Deacon Larry Jesmer

Scripture: 1st: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29
2nd: Rev 21: 10-14, 22-23
Gospel: John 14: 23-29

What a beautiful sight it was as I stood on the beach in Mukilteo watching the sunset over Whidbey Island some 40 years ago. I wondered how beautiful it would be if I was actually on the Island, being right there where I saw the sun set.

I was imagining how beautiful a sunset would be if I was on the Island yet being blind to the beauty that was in front of me; that beautiful sunset that caused me to wonder in the first place.

Have any of you ever heard anyone say how desolate, barren and empty the dessert is? Have any of you also heard anyone say to you how beautiful it is as the sunset turns the gray sand crystals into chrisoms of color and the sky as it turns into an indescribable yet beautiful color of red, pink, and orange?

I remember as a young boy looking upward seeing the big dipper dance across

the night sky and a few years later seeing that same dance looking upward into the night skies of Japan and Vietnam. Yes, God’s beauty, his creation is massive AND HE HAS GIVEN ALL THIS TO US OUT OF LOVE.

God’s love is found everywhere. All we have to do is open our hearts as we open our eyes. Where God’s house abounds, so does his love. That is why God has offered to make his house in us. When we open our heart’s we open the door for God’s gift of his son Jesus Christ, which is the perfect manifestation of God’s love.

Christ came into the world because he loved the world. Christ taught his people and performed miracles because he loved them. He willingly laid down his life on the cross out of his love for poor sinners, yes, you and me!

In his love for his Church, he gave us the wonderful gift of the Most Holy Eucharist and all the other Sacraments so that God’s love might live in our hearts. And now, he promises us another gift of love: the Spirit of love, sent from the Father and the Son to intercede for us, to teach us, and to fill us with God’s Peace.

Six of our children received their First Holy Communion last night. Their journey of faith started by opening their hearts to God, accepting the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ, to be with them as they grow in faith and love, and what love it is. No other love can compare to the love given us by God, his only son.

In today’s gospel when Jesus says: “whoever loves me will keep my word”, he is describing the best possible way of revealing himself to the world. Our loving obedience to the word of Christ and the love of God dwelling within us is the most perfect manifestation of Christ to those who do not believe. But not only is love the best way of revealing God, it is the ONLY way. Christ Jesus and his power to save cannot be known apart from love.

Our Gospel for the 6th Sunday of Easter invites us to wrestle with the mystery equally as mesmerizing to the eyes of faith as it is to the beauty of God’s creation. At the Last Supper, Jesus, as the Good Shepherd preparing the leaders of his flock, says to the Apostles: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him”.

What a powerful statement. The same almighty God who fashioned the heavens and the earth, the same Father who gave us the beautiful sunsets, the big dipper, the same Father also chose to love each of us personally making a dwelling place in our hearts.

This is the mystery of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the gift of Pentecost, which the Church will celebrate in two weeks, and the result of Baptism and Confirmation. The greatness and majesty of God, seen so obvious in creation, is un-equaled by His promise to enter into a personal union with you and me.

When we, by God’s grace, come to understand and accept this truth of our faith, our lives are transformed. We receive many gifts from the Father. Among them is the gift of peace. It is no coincidence that Jesus says, one verse later in John’s gospel: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.”

With God not just by our side but making a home in us, we know deep within our hearts that we are loved, freeing us to love others. God enters into the world of each of us, and cares with the tender concern of a Father and that we need not fear.

God gives a peace that the world does not give. It is a precious gift and one that follows the ultimate gift of His son, Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

We know we are loved and how better to experience love in this earthly life than to experience the love of our mothers. This weekend we remember and honor our mothers. We remember that nurturing, the bandages strategically place on the elbow and forearm.

We remember mother, who gives her love unconditionally as only a mother can and we remember mother who showed us compassion and understanding when we were in times of pain and confusion.

We know what the love of a mother feels like. But we can also know what it feels like to be loved by God. How? By opening our hearts as we open our eyes.

As I was finishing my thoughts for this homily, a windstorm came through. I sat on the edge of the bed and looking out, fearful of what might happen with the big fur trees around me might do, I opened my heart as I opened my eyes and saw the mighty power of God, the splendor of something you cannot see but you know is there by how everything moves in it.

The wind was covering the yard with fir bows, the power flickered and went off. Even in the strength and damage this wind storm did our even could have done, God was there and always is, so close that it is hard to imagine. His presence gives strength to face this storm and every storm in life. His love is amazing and his peace is irreplaceable. “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”

I gazed at the beauty of that sunset on the beach so long ago, but now I see that beauty wherever I am standing and wherever I go for he lives in me and you.  We are God’s creation. We are his expression of love. How beautiful we are.

