 60 pints of blood, was transferred to NY Presbyterian Hospital where doctors spent days just trying to keep the man alive. That would be followed by over 40 more operations, months in the hospital, therapy, lawsuits, more physical therapy. In an interview, Matt Long shared that at one of his lowest moments he wrote to a man who had suffered a similar catastrophic injury and said, "I need your help because I don’t want to live anymore." But the man wrote back to him saying, "Things have gotten better for me. If you work hard, they will get better for you."
After crying in anguish over what had become of his life, thinking of all the things that he had wanted or planned for - all of his dreams and goals that seemed to have been crushed - Matt says that something finally snapped inside of him and he started saying, "I will run again."
Less than three years later, this past November, Matt Long ran in the New York City Marathon. It took him 7 hours and 21 minutes, more than double the time it took him prior to the accident, for him to complete the 26 miles, but it wasn’t about the time it took. It was a victory to all those people at the finish line, from his surgeons, to family and friends, fellow firefighters - everyone who all stood by Matt and, each in their own way had said, I'm not giving up on you.
What makes Matthew Long’s story such a dramatic one is that in it we hear of someone who has experienced the Easter miracle. Here was a man who was crushed. A man whose world had disappeared. A man who thought he had no future. Yet, that voice from within made him say, "This isn’t the end." Yes the life he knew before is gone, but a new one has begun. And so he runs again.
We come together to celebrate another Easter. We remember that first Easter Sunday when Jesus came back from the dead. After being brutally beaten, crucified, killed and buried, our Loving Father opens Jesus’ tomb and he is raised from the dead. Not picking up his life from before. Not simply revived, like a corpse whose body starts to function again, but completely transformed into a new, more glorious, more triumphant form. And we gather, we come to renew ourselves with that Hope, with that Promise for each of our lives.
What Good Fridays are you enduring right now?
What losses have you experienced during this year?
What torments you, what makes it difficult for you to sleep at night?
What fears are plaguing you with doubt at this very moment, what keeps you wondering, "What am I doing here, anyway?"
We who come to proclaim that Jesus Christ, who was crucified - and killed in such a horrifying manner - has been raised from the dead, are meant to look not just at some distant hope, in the next life, after our own deaths, disconnected from our present day realities. That knowledge, that proclamation is meant to also transform our hearts and spirits right now. That Good News of Great Joy should cause us to be attentive, to hear, to see God’s presence in our own sometimes tired and exhausted lives.
Yes, in the midst of the destruction we sometimes feel, the abandonment, the isolation - we can still hear that voice, like Matt Long did, which says, "I will run again" - I will be transformed, I will be reborn. When you do hear that voice, stop asking, "How?" Stop saying, "That’s not possible," or "That will never happen, at least not to me," and see, rather, how God is calling you to bury the hatred, the shame, the selfishness of the Good Friday you are enduring, and allow Him to let new things - wonderful things, transforming things - happen to you today, by embracing the Risen Christ.
We who come to proclaim that Jesus Christ, who was crucified - and killed in such a horrifying manner - has been raised from the dead, are meant to look not just at some distant hope, in the next life, after our own deaths, disconnected from our present day realities. That knowledge, that proclamation is meant to also transform our hearts and spirits right now. That Good News of Great Joy should cause us to be attentive, to hear, to see God’s presence in our own sometimes tired and exhausted lives.
Yes, in the midst of the destruction we sometimes feel, the abandonment, the isolation - we can still hear that voice, like Matt Long did, which says, "I will run again" - I will be transformed, I will be reborn. When you do hear that voice, stop asking, "How?" Stop saying, "That’s not possible," or "That will never happen, at least not to me," and see, rather, how God is calling you to bury the hatred, the shame, the selfishness of the Good Friday you are enduring, and allow Him to let new things - wonderful things, transforming things - happen to you today, by embracing the Risen Christ.
EARN THIS - EARN IT
Here is my homily for PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD’S PASSION, APRIL 5, 2009. The readings can be found at http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/040509a.shtml . As usual, thanks for reading, and all of your feedback. As we begin this holiest week of the year, may you be touched and renewed in the depth of God’s love for us exemplified in the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! God bless all of you with a deeply meaningful Holy Week - Fr Jim
HOMILY:
It’s hard to believe that "Saving Private Ryan" was released over 10 years ago. The epic, award winning movie is often remembered for the extremely intense opening 24 minutes of the film that depict the beginning of the Normandy Invasion during World War II when American Soldiers landed on Omaha beach. But the story is really all about 1 man, 1 soldier - Private First Class James Francis Ryan.
