2018

 

From time to time we sing a song that I learned while in college in which we proclaim that others will know we are Christians by our love. That song speaks of our mission, given to us by Jesus in today’s gospel, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” Jesus then added, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

Through his teachings, Jesus provides the way for us to live an enriched and happier life. Newspaper headlines often implythat many people are not hearing the good news that life can truly be better for their lives do not depict happiness or fulfillment. We heard Jesus caution that a bleaker fate awaits those who do not believe. Imagine how different the world would be if more people believed the message of the gospel. Conversely, imagine how different our world would be had people like Thomas Merton, Martin Luther King, and Pope Francis heard, then decided not to believe the Good News.

Two topics that few people care to discuss freely with one another are religion and politics. They hesitate to share the Good News because they don’t want to come across as being “preachy.” Fortunately, not every Christian has been so quiet. Otherwise, we would not be here. We are who we are because someone, most likely our mothers, touched us in the past with her or his faith in Jesus Christ.

Freed from the time and place of biblical Palestine by the Ascension, Jesus works through us to attract others to himself. People do not become Christians through the words of Christianity. They become Christians through the presence of Christ. We must not allow anything to destroy the presence of Christ within us. We cannot give ourselves over to the forces of evil that wage war on the Lord. And yet so many people have done that perhaps unintentionally.

Many Christians could be labeled as “practical atheists,” a term Pope Benedict uses to describe those whose belief in God is superficial and live as though God does not exist. When they make decisions, even moral ones, the thought of God is absent from their considerations. They view Christianity merely as a set of beliefs and morals instead of God’s self-revelation in history so that he could have a loving relationship with his creatures. Christianity is the experience of love, of welcoming the person of Jesus Christ.

How often do you consider your faith and its values in your decision-making when you leave here? We may not care to be Bible thumping preachers but there is much we can do beyond the doors of our church by visibly being a witness to Jesus and his Good News. The world needs the ordinary, day-to-day witness of men, women and children who are doing their daily best to live by the principles and priorities of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus says in today’s first reading, “you will be my witnesses,” he wasn’t talking just to the apostles. He really means you and you and you and me. He means all of us. He is calling on us to follow in the footsteps of the disciples and be his personal witnesses “to the ends of the earth.”

So why do we hesitate to share the message of today’s readings with our loved ones, with those whom we work with, our friends and neighbors? Is it because we haven’t come to fully appreciate the Good News ourselves?

As any good teacher knows, we truly learn a subject when we teach it. For that reason, Jesus calls on us to go out and proclaim the good news. How else are we going to learn what he is trying to teach us unless we in turn try to teach it ourselves? If you need a refresher course, read the scriptures, check out the catechism, make use of the Word Among Us,or read the book, Rediscover Jesus.

The gospel points out that when we accept our baptism and preach our faith, great things will happen, namely a better world free of despair. When Jesus spoke of serpents and deadly things, he wasn’t speaking literally, assuring us that anything poisonous wouldn’t harm us. Rather he is conveying the message that his people could fight and conquer evil in its worst forms. Jesus used snakes to signify the devil and poison to represent the evils of the world, including the poisons of hatred, prejudice, racism, drug addiction, and materialism. He is saying that with his help we would be able to confront the poisons of the world.

By ascending to heaven, Jesus removes his physical presence from our midst, so that he could be present at all times everywhere to all peoples. Jesus is now present to others through us, his followers. We no longer see him with our eyes but we could see his presence in people whom he inspires. We cannot hear him literally but his words speak volumes to us of God’s unconditional love. Despite knowing that he always showers us with love, our world tends to ignore his presence most of the time for we still have children starving, refugees seeking safe havens, and nations obsessed with war.

While none of us look forward to suffering for being a Christian, let us be mindful that we have the promise of the Spirit, the source of our courage and the encouraging words of Jesus, “Know that I am with you always until the end of the age,” as we go forth from here to be his witnesses to others by our patience, joy, acts of kindness, concern for others, and our readiness to forgive.

The one idea that I pondered after reading the scripture for this weekend is the love I have for my wife of almost 44 years. I would like to think that this love will last forever, even in the new life to come. That is a very strong love. We live in this hope for each other but the real and most important hope is that of being with the Father in his kingdom forever.