Today, my sisters and brothers, we celebrate Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem for the last time. We come together to celebrate Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. We come together today in celebration for the commemoration of the last week of Jesus’ life on earth. Today is the introduction for our entry into Holy week.

In the opening Gospel from Luke we heard of Jesus’ welcome into the city of Jerusalem, a moment of blessings, popularity and welcome. We hear of Jesus riding on the colt of a donkey with a saddle of cloaks across it. We hear of cloaks being thrown across the road just as a red carpet is rolled out for a king and the waving of palm branches symbolizing triumph and victory.

We hear how the disciples were yelling out “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord”. Everyone was feeding off the excitement and joy of others creating a sense of awe for being in a Kings presence. The peoples Hosannas rang out, they called upon Jesus as a savior, a mighty King.

They hoped that he would cast the oppressors out of their land and bring them glory and honor as did King David before Him. But Jesus walked a different path to glory and worked in a different way to bring God’s salvation to them. They did not understand this way-and when Jesus was betrayed in to the hands of the authorities and did not fight, they turned on him, seeing him as a failure, calling out “Crucify Him, Crucify Him”.

Even as he lay down his life for them, those closest to him fled in fear. It is ironic that as Jesus’ disciples thought he was receiving his rightful kingship, it is only on the throne of a cross that Jesus assumes it.

The Passion narrative we have just heard is the painful litany of Jesus’ returning all to the Father. He willingly emptied himself of everything. He allows himself to be stripped of all that is not God, so that he might show us in the moment of total surrender, where our true treasure lies.

Betrayed by one of his apostles, arrested as a criminal, deserted by his disciples, denied not only once but three times by Peter, condemned by the religious authorities, brutally punished unjustly, stripped of his clothes, crucified between thieves-the innocent Jesus is left to die as a lonely criminal, exposed on a cross, jeered at by the crowds.

How quick they changed. How quickly in 5 days they lost their belief, their faith in Jesus.

The ups and downs that Jesus lived and witnessed are our ups and downs. As we heard in the last few weeks of Lent, Jesus knew what would happen to him-he even knew, as we heard in the story of Peter’s denial, that his closest disciple and friend would claim to not know him when put to the test.

Jesus was walking a path, step by step, which would lead him to the only source of truth and lasting meaning for him and ultimately for us, that he was moving towards the fulfillment of God’s will for him and through him for the world. Jesus knew that in the worst of times in life, even his own, the Father would be there; that he would be surrounded and encompassed by the presence, the mercy, and the love of God.

This is a lesson for all of us to remember. If we depend upon the events of life to give us reward and satisfaction, then we may never achieve them or we may have them taken away in the very moment of tasting victory. We may be at the peak of our lives with money, health, position, material possessions, friends, but in those terms there is nowhere to go but downhill in the weeks, months, and years ahead.

On the other hand, we have the opportunity to walk our own unique path of obedience toward God like Jesus Christ. It is a path which may see us surrounded by possessions, money, popularity, or it may lead us into poverty and loneliness but we will never feel abandoned.

No matter the path, it is the direction, the destination we seek that matters. One’s life is well spent seeking to find and do God’s will. Many  have known the taste of Palm Sunday, the sweetness of success, of popularity, and probably all of us have tasted the bitterness of Good Friday, rejection, loneliness, abandonment.

There is no disgrace, no shame in any situation we find ourselves in, as long as we turn to God. Isaiah from our first reading says “The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced, I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame”.

What saves us from an endless round of ups and downs, what frees us from the events in our lives which we have no control, is our commitment to go forward in obedience to God’s will. It is trust in God’s love to bring about our Easter morning, knowing that the meaning of life is to be found in the love of God through his Son, Jesus Christ, sharing that love with all we meet on our life’s journey.

My Sisters and brothers, never forget what Jesus did for us, yes, you and me. If we remember, then we live in the will of God. We live in communion with Jesus Christ. And when our time comes to leave this earthly life, we can hope that we will hear these words spoken to us: “Amen I say to you, today, you will be with me in Paradise”.

Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke: 9:28b-36

When the three disciples, Peter, James and John are taken up the mountain to pray, they experience the Transfiguration of Jesus. They see something they cannot make sense of. Luke says that they kept silence and told no one. They could not understand or even explain what it was they experienced.

Normally, we do not see God’s glory. Even the disciples as they traveled with Jesus throughout Palestine did not see his glory. Sure, they saw his extraordinary goodness and kindness and they were amazed by the insight of Jesus and also were amazed at his miracles.

