Homilies

If you were anticipating a “feel good” gospel this morning, this one likely disappointed you with its harsh opening lines.

None of us would be here, however, if we didn’t really love Jesus and believe that he is the way, the truth and the life. We were not obliged to leave the comfort of our homes to attend Mass this morning or tune in on FB, but we chose to because deep down we know that Jesus offers us the path to the happiness we seek.

Next Saturday, we will celebrate Independence Day. On July 4, 1776, brave men signed the Declaration of Independence. Its opening lines spoke volumes to countless peoples ever since. “We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Happiness doesn’t come cheap nor does love. But if we are to experience them, Jesus provides us with the blueprint for doing so. He isn’t telling us to not love our family. He wants us to love them just as he loves us. If we wish to be his disciple, however, Jesus must come first in our lives. We must be committed to following him so that even our loved ones cannot stop us from heeding his wisdom. This isn’t an either/or situation; it is both/and. The more we love Jesus, the more we will love other people.

Jesus then commands us, “Whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.” He isn’t saying, ”If you follow me, I will make you suffer.” Everyone, regardless of the faith they follow, lives with a certain measure of suffering. There is no such thing as a pain free life. We can be certain that God doesn’t enjoy our suffering. Dying on the cross, Jesus truly suffered for us.

Suffering is a mystery that we cannot fully understand. When we join our suffering to the suffering Jesus endured, in some way our suffering becomes redeeming for us as well. There is a big difference between taking up our cross in faith or just dragging it.

We are born into the world self-centered and self-absorbed, concerned only about ourselves. Our lifelong struggle is to move away from being self-centered and self-seeking. Jesus shows us how. He is the model of who we can be. His whole orientation is the opposite of self-centeredness.

Jesus cautions us, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” In other words, the more we seek our own happiness, the less happy we are. The more we are focused inwardly on ourselves, the more miserable we become. Jesus advises us, that the more we become concerned with the happiness of others, the more we experience joy and fulfillment. At first glance that makes little sense but our own experience bears this out.

Our most unhappy times happen when we we were concerned only about ourselves, and we made our needs the center of our attention. Our happiest times are those when we forget ourselves in love and service to others.

Some people have taken on values inherited from parents and peers that run contrary to the blueprint for happiness that Jesus has spelled out for us.  The most glaring example that comes to mind is racism. Recently, our bishops wrote, “Racism occurs because a person ignores the fundamental truth that, because all humans share a common origin, they are all brothers and sisters, all equally made in the image of God. When this truth is ignored, the consequence is prejudice and fear of the other, and—all too often—hatred.”

Until we find a way to remove hatred, nothing will change.

Speaking prophetically, Archbishop Etienne last month wrote, “As Catholics, we cannot stand by and not respond to incidents of racism and inhuman treatment of our black brothers and sisters, or anyone else. The fact that we are created in the image of God teaches us that each person is a living expression of God who must be respected and preserved and never dishonored.” Racism may not be your personal issue but have you another prejudice that prevents you from seeing God in others?

Hospitality is one of the great virtues of the Bible. The virtue of hospitality is far more than being a good host at a dinner party.  Hospitality means encountering the presence of God in others, even in those whom we least expect. The ancient Jews believed that each person should be welcomed as though one were welcoming God himself.  Do we welcome those who are different from us? Not always. Yet Jesus is challenging us to do so, which is why welcoming the stranger is listed as a corporal work of mercy. Simply put, hospitality means keeping the doors of our hearts open.

This gospel passage is full of profound truths that hold the key to our happiness. Jesus has given us the key and now it is up to you and me to use this key and find the happiness we have long pursued.

This being the first day of summer, I imagine most children on the island are looking forward to enjoying their vacation. The notion of returning to the classroom may be the last thing on their mind right now.

In one of the last Sunday episodes of Peanuts, Lucy is about to leave for school with her little brother Rerun but he can’t be found. Lucy eventually finds him hiding under his bed.

“I’m never going to school again,” Rerun cries from under the bed. “The teacher asked me if I thought I’ve learned everything I need to know. I think she is being sarcastic. Anyway, I said, ‘Yes.’ Now she’s mad at me.”

Lucy then asks, “Do you think you’ve learned everything you need to know?” Rerun replied, “I think I’ve learned all I need to know to live under a bed.”

Due to the myriad of stresses and complexities of life imposed on us by the pandemic and tensions rising from ongoing protests across the country in reaction to racism and white supremacy, we seek a nice, safe, comfortable place to protect ourselves from the horrible and to avoid the unpleasant. We’d like to hide under the bed and dodge the confrontations and risks that assail us daily if we could.