How much more is the love of the Father for his children, you and me? His love is an eternal love which one day in that hope, will be shared with us in his kingdom of heaven. This love is a total receiving and sharing of that love.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Heaven is the eternal life with God; communion of life and love with the Trinity and all the blessed.” Paragraph #1023.

God shows us the way to this total receiving and giving of love through his son, Jesus Christ, who is love itself sent down from heaven to claim us as the Father’s children who now have the way to the Father through the Son.

To get to heaven what do we have to do? Jesus tells us in today’s gospel: “As the Father loves Me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love just as I have kept the Father’s commandments and remain in His love.”

As we feed off our spouses love, how much more do we love by receiving Jesus in the sacrament of Communion? How much more strength do we receive to follow the Commandments especially loving one another? Jesus says, “Love one another as I love you.”

The gospel today is a familiar section from the “Last Discourse” of Jesus to his disciples. In these five chapters, thirteen through seventeen, John presents Jesus as the loving teacher reminding his students of all that he has tried to teach them and us, and what will be on the final exam. He warns them also about the dangers and traps which they will encounter on their way to that exam.

There are some elements of the Ten Commandments, The Sermon on the Mount, and some beautiful images of who Jesus says he is and who the disciples are to be. That includes all of us!

What we hear today is a simple straight forward command, which if followed is the same love as Jesus has for the Father. Jesus tells them and us that he has loved them as deeply and intimately as the Father has loved him. “Love one another as I have loved you!”

If we truly believe who we are, friend and chosen, if we take our name of who we are seriously, then the actions of loving will follow. You cannot love Jesus and not love one another. Jesus tells his disciples and ourselves that, “you are a part of Me, as vine, you are known, loved, and chosen to be fruitful.”

You know we do not hear enough about the saints, someone said to me one day. And she is right. So what do some of the saints say about Love: St. Mother Theresa of Calcutta said: “We can cure physical diseases with medicine but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is Love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more who are dying for a little love. Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough. Money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So spread love wherever you go.”

St. John Paul ll said, “There is no place for selfishness-and no place for fear. Do not be afraid then, when love makes demands. Do not be afraid when Love requires sacrifice.”

And another from St. Mother Theresa of Calcutta who said, “Intense love do not measure-it just gives.”

And finally St. Augustine of Hippo who sad, “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrow of men. That is what love looks like.”

God so loves us that he sent his only begotten Son who is the fullest expression of God’s love, as the expiation for our sins. Would you suffer for God’s love, to defend God’s love in Jesus Christ? If we are willing to do that then we have the power through the Holy Spirit to go out to love one another without fear, without reservation.

You see, we can love one another, even our enemies, if we truly give ourselves to God through Jesus Christ freely out of our love for Him. We act because we love, not to earn our way to heaven. Jesus acted because of his love for us. Love one another. Simple.

If we love Jesus Christ, if we open ourselves to see Jesus in others, the lame, the thirsty, the homeless, the sick, the dying, all the marginalized of our society, then we are following the Commandment to love one another by offering our help and assistance.

When we open ourselves to see Jesus, to feel this love, we will see them and don’t be surprised if they are your neighbor, in our church, in our community, in our own back yards. They are there. Love one another.

Two weeks ago Jesus told his disciples about the “Shepherd” laying down his life for his friends. Love is not always felt but is expressed in deeds especially the generous surrendering of greed, envy, demands, expectations.

Always this loving is easier to talk about then to execute. It begins with being loved as a gift and not something earned. The disciples were asked to receive their being loved by Jesus as the Father loves Him. Remaining in that love will result in remaining as “sent” and “Loved” sacraments and is our final test.

Many books have been written about love and how to be loved and how to express that love. Each of us is writing our own book by how we lay down our lives for our sisters and brothers. Each of us is writing our own book by living in that love of Jesus Christ or choosing not to.

Our own books have become a reflection of what is in this book called the Holy Bible. Where does your book fit in it?