The disciples had all kinds of ideas about who Jesus might be. They were sure he was the Messiah, but they really did not know what that meant for them and for Jesus.

You might feel that this gospel story brings to mind how many see the Transfiguration as somewhat bewildering and wonder what the gospel is trying to tell us.

This brings to mind what might help us understand, in human terms, what happened at the Transfiguration and what it means for us.

What comes to me is the movie “MASK”, from 1985, starring Cher and Eric Stoltz. Do some of you remember that movie? It is based on a true story of a 16 year old boy. He has a rare disease that disfigures his face and head. The boy feels badly about his appearance but he accepts it as part of life.

One day he goes to an amusement park with some of his friends. They go into a “house of mirrors” and begin to laugh at how distorted they look.

Suddenly, the boy is startled-the mirror shapes his face in such a way that it appears normal, even handsome.

For the first time his friends see him in a whole new way. They see from the outside what he is on the inside, a truly beautiful person.

Something like this happened to Jesus in today’s gospel. During the Transfiguration Jesus’ disciples see him in a whole new way. For the first time, they saw from the outside what Jesus is on the inside, the glorious beautiful Son of God; even though they still had trouble understanding what they had just seen.

I have to ask: why is the Transfiguration of Jesus placed among the Lenten readings, which are usually somber in nature, instead of the Easter readings, which usually deal with the glory of Jesus?

The Transfiguration bears a striking similarity to the Agony in the Garden. Like the Agony in the Garden, which took place on a mountain the Mount of Olives, the Transfiguration also took place on a mountain, Mount Tabor.

And like the Agony in the Garden, the Transfiguration was witnessed by only three disciples, Peter, James and John. And like the Agony in the Garden, which took place at night, the Transfiguration also took place at night. And in both cases the disciples fell asleep while Jesus was praying.

On Mount Tabor, the three disciples saw Jesus when his divinity shone through in a way that it had never done before. There is a practical message that comes from both the mountain experiences. Like Jesus who was human and divine, we too have a twofold dimension about us.

There is in each one of us something human and something divine. Like Jesus on Mount Tabor, we too experience great moments when the spark of God shines through so brightly it almost blinds us. We feel so close to God that we feel we can reach out and touch him.

Do you remember the feeling you had at the birth of your child or children as the case may be? Do you remember how you feel when seeing a beautiful sunrise or sunset? How about that feeling when you gave your life to another standing on an altar and saying “I DO”?

During these moments we are amazed at how beautiful life is. We love everyone. We hug our friends and forgive our enemies. It just seems during moments like this we do the right things, the good things.

Like Jesus on the Mount of Olives, we also experience moments of agony, moments that bring us down to a place not pleasant for us. During these moments life is miserable. We find fault with our friends and curse our enemies.

We might even doubt that God even exists. We need to remember that Jesus also experienced these highs and lows during his life on earth. One important lesson we should remember from all this is that Jesus prayed.

If prayer was the way Jesus responded to these moments then it should be the way we respond to them too. And if we do, like Jesus during his Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, we too will hear the Father say to us; this is my chosen one”.

And like Jesus during the Agony on the Mount of Olives, we too will experience the touch of the Father’s healing hand. Through prayer we will experience our own Transfiguration, bringing us closer to God.

Prayer is our way of connecting to God on a daily basis, on the spur of the moment. Prayer changes us. Prayer transforms us. We unite ourselves with God and commune with him. This has an effect on us-a good effect-it makes us better people. Something of God rubs off on us.

Something of his Glory enters into our lives and makes us more holy, just as receiving Jesus Christ in the Eucharist makes us holy. I ask that each of you take a look at your prayer life. Does it change you? Does your prayer life make you more holy? Or, are you a little confused as to what your prayer life can do for you?

If you are, there are two more dates, the 3rd and 10th of March, after the soup supper, where you can enter into a better understanding of your prayer life by joining Elizabeth Guss as she takes you through the journey of prayer.

My sisters and brothers, as we experience moments in our lives like the one Jesus knew on Mount Tabor, let us do what Jesus did. Let us turn to the Father in prayer and know in our hearts that each of us is his chosen child.

In the same way, when moments of agony come to us, as they did to Jesus on the Mount of Olives, let us do what Jesus did. Let us turn to the Father in prayer and let us feel the touch of the Father’s healing hand.

Let prayer become a part of your every day life. Let prayer give you a glimpse of the eternal life to come.

It is hard to realize that we are already in the 3RD week of Ordinary Time. Christmas has come and gone . The Christmas season has fleeted away like the snow that falls and melts away in a day when it does fall here on the Island.