Despite what Jesus said, fear is a big part of life. We’re afraid of many things: the aftermath of injustice and intolerance, the rise of violence and terrorism, economic problems arising from the quarantine and a pandemic that has claimed too many lives and been a part of our daily reality for too long and will likely linger for months to come.

Fear is most destructive when it forces us under our beds and cripples us from accomplishing what is good and right and just. Dr. Martin Luther King preached, “Courage is the inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles; cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances. Courage breeds creative self-affirmation; cowardice produces destructive self-abnegation. Courage faces fear and masters it; cowardice represses fear and is mastered by it.”

Jesus said to his disciples, “Fear no one,” as they were about to go forth and evangelize, since, he assures them, no person can destroy another person’s soul. Ultimately if anyone is to be feared, God would be the one for only God determines our eternal fate in hell or heaven.  Until the moment of judgment, God is caring and compassionate, knowing us so well that every one of our hairs is counted.

Do you believe that God knows you that well? Yes, God is concerned about each and every one of us. As Jesus then points out, “Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.” Yes, you are worth so much that Jesus died on the cross so that you could spend eternity with him in his heavenly mansion.

What are also counted are our good deeds, the depth of our relationship with God and our willingness to acknowledge God before others. On the day of our judgment, Jesus will say, ”This is one of my faithful disciples,” or “This one is not mine.” What Jesus will say about us depends on how faithful we are to the unique mission for which God created us.

We are back in ordinary time and the readings today bring up something quite ordinary: sin and fear. Why does Jesus caution us not to fear? He often tells us to love God and one another. Think about this: If we are afraid of someone, we cannot love that person. If we are afraid of God, we cannot really love God. Fear gets in the way of love. No wonder Jesus tells us, “Fear no one.”

At Mass, following the Lord’s Prayer, the celebrant prays, “Deliver us Lord, from every evil and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy, keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our savior Jesus Christ.”  With this prayer, we admit our dependence on God to protect us from fear.

While Jesus describes God as one who knows us so well as to know the number of hairs on our head, that doesn’t protect us from suffering, which is so often the consequence of free will and sin, either the choices we make or others make. Still God knows every struggle of every believer and graces suffering with divine presence.

Through the centuries faithful followers have drawn fire from enemies of the Church and Jesus. Many suffered cruelly for their belief but they found strength in Jesus’ words, “Be not afraid,” which enabled them to persevere rather than quit.

Our commitment to Christ is often put to the test. Like Jeremiah, we may hear denunciations. Don’t be afraid if people call you names because you have the courage to live your faith. We may suffer for our faith but God will never abandon or forget us. Jesus clearly doesn’t want us to hide under the bed.

If we have lived each day acknowledging Jesus before others each in our own way, whispered or proclaimed from the housetop, then we need not be afraid, for God is with us every step of the way to the threshold of heaven, looking forward someday to welcoming us to our eternal home.

The past three months have been a long stretch for us, enduring a fast that none of us ever expected. No doubt we are hungry. Hungry for human contact, hungry to reconnect with family and friends beyond the walls of our home. Hungry for peace of mind in the midst of current tensions simmering from coast to coast. Hungry to get back to “normal.”

And some of you have been hungry for bread itself. I don’t mean what one can find on the shelf at a nearby grocery store, but the bread of life, Jesus himself.

Welcome back. Today’s feast, which celebrates the core of our worship, provides an opportune setting for us to come together for the first time in months to celebrate Jesus’ presence in our lives. Of course, there are many ways that Jesus is present. He is present in the beauty of nature, from the smile of a baby to a view of the Cascades. He is present whenever we are gathered in his name and he is present in the Word of scripture. His greatest presence, however, is his real presence in the Eucharist.

Today’s feast is an fitting time for us to reflect on what happens at Mass. As every Catholic knows, bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. They are not symbols of the Lord. They become the Lord. We call this sacrament holy communion because it is the joining of the faith community with Jesus Christ becoming present in each person who receives the Eucharist. Receiving communion isn’t just a private event between Jesus and the person who receives him. When doing this, he or she is publicly proclaiming to be part of the Catholic community.

This is an timely moment for some Eucharistic theology. At Mass, during the consecration, the substance of bread and wine are changed, although their appearance remains the same. Now, if you are skeptical, my response is this. If God, our creator, can create all that exists out of nothing from viruses to all living creatures, from the bluffs of our island to the most distant galaxies out of nothing, who are we to limit what God can do?

Granted, if you look at a host through a microscope, you couldn’t tell the difference between one that is and is not consecrated. The molecules of a consecrated host will resemble that of an unconsecrated host, not the molecules of a human body. Still we know the substance has been changed. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the bread and wine when consecrated truly become Jesus Christ. The substance of our gifts has changed, which is why they are now treated with reverence.