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. While Armstrong prepared for his moonwalk, Aldrin unpacked some bread and wine. He describes what he did next. “I poured the wine into the chalice. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine curled slowly and gracefully up the side of the cup. It was interesting to think that the very first liquid ever poured on the moon and the very first food eaten there were communion elements. I sensed especially strongly my unity with our church back home, and the Church everywhere.”

He then read this passage from the Gospel, “I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me.”

How awesome! Despite the ingenuity, creativity, resources, and research that enabled these two men to stand on the surface of the moon and look back on earth, Buzz Aldrin knew that apart from God, we could do nothing. His story illustrates the point of today’s Gospel. We, the branches, must remain united with Jesus, the vine, if we are to bear much fruit. We unite with Jesus by gathering together as a faith community, listening to his word and sharing his body and blood in the Eucharist.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus told his listeners, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there with them.” The Jesus who rose on Easter Sunday is alive, he is the one we find in our midst whenever we pray.

Think back to the story Barnabas shared with the other apostles in the first reading. On his way to Damascus, Saul encountered the Lord Jesus in a great flash of light, who asked, “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked and the voice replied, “I am Jesus whom you persecute.” Saul, whom we remember as Paul, was puzzled. He never persecuted Jesus. He had never even met Jesus. However, he was persecuting his followers. Saul then realized that Jesus and his followers were one and the same. Trying to separate Jesus from his followers would be like trying to separate a head from its body.

The church is not just a building where we come to worship. The Church is the people who gather to pray, you and I, in the name of Jesus. To be church, to have Jesus, we come together as a faith community. When we come together, especially to celebrate the Mass, we make Jesus visible to the world around us. By our words and actions, we show others where they too can find Jesus.

We give this sacrament of bread and wine that brings us together two very different names: Eucharist and Holy Communion. Eucharist comes from the Greek word for thanksgiving. With bread and wine we offer God gratitude for our exodus from sin, the many marvels of creation, and the gift of his son, Jesus Christ who redeems us.

The alternate name, Holy Communion, reminds us that this sacrament is a prayer of the faith community. Whenever I celebrate Mass, which transforms bread and wine into the real presence of Jesus Christ, I do so in communion with you who share the conviction proclaimed by Jesus elsewhere in John’s Gospel, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”

The Eucharist creates and celebrates our unity as Catholics. It is the prime symbol of our oneness. As people of faith, we celebrate Eucharist, not as passive spectators, but as active participants. If the Eucharist is to impact us, we cannot afford to be passive and nonchalant about receiving Jesus.

As any gardener will tell us, a branch cannot bear fruit once it is snipped off the vine. This is the concern that Jesus is voicing here. Do we, as branches, stay connected to him, the vine, when we leave this gathering and place? As our dismissal at the end of Mass suggests, we are to go in peace, glorifying the Lord with our lives.

Do we or are we compartmentalizing our lives so that we hardly glorify God or imitate Christ by what we say and do in our homes, at work, in school or in market places? We cannot separate our lives into “church” and “world,” as though one has nothing to do with the other. When you disconnect the two, Jesus cautions that you become a branch cut off from the vine, no longer bearing fruit.

The great Christian truth is we are connected to something larger than ourselves. We are connected to the earth, we dare not pollute by our selfishness. We are connected to nature and all of creation. We are an interconnected human community, making up the mystical body of Christ. We are a communal people responsible for one another.

Our actions have consequences. What we do and say here should be the same as what we do and say when we leave here. We are the branches that make the risen Jesus visible to our age just as past generations made Jesus visible to us.

Bread is not made from a single stalk of wheat nor is wine made from a single grape. To the contrary, bread is made from many grains of wheat and wine is made from many bunches of grapes. Likewise, this assembly is made up of many individuals who come together, empowered by the Eucharist to go forth and be a very visible sign to others that Jesus Christ, our risen Lord, is truly present in their midst.

A navy pilot on leave was talking to his parents about the helicopter he flew. He said, “You know Dad, as complicated as that helicopter is, its whirling rotor is held in place by a single hexagonal nut.” Then turning to his mother, he added, “And Mom, you know what they call that nut?”