However, have we realized and been moved by what we have heard? Have we taken to heart the beautiful scripture passages that have been proclaimed here on this altar?

Have we taken to heart the words that came from the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, one if not the most recognized prophet of the Old Testament, to the beautiful words from the New Testament to include the Book Of Acts, the letters of a convert St. Paul, to the people whom he converted to Christianity, and to the rich and nourished filled words of the Gospels, to name just a few?

The scripture passages show the journey to salvation through the prophecy of a savior who would reconcile with and protect the nation of Israel, the chosen people of the Old Testament, and then leading through to Jesus’ birth and later his ministry and ultimately Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection that brought salvation to the world.

We then see the birth of the Church and the teachings that would enlighten our understanding of “the One Body in Christ”; All this for the Kingdom of God!!!

In today’s gospel, Jesus begins his public ministry. Jesus was bringing forth the center of his teaching, the vision of God’s Kingdom. This was the dream of the prophets of the Old Testament, the promise of God’s reign of truth and justice, and love, the biblical image of salvation.

Jesus says: “The Spirit of the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to

bring good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, recovery of site to the blind, let the oppressed go free”. Taken from a worldly approach, we would think that Jesus is implying that he came to bring abundance to those who were poor, to free the slaves and the prisoners, to heal the blind, and to stop all worldly oppression.

Embracing a spiritual approach meant that Jesus was announcing the arrival of the “Kingdom of God” on earth. The Kingdom of God was the good news that Jesus was proclaiming. For the arrival of the Kingdom of God to be fulfilled, it meant the arrival of the promised Messiah, Jesus.

It meant that those who were spiritually blind would be enlightened, now being able to see the way, the truth, and the life. Those who were captives of sin, slaves to Satan, would be free, first through Baptism and then through the sacrament of Reconciliation so that they (WE) could enjoy eternal life after physical death. And Jesus brought hope for those who were oppressed through the vision of the eternal life to come, the fullness of God’s Kingdom.

The authors of the books of the bible, the prophets in particular, were only too aware of the injustice, the wrong from lies, the blindness to see the truth, the numerous forms of exploitation  that arise from this fallen human nature. Those are the features of the kingdom of this world, so to speak, and they enter into our world, as we see in our society, even today.

God’s kingdom, on the other hand, is the symbol for the kind of relationships that take shape under the influence of God’s nature. It is a pattern of peace, justice, truth, holiness, love. To move from one to the other is to express salvation, from this world’s kingdom to the realization of God’s kingdom, to live in the love of Christ.

According to the prophets and Jesus, salvation will only be completely realized at the end of time, at the final judgment of humanity. In that sense, God’s Kingdom is always something that lies ahead of us, beyond our present vision, beyond any effort or action we do.

Is this what we think of when we here the phrase “The Kingdom of God”? Jesus proclaimed that the availability of the Kingdom was already here.

Christ presented himself as the Messiah, the person anointed by God to usher in his reign. And he presented his ministry as the fulfillment of what the prophets had looked forward too: God’s decisive intervention in history. He taught his followers to see that his time on earth was the start, or the dawn, of God’s Kingdom.

The Kingdom in its essence, is something we receive, a reality of God’s grace, not something we create or build by our own efforts as I stated before. It is something we are invited to cooperate with. The way to belong to God’s Kingdom is to put it into practice each day of our lives, until it becomes a part of us. Jesus showed us how and he used his life on earth as an example for us, living a life of truth, trust, happiness, joy, forgiveness, love.

The Kingdom takes shape in history, partly in the Christian Community, in the Church, in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist where Jesus brings himself to us, and in our hearing the word of God through the scripture passages we attest to every Sunday and at every celebration of the Eucharist we attend.

The Kingdom of God also takes shape in the efforts of Christians to live out what Jesus taught us. But the Kingdom also takes shape in everything that co-operates with truth, justice, and love. At its best, in spite of the human flaws, the Church has always and will always be the vehicle for God’s Kingdom.

That’s what it is suppose to be. And down through the ages, despite being in very different circumstances and periods of history, Christians who were open to the Holy Spirit have always been shown how to remain faithful to the vision and the values of the Kingdom of God, and how to keep God’s love and truth and Justice alive in the world.

Believe it or not, at the end of the day, that is still part of our journey to the fullness of God’s Kingdom. It is still the Church’s mission, every individual believers mission, not just to cultivate a private relationship with God but to make the Kingdom present in the world around us. It is the mission of every parish community to be the light of the gospel, attracting others to it.

