Month: April 2018

The image of the vine and branches is a vital union. Without the vine, the branches will die.  In Jesus’ final I Am statement of the Gospel of John, Jesus claims I am the vine, which is the constant source of life for the branches.

And so, what is Jesus saying to us this weekend other than, I am your source of life. I am what gives you life!  A question I wonder is how does Jesus give us his life today?

Jesus gives us his life today through the Eucharist.  Our seminarian, Danny, loves to compare the spiritual nourishment we get from the Eucharist to the physical nourishment we get from food.  Our bodies, need food and water to survive.  Without food and water, we would die.  We need both in order to live.  The same is true in the spiritual life, all of us need the Eucharist in order to live spiritually.  We need the graces of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, to be filled with God’s life and love, and to be nourished by Jesus who gives us life.  He is the vine, we are the branches, we draw our life from our Lord.

With this in mind, I want to focus for a moment on how important weekly participation in the Eucharistic Liturgy, that is, the celebration of the Mass, is for each one of us. A couple of months ago,  I was giving a talk to the parents of the kids receiving their first communion this year.  One of the young Mom’s asked, “Father, is it really a “grave sin” to miss Sunday Mass?” I said, nervously (because I knew there was a reason she was asking) well yes, but let’s think about the reason.  And so first I clarified, there could be a just reason to miss Mass such as your son/daughter was sick with the flu and you were taking care of him/her.  An example where it wouldn’t be okay to miss Mass would be staying home to watch the Lions play if the game is on in the morning (which could happen if they are playing in London. The church certainly doesn’t want to overburden us with guilt.  So, why does the Church encourage us to go Mass?  The answer lies in our Gospel.  Jesus said he is the source of life! Thus, it is participating in the weekly celebration of the Mass that fills us with the life of Christ. And so, I think the best way to encourage people to commit to Sunday celebration of the Eucharist, is by reminding them exactly what Jesus tells us today -that this is the place to remain with Jesus – the source of our life.

And this is how we are to remain with Him. Our lives need to hear the Word of Christ proclaimed and preached in our lives.  Our spiritual lives are nourished both in the hearing of the Word of God and in reception of the Holy Eucharist. And then Christ sustains what we have heard and received at Mass in our prayer-life throughout the week.  Our prayer life is an essential element to remaining with Christ.  This allows us to reflect on and give God thanks for what we have received each Sunday.

But it can’t stop here.  Something else needs to happen.  Christ says, whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.  A couple of weeks ago I was discussing the importance of the Eucharist with a young man, who is Protestant.  He is interested in the Catholic Faith and has asked to meet with me periodically to answer some of his questions.  And one of his questions, about the Eucharist, specifically was, “why do Catholics seem hyper-focused on the Eucharist”?  And I said, “can you explain what you mean by that?” He said, “I just feel that Catholics say the reason they go to Mass is all about receiving the Eucharist, but not as much about Evangelization.”  And I said oh man you hit on a very important point.  Yes, Catholics absolutely have a sense of the importance of the Eucharist, but it cannot end with receiving Jesus.  There is a response!

I said to the young man, look when Mass on Sundays begin, often we process in with the Book of the Gospels, then we are nourished by Christ’s Word and by Christ’s body and blood in the Eucharist.  When Mass is over we do not process out with the book of the Gospels, because we are now called to literally be the procession of the Good News into the world.  Our lives are to be so filled with Christ’s life and love, and even transformed, that the experience of Christ love from the liturgy bears fruit in the world.  In other words, as Catholics we have been called to bring the very Jesus we have received into our bodies into the world. And this is why we as the branches must remain close to Jesus through the Mass (the living Word and the Eucharist); “for [we are the] branches to bear fruit, [we] must stay attached to the vine. If the [we] are to produce works of love,  [we] must remain in communion with Jesus: Remain in me, as I remain in you.”

 

In Christ’s love and friendship,

Fr. Stephen

Jesus is our Good Shepherd.  I think this is one of those weekends where it is important to look at some of the historical and biblical context because this already profound Gospel increases in its depth and meaning.  Jesus is preaching to the Jews from the Temple.  And so, when he says “I Am the Good Shepherd” we have to ask ourselves, “what would a Jew of Jesus’ time be thinking when they hear Jesus say those words, I Am the Good Shepherd?”