When we receive communion, we are receiving Christ, thus we have the potential to be changed as well. We believe this because of what Jesus said at the Last Supper. Detailed accounts of this meal appear in the gospels. They speak of Jesus blessing bread and saying, “This is my body.” Then sharing the cup and saying, “This is my blood.” Unlike some other passages in scripture, when he speaks figuratively or metaphorically, we now find Jesus speaking literally.

In the Eucharist, Jesus endeavors to nourish us. He knows our needs even before we express them. He is there for us, but we have to go beyond just receiving him to fully appreciate all that he is offering us. We have to let his presence transform us. When we allow Christ to do that, we are preparing ourselves to accept his gift of eternal life.

Think of the Eucharist as the Lord’s dying gift to you. We receive his body and blood, his humanity and his divinity. Now you may be thinking, “But I can’t have the cup.” True, but when you partake of one species, you actually receive both the body and blood of Jesus Christ. You become the body of Christ. Ideally, we then feel empowered to manifest his presence to others by what we say and do.

I presume that you have received the latest issue of Northwest Catholic, which contains a pastoral letter from Archbishop Etienne, entitled The Work of Redemption. Beginning today, we are entering a Year of the Eucharist. In the year ahead, he is urging us to deepen our awareness of the Eucharist. Some of you, for example, are doing that by reading the book on the Mass, which we are giving out to interested parishioners.

The archbishop notes, “There is nothing else like the Eucharist on earth: comparisons cannot do it justice!” This food and drink is different from any other food and drink. Do you view the Eucharist in the same way he does?

Not every one does. When it comes to human behavior, we tend to become complacent if we do the same task often enough, going through the motions without much thought. Now that you have been away from the sacrament for three months, I hope you are eager to become one with him, like a child about to receive first communion, saying “Amen!” with gratitude as you do so. We cannot be satisfied with just receiving communion though. We have to let his presence transform us. You have heard that we are what we eat. Christ’s body and blood becomes our flesh and blood. When we attentively partake of Christ in communion, we allow ourselves to be drawn deeply into the way he thought, felt, hoped and acted.

Given what our country has experienced over the past two weeks, these readings strike me as being quite timely. From coast to coast, the death of George Floyd has sparked an outburst of violence and protests. The actions of many remind me, “This is indeed a stiff-necked people.”

We witnessed a blatant and horrible injustice that has shaken our nation to its core.  By kneeling on his neck, a police officer in Minneapolis killed a handcuffed man. That wasn’t the first time police brutality has taken the life of an African American nor will it be the last. There have been many other such instances even recently in Tacoma, but this death ignited an anger and frustration that had been simmering for some time fueled partly by the pandemic quarantine.  We may be alarmed but are we surprised?

Throughout our history, despite the efforts of many in our lifetime, African Americans have often been the victims of unjustified brutality at the hands of someone in authority. Not only that, but their efforts to be heard as they protested civilly are often marred by the criminal acts of looters. Their pleas for justice fade into the background where they continue to be unheard and ignored.

In a recent statement, the American bishops noted, “Just as the Church in America speaks out consistently against abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment and other forms of violence that threaten the dignity of human life, we must also speak out about how racism threatens and is an attack against the dignity of human life”… They added, “ People of good conscience must never turn a blind eye when citizens are being deprived of their human dignity and even their lives. Indifference is not an option… As bishops, we unequivocally state that racism is a life issue.”

In that same statement, they reminded us that we are all made in the likeness of God. Thus, every person is obliged to advance the values of life, charity, and justice. All peoples of good will have an inherent responsibility to practice the art of reconciliation when injustice, racism and other divisive issues blind us from loving one another in the manner that Christ puts before us when he said that the greatest commandment is to love God and to love one another. We cannot do one without doing the other.

It is heartbreaking, the bishops noted, that not all Catholics respond passionately to the injustice experienced by people of color. The Lord is calling us to an authentic change of heart that prompts us to undertake actions that will overcome the attempts of those who sow racial division and hate. By working together to find creative ways to challenge those who fail to acknowledge the gross injustices around them, we will usher in a more complete understanding of the sanctity of all human life.

Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, was one of the first bishops in our country to protest that black lives matter. In a pastoral letter written last year, he noted that for some people their thought patterns were influenced by racially prejudicial ways of thinking and that it’s not just a benign problem in our country.  He observed, “For people to reach their potential as God intended, they also need to be seen as God sees them, but when others look at them with distrust, without the goodness that God sees in them, it’s also hard for the person to see him or herself that way and that is one of the subtle yet extremely important ways that this systemic prejudice influences people.”

Last week, Pope Francis commented, “My friends, we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life. At the same time, we have to recognize that the violence of recent nights is self-destructive and self-defeating. Nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost.” He also pointed out that racism is a sin.