She had no idea and said, “I give up. What do they call the nut that holds it all together?” Her son smiled and replied, “They call it the Jesus nut. If something goes wrong, then the next person you’ll meet is Jesus.” An interesting and sensible name, if you ask me. Just as that nut holds the helicopter together, Jesus by his death and resurrection holds us together. That is the underlying message I find throughout these readings. Jesus is the one who holds everything together. He is compared to the cornerstone of a building and in today’s gospel; we hear the familiar image of Jesus as the good shepherd who keeps his flock together.

We could easily limit our attention to that image and forget the rest of the story. A Jesus nut may keep a helicopter together but it doesn’t get the helicopter off the ground. Every component in the helicopter from the rotors to the motor plays a role in getting the helicopter airborne. A cornerstone keeps a building from collapsing but it doesn’t make up the entire building. Every beam matters in the construction of any building.

One might wonder why Jesus would choose such a lowly job for a self-image, calling himself the “good shepherd,” especially when we think of sheep as being dumb animals. Comparing us to sheep doesn’t seem so flattering but then this vulnerable animal develops a fierce loyalty and this is the quality Jesus is looking for in his disciples. Jesus expects us to be as loyal to him as a sheep would be to its shepherd. Also, good shepherds would die while protecting their sheep.

As a parish community, we demonstrate our loyalty to Jesus through our actions in numerous ways; feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, caring about the homeless, welcoming newcomers, and comforting the grieving. The services and many ministries of the Archdiocese do what we cannot do individually or as a parish. Look at the flap on this envelope and you can see a sampling of how the Annual Appeal impacts people throughout our diocese.

The Annual Catholic Appeal supports 63 ministries in Western Washington from Blaine to Camas and from Ocean Shores to Darrington. I invite you during this Easter season to show your loyalty and love in deed and in truth just as Jesus showed his love for us on the cross. One deed we all can do is participate in the Annual Catholic Appeal.

I presume by now you have received a letter from Archbishop Sartain, which outlines some of the many programs supported by the Annual Catholic Appeal. The goal this year is $ 11.7 million. Our parish goal is $ 42,804. Last year 178 families in our parish participated with an average pledge of $367, enabling us to surpass our goal by more than $20,000. That rebate was placed into our capital improvement fund to take care of unforeseen emergencies.

I join Archbishop Sartain in asking you to prayerfully consider how you can support the larger church this year. I hope you will respond with the same generosity that was demonstrated by many last year. I know this parish will generously exceed its goal; what you might not realize is how crucial the rebate we get back will be for our parish in the coming year. That money has been earmarked for installing solar panels, to provide power to Read Hall in the event of a blackout, which is receiving much support, judging by the informal survey that the green team has been conducting recently.

Everyone’s participation is valued. If you haven’t given in the past to the Annual Catholic Appeal, I am asking you to join others who have participated by making some pledge as a sign that you see yourself as a vital member of the Catholic Church of Western Washington. Last year 61% of our families made a pledge. Those whom the Appeal benefits will value a gift of any size.

In this land of ours, where we take religious freedom for granted, I doubt that we will ever be called to lay down our lives as the good shepherd did for us, but we can honestly consider our willingness to sacrifice something in order to help the larger church reach out in its many much needed ministries from educating tomorrow’s priests to visiting the imprisoned, from supporting our retired nuns and priests to visiting the sick in our hospitals, from supporting our youth camps to training tomorrow’s deacons.

In the weeks ahead, I hope you will join me in making a pledge. Keep in mind that this is not the same as our stewardship campaign, which is held in the fall. You can make your pledge in four ways as noted on the envelope; a one time gift by cash or check, electronic funds transfer, monthly charges to a credit or debit card. Take an envelope home with you and prayerfully consider your options. You can even donate stock or donate on line.

On behalf of the Archbishop and the many people who are served by the Church of Western Washington, thank you for all you do and share as loyal disciples of Jesus Christ. May God bless you abundantly and may we continue to follow the good shepherd all the days of our lives.

In today’s gospel Jesus opened the minds of his disciples to understand the scriptures, commissioning them to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Taking that mission to heart, Peter urged his listeners, “Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.”

Converted has many meanings including transformed. Not only was Jesus transformed through his resurrection, but the disciples had been as well and potentially we too can be.