The most obvious thing, which would be the most shocking, is that this is another “I Am” statement from Christ. This is a claim that speaks to his divinity, and goes back to Moses when God told Moses that His name was “I Am”.  But the Good Shepherd was also a subtle claim of his identity as God’s son. 

In Ezekiel 34, the prophet Ezekiel is calling out bad prophets.  He is challenging the religious leaders of Ancient Judaism for three grave misdeeds:  1) for being self-loving pastors, they do not serve the needs of their sheep, but instead, serve themselves; 2) for not protecting the sheep against wild beasts; 3) Finally, for allowing the sheep to be scattered throughout the world.  Ezekiel says these heartbreaking words: The Sheep were scattered and No one looked after them or searched for them (Ez 34:6). But then God promises, I myself will search for my sheep …and I myself will pasture them (Ez 34: 11, 15).

Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise through the words of the prophet Ezekiel. Jesus is The Good Shepherd who has come into the world to search for His sheep.  See how Jesus corrects the bad shepherds by giving us a model to follow. Jesus won’t be self-serving or self-loving but rather he will lay down his life for his sheep.  Jesus will not leave his sheep unprotected but rather save them from the powers of evil; sin and death.  Finally, Jesus will unite his sheep who have been scattered; and furthermore, he will seek out other sheep not initially of this flock and bring them into it.  In other words, Christ, who is speaking to Jews says, I will bring together my sheep who are Jews and Gentiles together into one flock.  This is Christ extending an offer of salvation to the world, not just a nation.

My friends this weekend, we are invited to pray about how we imitate the Good Shepherd.  We are called to imitate is selfless love for others.  This is a particularly strong command from our Lord for us priests.  I pray every day that I let myself (all my wants and my selfishness) get out of the way so that I will be ready to serve God’s people.  Married couples, your sacrificial love for your spouses and children can be a sign for us of God’s love for humanity. Finally, all of us do this as we remember each day the spiritual and corporeal works of mercy.  Each day we must ask ourselves, how are we turning away from selfishness, and offering our lives in loving service for others?

We are called to imitate the Good Shepherd by protecting one another from evil in this world. Parents you do this when you protect your children from movies or other media that is not appropriate.  Or we do this for each other as we hold each other accountable for sins.  All of us need good friends in our lives who are willing to say “Hey, man, I love you and you can’t do that.” We hear in the book of James, those who keep a friend from falling into sin, have canceled a multitude of sins.

Finally, we imitate the Good Shepherd by seeking unity amongst ourselves.  One way we do this is by holding on to our common baptism amongst our sisters and brothers of otheChristianan communities. Especially today we do well to avoid any strain of an “us versus them mentality”.  Also, unity in our families.  How willing are we to forgive those who have wronged us.  Christ desires for families to be united.  We do this by holding on to the prayer he taught us: forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us.

This weekend we are reminded that we do have a good shepherd.  A shepherd who loves us totally, protects us from evil, and brings us together as one family.  As we receive the Eucharist this Sunday, may we too strive to love as Christ loves, to protect those close to us from evil, and to seek the unity of Christ in our lives.

 

In Christ’s Love,

Fr. Stephen

Pope Benedict on praying with Sacred Scripture: “I would like in particular to recall and recommend the ancient tradition of Lectio Divina: ‘the diligent reading of Sacred Scripture accompanied by prayer brings about that intimate dialogue in which the person reading hears God who is speaking, and in praying, responds to him with trusting openness of heart’ (cf. Dei verbum, n. 25).”

Friends, I would like to focus on Pope Benedict’s profound insight regarding Sacred Scripture and prayer. The insight admittedly is probably an obvious one, but it is no less important.  Sacred Scripture and Prayer need to exist together.  Many have said to me in my first months here at Our Lady that they desire to read the Scriptures more.  They acknowledge that there is a great difficulty incorporating scripture into their daily lives.  When I ask why it has been so difficult, many reply, “I just don’t know where to start.”

It can be difficult to enter into Sacred Scripture if we open it without a plan; especially if we open it up without a plan for prayer.  There are two steps we can do to improve our prayer with Sacred Scripture.  The first step is to pray with the upcoming Sunday readings that we will hear together as a christian community.  There is no need to reinvent the wheel.  The Church takes a great deal of effort to put together the Sunday reading cycle.  The readings we hear on weekly basis are connected and will take you on a spiritual journey through out the year. Not only will this directly impact your understanding of the readings, but I believe the liturgy of the word will become a much more meaningful part of the Mass. 