The problem is sin, not skin. The answer is grace, not race. How blessed we are that our Lord is a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity. On this feast when we honor the Holy Trinity, we heard timely advice from Paul, “Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.”

God sent his son into the world not to condemn but to save. Those who believe in God also love, for God is love. Our God is a triune God for love cannot exist without a relationship. I recall a painting my cousin had in her home in Minneapolis that featured the Father embracing the Son and the two of them being embraced by the Holy Spirit.

Racism isn’t an abstract issue we can ignore. As Christians our mission is to further Christ’s work of reconciliation when injustice due to racism and other divisive issues is being manifested. AB Tutu cautioned, “If we are neutral in situations of injustice, we have chosen the side of the oppressor.” Sadly not all Catholics really care about this challenge yet the Holy Trinity is calling us to do just that, to love and judge one another, as Dr. Martin Luther King once said, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. Will his dream become reality? Hopefully yes at least in the manner that we will hereafter treat one another.

Today’s readings began, “When the time for Pentecost had been fulfilled, they were all in one place together.” Pentecost was a major Jewish feast, back then, a thanksgiving celebration that combined gratitude for the year’s harvest with a gratitude for the Sinai covenant. This feast occurred fifty days after Passover, hence the name, Pentecost.

Jews from all over gathered for this great Jewish feast in Jerusalem. As we heard, they were speaking many different languages. That reminds me of the tower of Babel in the book of Genesis. Prior to building the tower, with the intent of reaching to the heavens, all peoples spoke the same language. As a punishment for the pride of those who tried to build such a tower, God confused their speech so that they no longer understood one another. Thus, humanity became fragmented, divided, split into groups different from one another, and out of touch with each other.

The coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost aimed to reverse that situation. The people of different languages gathered in Jerusalem were astounded. They understood what they were hearing. They were transformed by the message they heard from the apostles, who themselves had been transformed by the Holy Spirit from a confused group of human beings into a courageous body of Christian believers.

This disorganized band of believers was quickly transformed into a single body of witnesses, which we now call the Church. Hence, we think of this feast as the birthday of the Church, the risen body of Christ made visible. The Christian movement that began that day spread so quickly that within three decades its influence was felt in faraway Rome.

What the Holy Spirit began on Pentecost 2000 years ago was left for us to complete now. Due to the pandemic, we are not assembled in a building designated as a church, but we are church wherever we are for we make up the Body of Christ. This means that we all take on an active role, each in our own way, of preaching and living the Gospel message. This mission is more critical today than ever.

In the gospel, Jesus is speaking to us just as readily as he spoke to the disciples in the upper room. “Peace be with you. Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Those are reassuring words many people are desperate to hear on the streets of Seattle, Minneapolis and numerous other cities where anger toward police brutality has erupted into scenes of violence and destruction, a sad reminder that Jesus’ words ring hollow for many people, who are reluctant to forgive and find ways to reconcile with one another.

Peace is the message we are to announce to our wounded world. Peace is the promise that Pentecost proclaims. But what is this peace? Certainly, it is not the absence of conflict. There is not true peace in the home just because members of the family are not fighting. There isn’t true peace in any city where no riots have broken out.  True peace means more than the absence of war between nations or the absence of bullying in schools and workplaces.

Rather, peace is a unity of mind, heart and will to live in the manner that God urges us to live. True peace is what Jesus came to establish on earth but we are so slow to put into practice his lessons of love, compassion, and humility. His peace is a peace that nothing in this world can give. His peace emerges when people come together in love with mutual understanding and respect for one another. This is a peace that cannot be fostered unless we die to sin and all the divides us. 

We are challenged to effectively communicate the Gospel to others by what we say and do and the values we hold. We were given the power to boldly proclaim our faith yet how many of us are able to stand up for religious values in the face of social or political opposition? The power of the Spirit is what has enabled countless Christians to do just that.

Elsewhere in his letters, Paul notes, “God has not given us the Spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.” This is the Spirit that came upon the disciples on Pentecost and this is the Spirit we are personally blessed with through our baptism and confirmation.

The ongoing riots happening across the country in reaction to the death of George Floyd or the quarantine caused by the coronavirus pandemic demonstrate vividly that many are hesitant or reluctant to live out the Gospel, becoming angry and hostile instead of forgiving. As the Gospel repeatedly affirms, it is through acts of forgiveness that we can harness for God the energies of love, setting a contagious fire to heal our divided world. Forgiveness requires us to embrace our feelings with compassion and understanding, though it does not mean condoning any behaviors that have harmed us.

The Church is you and I, called to live decent moral lives and bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are called to do that here and now in the trenches of everyday living, loving, hurting, struggling, and dying. The Spirit has been manifested to each of us for the common good of all, living a common language of love that transcends divisions, always making us mindful that we are all created in the image of God who loves us unconditionally.