While browsing in a gift shop, a couple admired a display of teacups. Picking one up, the wife said, “Look at this lovely teacup. This is one of the loveliest teacups I have ever seen!” Then would you believe it? The teacup said to them, “Thank you for the compliment but I wasn’t always this beautiful.”

Now, wouldn’t you drop a teacup in shock if one talked to you? Instead of being surprised, the wife calmly asked, “What do you mean that you weren’t always beautiful?” “Well,” answered the teacup, “Once I was just an ugly lump of clay, but one day a man with dirty wet hands threw me on a wheel. Then he started turning me around and around until I got so dizzy that I couldn’t see straight. ‘Stop! Stop!’ I cried. But the man with the wet hands said, ‘Not yet!’

“Then he started to poke me and punch me until I hurt all over. ‘Stop! Stop!’ I cried but he again said, ‘Not yet!’ Finally, he did stop but then he did something worse. He put me into a big furnace! I got hotter and hotter until I thought I was going to burn up. ‘Stop! Stop!’ I pleaded but again he said, ‘Not yet!’ Finally he took me out of the furnace. When I cooled down, a lady slobbered me with glaze and I was put back in the furnace. ‘Stop! Stop!’ I cried again but she said, “Not yet!” Finally, she put me on a shelf next to a mirror. When I looked at myself, I couldn’t believe what I saw. I was no longer an ugly lump of clay. I was beautiful, firm, and clean. I cried for joy. Then I realized all that pain was worthwhile. Without that pain, I would still be ugly and dirty. The pain has passed but the beauty remains.”

Like the teacup, we too will be transformed but do you ever imagine what our glorified bodies will look like in heaven? Jesus is giving us a foretaste of what God intends for us.
He appeared to his disciples more than once after the resurrection, eating fish, going through locked doors, which no earthly body can do, and assuring them that he wasn’t a ghost. They saw his wounded glorified body, which of course amazed them.

Like the teacup, bruised and poked along the way toward becoming beautiful, we are often wounded in this lifetime. Our wounds, suffered for the sake of the gospel, will be part of our glory, just as Jesus’ wounds are part of his glorified body. Our wounds result from being faithful in our vocation, sacrifices made for the sake of our family, asserting the values of human life, speaking out against the injustices of our world, being honest, the rejection or criticism suffered when we speak up for our faith and even our repented sins.

Jesus told the disciples to go and preach the message of repentance to transform us but why? Without repentance, there is no peace, which implies restored relationships between God and us, and people among people. The peace that the risen Christ brought to the disciples was a release from their shame and failures; this truly transformed them. That same peace is offered to us when we choose to repent.

But what happens if we don’t? Do you recall the ghost of Jacob Marley? He appeared before Scrooge wrapped in a chain “made heavy with boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds and heavy steel purses.” He was bound to his chain of sins for eternity. The first two readings assure us that we don’t have to go to our graves bound by our sins. We can break their grasp on us by following Peter’s advice.

Repentance brings us God’s forgiveness, which wipes our slates clean and our sins away. No guilt, no bondage, no jail time, no chains clanking into eternity. God wants to fill us with forgiveness and peace but that can only happen if we admit that we have sinned and we are sorry.

To remain stuck in one’s ways and unrepentant is to remain that lump of clay. To receive forgiveness, we have to admit to our wrong doing, knowing that something has to change. An apology is not enough. Imagine the potter saying, “Not yet! Not yet!” We must also change our ways and turn to God. Realizing that sin stops us from becoming holy can prompt us to put more effort into resisting the temptation to commit that sin again. As John points out, we know we are in a relationship with God when we obey his commands.

Sin weighs heavy on our minds and hearts just as it once did on the disciples, but Jesus did not focus on their sins. He instead offered them peace and forgiveness. He offers us the same today. Our repentance, our turning to God and receiving forgiveness enables us to recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread and bring to others what was given to us…the peace that comes with being in close relationship with Jesus. The time for loosing the chains of sins is now, so we don’t have them binding us, unlike Marley, for all eternity.
Like the teacup, whatever pain we experience in being transformed into something beautiful for God will pass. But the beauty of our glorified bodies in heaven will remain forever and ever.