After that gruesome, and vivid opening sequence of the Normandy Invasion, the story begins with a United States Army general going through a slew of death notices. As he does this, he realizes that Private Ryan’s mother would be receiving notification that 3 of her 4 sons have all died within days of each other and that the notices would all arrive on the same day. At this point, Private Ryan, is unaware of the death of his three brothers because his regiment is missing in action. The General believes this is too much sacrifice to ask one mother, one family to make and orders that Private Ryan be found and sent home immediately.
The rest of the movie details this search party, made up of 6 Army rangers and one Infantry man, and led by Captain John Miller, who are going on practically no information on his whereabouts begin this difficult search for this one man - Private Ryan. The search is dangerous, and grows more and more frustrating to the men, as they begin to incur casualties themselves. One of the soldiers is killed by a sniper, their medic is killed. But after all the risks and sacrifices, Miller and the rest of the squad finally find Private James Ryan with a group of paratroopers trying to defend this bridge against a German counter-attack.
Private Ryan, even upon learning of the deaths of his brothers as well as those in the search party looking for him adamantly refuses to leave the very fragile makeshift unit. Captain Miller along with the soldiers from the search party remain with Ryan as a German offensive begins again. Ultimately the United States is successful in defending this bridge from this attack, but not before the remaining members of the search party are killed, including Captain Murphy - whose dying words to Private Ryan are "James...earn this. Earn it."
The movie concludes with Private Ryan, now an older man, visiting Captain Miller’s grave in Normandy with his family. He breaks down in front of Miller’s tombstone as he asks himself whether he has "earned" the sacrifice, and then turns to his wife asking if he is a good man who deserved the gift that these men gave him.
On Palm Sunday we once again proclaim the passion and death of Jesus. And in our hearing, in our remembering we are placed us in a similar position. Here we come to the foot of the cross. We focus on this incredible love, this sacrifice that cost Jesus his very life which was made for you and me. Jesus doesn’t ask us to "earn it"- that’s the depth of his love - he has freely given it to us. But the question we’re left with will we become good men and women, will we be changed by this gift?
HOMILY:
It’s hard to believe that "Saving Private Ryan" was released over 10 years ago. The epic, award winning movie is often remembered for the extremely intense opening 24 minutes of the film that depict the beginning of the Normandy Invasion during World War II when American Soldiers landed on Omaha beach. But the story is really all about 1 man, 1 soldier - Private First Class James Francis Ryan.
After that gruesome, and vivid opening sequence of the Normandy Invasion, the story begins with a United States Army general going through a slew of death notices. As he does this, he realizes that Private Ryan’s mother would be receiving notification that 3 of her 4 sons have all died within days of each other and that the notices would all arrive on the same day. At this point, Private Ryan, is unaware of the death of his three brothers because his regiment is missing in action. The General believes this is too much sacrifice to ask one mother, one family to make and orders that Private Ryan be found and sent home immediately.
The rest of the movie details this search party, made up of 6 Army rangers and one Infantry man, and led by Captain John Miller, who are going on practically no information on his whereabouts begin this difficult search for this one man - Private Ryan. The search is dangerous, and grows more and more frustrating to the men, as they begin to incur casualties themselves. One of the soldiers is killed by a sniper, their medic is killed. But after all the risks and sacrifices, Miller and the rest of the squad finally find Private James Ryan with a group of paratroopers trying to defend this bridge against a German counter-attack.
Private Ryan, even upon learning of the deaths of his brothers as well as those in the search party looking for him adamantly refuses to leave the very fragile makeshift unit. Captain Miller along with the soldiers from the search party remain with Ryan as a German offensive begins again. Ultimately the United States is successful in defending this bridge from this attack, but not before the remaining members of the search party are killed, including Captain Murphy - whose dying words to Private Ryan are "James...earn this. Earn it."
The movie concludes with Private Ryan, now an older man, visiting Captain Miller’s grave in Normandy with his family. He breaks down in front of Miller’s tombstone as he asks himself whether he has "earned" the sacrifice, and then turns to his wife asking if he is a good man who deserved the gift that these men gave him.
On Palm Sunday we once again proclaim the passion and death of Jesus. And in our hearing, in our remembering we are placed us in a similar position. Here we come to the foot of the cross. We focus on this incredible love, this sacrifice that cost Jesus his very life which was made for you and me. Jesus doesn’t ask us to "earn it"- that’s the depth of his love - he has freely given it to us. But the question we’re left with will we become good men and women, will we be changed by this gift?
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