The second step to improving our prayer with Sacred Scripture is to follow a method.  This is what Pope Benedict recommends above, he encourages us to pray with Sacred Scripture through the ancient practice of Lectio Divina.  Here’s the method:

The first step is Listening.  Read the specific passage of scripture slowly.  Pay attention to the details, even the small ones.  I find it helpful to read the passage at least three times before I do anything else. The listening stage is important, because this is where we attempt to let go of our own agenda, and allow the Scripture to speak to us in its context. 

The second step is a time for Reflection.  The USCCB does a great job explaining the period of reflection in Lectio Divina: “Entering into this kind of [reflection], we might try to place ourselves in the scene. We want to encounter God through the text with our whole selves: our minds, hearts, emotions, imaginations, and desires.”  In other words, in this step, literally, imagine yourself in the passage you are mediating on.  For example, if Jesus performs an action (speaks, heals, looks) on a figure in scripture, replay the scene in your mind, and imagine Jesus literally speaking, healing or looking at you.

Third, is the time for Prayer. Here is our chance to respond.  After we reflect on the words of Sacred Scripture, usually it causes us to have a response.  That response could be any of the following: an act of thanksgiving, joy at a new experience of God, lament (wondering how God is with you), or repentance.  Here is where we respond to God and let him know how His Word has impacted us today.

After the prayer is the fourth step which is Contemplation.  In this stage, we simply sit in silence and rest in God’s presence.  In Contemplation, we allow the prayer to take root in our hearts.  In short, if prayer (in general) is dialogue, then after we have said something in the third step to our Lord, now we allow God to speak to our hearts.  This step takes time to grow into, so be patient.  But in time it will become the most life-giving part of your prayer!

Finally, the last step in Lectio Divina is Action.  Again, the USCCB sums this stage up perfectly, after we have prayed with Scripture, “we should consider what God wants us to do as a result of having encountered the Divine Presence in Scripture.”  We should not be the same after this period of prayer.  Afterwards, we ought to have a deeper love for God, or be motivated to conversion to work on a particular sin, or even given the courage to respond to a particular calling from God.  The action stage accepts the experience of God and seeks to apply it to our lives going forward.

Friends, I hope this will help you to continue to fall in love the Word of God.  Pope Benedict is absolutely right, praying with Scripture can be an intimate dialogue with our Lord. I pray it will be this for all of us.

One of my favorite priests said to me, Stephen, “There are few guarantees in the spiritual life, but this is one of them.  If you read Scripture every day, When you close your eyes in death, and you open them again, you will recognize where you are.”

In our Gospel, we have another account of Jesus appearing to his disciples after the Resurrection.   And Luke tells us that Jesus, opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.  What we have this weekend is a reminder that the Bible, the word of God, is important for our own spiritual nourishment. Pope Francis says to us “The Bible is not meant to be placed on a shelf, but to be in your hands, to read often – every day, both on your own and together with others.” 

On May 12th, Andrew Ayers, our seminarian intern from last year, will be ordained to the diaconate.  And at his ordination Mass, there is a very powerful moment where the Bishop will hand the newly ordained the Book of the Gospels: And he will say, “Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.” In other words, the Scriptures enable us to believe in God and to know Him, to teach – proclaim the Good News, and to Love as God loves.

Saint Jerome once said, “Ignorance of Scriptures, is ignorance of Christ.” Recently, in the Young Adults group, we have here at Our Lady, we were discussing the Holy Spirit. And one young lady said that she has a great relationship with Holy Spirit, but she struggles with Jesus, because “she wasn’t alive when he was”. Isn’t this a similar struggle that all of us can experience? None of us were alive when Jesus was! So I asked her, how do you learn about Christ?  And she was kind of hoping I would give her an answer.  Here’s the thing, if we want to know who Christ is, we need to read the Scriptures.  We need to read about how Jesus talked to people, how he loved, how he responded emotionally to struggles and sufferings, and to read about how he healed people.  To know Jesus, we must read about Him. Therefore, the more we know Jesus in the Scriptures, the more we believe in a God who loves us.