My Sisters and Brothers, in keeping what Jesus has taught us in our

hearts, we will find God’s Kingdom now. In keeping our hearts open to the Holy Spirit, we find the guidance that will take us through our life

journey’s and to the end of our human existence where we will then experience the fullness of God’s kingdom in heaven, forever. We are now able to keep the scriptures alive, today, at this moment in time, and we are able to say with a loud voice, “today your words, Father, are fulfilled in my hearing”, as we now begin living in the Kingdom of God.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. This feast brings to us the connection between the Holy Family and our own families. The main purpose of the feast is to present the Holy Family as the model for all Christian families and for family life in general.

St. John Chrysostom urged all Christians to make each home a “Family Church” and in doing so, we sanctify the Family unit. In other words, our lives are sanctified when we live the life of the Church within our homes. This is known as the domestic Church.

So, how do we live out the life of the Church in the family: the best way is by making Christ and his Church the center of family and individual life. Ways to do this: attend Mass at the least on Sundays and Holy days of Obligation, doing things together as a family unit that promotes love, joy, respect, happiness, by imitating the actions and lives of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph by putting God first.

There are drastic actions that can destroy the family unit: abortion, contraception, same-sex marriages, embryonic stem cell research, divorce, spousal abuse, child abuse, infidelity.

However, there are actions that tear the family apart slowly and are somewhat hidden in today’s hustle and bustle of everyday living. Today, most families never or rarely sit down together and communicate. Why? Kids watch their favorite shows on their bedroom televisions and the parents are in their room doing the same.

We sometimes find the family unit together for supper, however, it is in front of a blaring television in the living room. I can’t help but wonder if my generation had something to do with that. I remember every household I visited had a set of TV trays prominently displayed in the living room, even in my own home. The motto was eat while you watch, not talk as you eat.

Both parents started working and the children were either left with a baby sitter or one child was old enough to take care of their siblings. Still, the nurturing and guidance of the parents became more scarce.

Since, in today’s family, meals are eaten on the run, most families never sit down together and talk.  If we do not converse with one another, how are we expected to understand, know, or communicate with each other? Eventually, the family becomes fractured, to the point that it begins to crumble.

This does not take into consideration the negative content of much of today’s entertainment. Have you ever noticed how movies are marketed: Children’s films are marketed on Nichelodeon, tweener (that is pre-teen) films on Disney, teen films on MTV, young males on “ESPN”, and females on Oprah and Lifetime.

The only thing many producers see is a demographic; they do not even know how to market films to families.

With the invention of computers, the internet, videos, video games, social networks like My-Space, families function independently without the parental influence, nurturing, guidance, and especially the loving touch of father and mother throughout the day.

When parents try to communicate with their children without first understanding the child’s means of entertainment, it  becomes an exercise in futility because they are speaking a different language- literally!!!!!!!

Do not fear, for all is not lost. We, as a society and as Christians can find ways to strengthen the family. The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph shows us how. They practiced, on a daily basis, patience, obedience, love, and faith in God, even while going through their toughest times.

Like us, the Holy Family was very human and had their share of difficulties. They were poor, powerless, homeless. They were forced by the Roman Emperor to leave Bethlehem , where Mary gave birth to her son, Jesus and laid Him in a stable of animals.

King Herod’s cruelty forced them to seek refuge in Egypt. But through all these trials they placed themselves in the hands of God. God was the center of all they did. This is what Hannah from our first reading had done.

She placed, in God’s hands, the want to have a child. Here request was so important to here that she promised the child to God after the child was weaned. And so, Hannah conceived a boy and she named him Samuel.

Great things happen when we place ourselves, and even our family’s

in the hands of the one who created us. This is what the gospel is all about; the nurturing of the family, each member, by God’s love and compassion and mercy.

Mary and Joseph, even though they could not, at that time, realize what Jesus was doing and could not understand why Jesus answered them the way he did, showed compassion and love by accepting Jesus’ answer which was in the form of a question: “did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” I know what most parents would do in this day and age if their child of 12 was missing for 3 days and I suspect that you know also. It would be a different outcome.

Could it be all that possible that the subversion of being “about our father’s business” or of being “in our father’s house” might actually be the solution for problems that we are trying to solve by our own wisdom and human priorities? Could it be that the same principal of reversal that underlies “those who lose their lives will save it” also applies to those who focus on God?

Bring back God into the family and see what happens. Lives will be transformed and the family unit will once again become strong and the Church will once again be the stronghold that nourishes and feeds the family through the sacramental life it contains.

Christmas is now over. What now”? I say, “let us be about our Father’s business”. For we “who are in our Father’s house” Christmas is not over. It has only begun and we take on the responsibility of being the example in our society of the Family who showed us that the family is a sacred place where God lives!!!!!!!!!!!