The Bible is necessary for all of us to have the capability to teach our faith.  Priests, for example, must both carefully study scripture and pray with the Scriptures in order to proclaim God’s word to people today.  But this is not just important for priests.  It’s also important for anyone who is a catechist, anyone who has children and is important for anyone who has family and friends who have yet to discover God’s goodness in their own lives.  So, my brothers and sisters, that is all of us.  All of us are called to teach the faith in some way to people in our lives.  So all of must be readers of the Word of God, listeners of that Word in our own hearts, so that we can be preachers of the Word in our world.

Finally, Scripture and prayer is an essential element to developing a relationship with God; these are an essential element of learning to love as God loves.  The unity of prayer and scripture opens our hearts to hear how God is calling us to change.  To help explain how this works, one of my favorite passages of Scripture is Luke 22:61.  This scene takes place right after Peter has denied Christ for the third time.  Peter looks up and sees Jesus, and this verse says, and Jesus looked at Peter.  At this moment, I totally relate to Peter, in the shame and guilt experienced after rejecting God’s love, and yet at the same time, I feel more loved by Christ’s look.  Its as if Christ is saying in his gaze, “You are worth it.  I am suffering out of love for you.” This is an example of how we pray with Scripture.

And so, my friends, this weekend I recommend three ways to grow closer to your Bible.  First, begin to read scripture every day.  It might be a good idea to start with the Book of Acts.  We are in the Easter season, and this is the time in the early Church when the disciples of Christ go out and proclaim the Good News of Christ boldly.  Second, pray with the Sunday readings before coming for Sunday Mass.  I promise this will make a difference at Mass! Finally, feel free to bring your Bibles to Church!  If something strikes you in the readings at Mass, you can put a bookmark in that spot and pray with it later. 

May we all continue to grow close to Sacred Scripture as we “Believe what we read, teach what we believe, and practice what we teach.”

 

In Christ’s Love,

Fr. Stephen

He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By His wounds, we are healed (1 Peter 2:24).

Thomas’ experience with Jesus today is powerful.  And, I would argue this scene is more relevant to each of us today than we might initially believe.  Thomas hears from the others, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ And yet, he says, ‘Unless I see [his wounds] I will not believe…’

This scene between Thomas and the other disciples who have seen Jesus, begs the question, “what is the reason for Thomas’ unbelief?” Does Thomas not believe that Jesus has the power to raise to life what was once dead?  I don’t think so… I do not think that Thomas is struggling to believe in Jesus’ power.  Remember, he is a witness of Jesus’ many signs.  Thomas himself has seen Jesus heal the blind, cure the sick, and even raise the dead to new life (Lazarus!).

So, what is behind Thomas’ unbelief?  I think what underlies Thomas’ struggle in our Gospel this weekend is that Thomas has become despondent, dejected, and has lost grip on the hope he once had when Christ “was alive.” Thomas is struggling with abandonment.  He hasn’t seen Christ Risen yet so he doesn’t understand why he died a brutal death. He is also struggling with personal abandonment.  Why has Christ revealed himself to you?  And why has Christ remained hidden from me…?” Thomas didn’t necessarily lose faith in Christ’s power… Instead, Thomas has been so wounded by the loss of Jesus, the one he believed to be the savior that he can no longer see rightly.  Thomas is holding on to his despondence, dejection and melancholy. 

Here’s a question for all of us to meditate on this week, am I really that different from Thomas? Haven’t we all experienced what Thomas is going through?  This is what Thomas’ struggle looks like today.  Think back to a time when you were struggling.  When you were struggling to hold on to hope and feeling as if God no longer cares.  And at that moment, a close friend shares.  You want to be happy for your friend, but unfortunately, all you think is this: “Lord, you will reveal yourself to my friends, but remain hidden from me… why?”

In these situations, I think sometimes we can find ourselves feeling like Thomas… “If Jesus really suffered and died for us why don’t I see his presence in my life?” And looking at our friend we say, “you don’t understand, I’m a sinful person, Christ couldn’t possibly love me.” After our friends try to convince us even more of how much God does indeed love us, we find ourselves asking those same questions in our hearts… “Why has Christ revealed himself to you and yet remained hidden from me?” And in our own spiritual despondence and dejection, we make the same promise as Thomas… “I will not believe until Christ shows me himself.  I will not believe until Christ proves his love for me until he shows me his wounds…”

And by his wounds, you are healed.  This is where Thomas receives healing from his despondence.  Christ says, “Thomas”, and I don’t think Christ says this with a disappointed tone, but rather wants to show Thomas how much he, in fact, loves him.  “Thomas,” Jesus says, “put your hands on my wounds.” And so he does, and Thomas overwhelmed by God’s love and goodness says, “My Lord and My God!”

In the seminary, we had the great privilege of learning from many holy priests.  One of them encouraged the seminarians and said,  “Brothers, do not be afraid to touch the wounds of Christ!”  Reach out like Thomas, and place your sinfulness into the wounds of Christ.  Let Christ heal you by his wounds!

My friends, the good news for us this weekend is a gift of hope.  The wounds of Christ are the final sign in the Gospel of John.  Christ’s wounds signify for us his divinity.  Here is the God-man, Jesus, who died in his humanity, and yet, through the power of his divinity is alive and stands among us. Jesus’ wounds show us God’s desire to love, to save, and to heal.  May allow Christ’s wounds to heal our doubts and proclaim that Jesus is “Our Lord and Our God.” By Christ’s wounds, we are healed.

In Christ’s Love and Friendship,

Fr. Stephen

Who among you wants to be free?  I think what we want to be free from is our sin and fear. 

On Good Friday, Fr. Tony and I watched Mel Gibson’s, The Passion of the Christ. I am amazed at how emotional this movie is no matter how many times I watch it.  It never loses its power. When we watch it, we have a deeper awareness of the sufferings that Christ went through for us.  And when we reach that moment, the moment when Jesus dies on the cross, the movie descends into hell and shows us the devil.  And it’s very interesting what we see… The Devil is going crazy with anger, and around him, all you see is emptiness and dry bones.  The Devil is alone. The movie does a phenomenal job showing us that at Jesus’ death, he descends into hell and frees the souls of the just from their captivity to the devil.  Jesus’ death is our freedom.

Listen to these stunning words from a meditation on Holy Saturday: Out of love for you and your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, …all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in Hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead…Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I in you… These (in bold) are the words that I cannot stop praying about. 

Pope Francis echoes these words: Jesus Christ loves you, and he gave his life to…free you!

We are no longer prisoners of sin and death.  Jesus has freed us from an identity of sinfulness.  You will never hear me say that we are sinners.  No!  We are God’s sons and daughters, and as His sons and His daughters, we are loved more than we can imagine.  This is our fundamental identity.  We hear from Saint John’s Gospel, that to those who believed in His name he gave power to become children of God.  Friends, our fundamental identity is as God’s children, not as sinners.  This is something I invite all of us to pray with this weekend: to look at that cross and see God’s great love for us.  Whenever we doubt whether we are lovable, or worthy, may we always know that we are loved by him so much that we were worth his life.

But Jesus has conquered our fear as well!

Christ’s crucifixion is the sign of his love for us and our freedom.  Jesus’ resurrection gives us the power to be courageous witnesses.  I am struck by the stark contrast between the Apostles in our first reading from Acts and from the Apostles at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion.  When Jesus is arrested beaten and put to death, all abandon him.  And yet, today, on this most holy day, where we celebrate our Lord’s resurrection, we learn that the Apostles have become courageous witnesses: We are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree.  He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.

This totally new courage only makes sense, brothers and sisters, if these words are true He has been raised; he is not here; that Christ has risen!  There is no way that the Lord’s followers who were held captive by fear during his death would have had the courage to proclaim the Gospel if there was no resurrection.  Jesus rose from the dead and he not only gave us freedom but he gave us the power to be courageous witnesses. 

Today, we are like the earliest disciples.  We awake with a sense of Awe.  A sense of awe at how far God’s love will go for each one of us.  We are in awe because we too have been freed from sin and fear.  We are free.  But we also need to have courage! It’s not easy to be Christian.  It takes a conscious choice to live and speak His Name to the world. Others still need to know and experience God’s love in their lives. And God is counting on you…

My brother and sisters, You are Free. But Jesus asks you this one question this weekend: He says, My friends, “many of your brothers and sisters are still languishing in prison (They are unaware of my freedom). Are you going to enjoy your freedom while they suffer?  Or do you want to help me loosen their shackles, and together with me to share their prison?” Lord, we want to help.  We want to be your witnesses.  We want to courageously bring your freedom into the world.

Happy Easter!

In Christ’s Love,

Fr. Stephen