Homily 2012 March 18 - that the Glory of God may be Revealed

If I was this blind man in the Gospel, I’d be downright ticked-off at God!  So let’ pretend for a minute I am that blind man.  (put on sunglasses)

I was just sitting here, minding my own business, sitting with all the other blind men at the entrance of the Temple begging – just like I do every day… then I heard somebody ask a question that caught my attention:  “was this man blind because of his own sin or the sin of his parents?”  My ears perked up – I’ve wondered the same thing my whole life.  See – it seems to me that… I was BORN blind, so there’s no way I could have sinned to deserve this, so it MUST have been my parents.  You know – I’ve never really forgiven them for that.

But the answer I heard confused me.  There was another man – It was a voice I didn’t recognize, but I  could tell he spoke with authority – He said I WASN’T blind because of sin.  What?  Not because of sin?!  Everybody KNOWS that blindness and physical ailments are signs that God is punishing somebody for sin… So why else WOULD I be blind?  I could hear that voice coming closer as he continued… this man is blind “so that the works of God might be made visible through him”.  Are you kidding?   I’ve spent 30 years blind – begging every day – starving half the time - and not only that, but think of what my parents had to go through:  Every time anybody looked at ME – they looked at my parents and said – They MUST be major sinners.  There were shunned by society.  And now you’re telling me that this was all some scheme that God cooked-up to allow Jesus to restore my sight today…. Just so he could work some ‘hocus-pocus’ to impress the crowds!??    Sorry, Jesus – but if that’s the kind of God you represent, I ain’t buying.  The God I know should PREVENT this kind of suffering.  The God I know should provide healing as soon as my parents asked for it… not 30 years later!  God is NOT supposed to CAUSE this kind of suffering!

When I got over my indignation, I got to thinking about what Jesus said… he said I’m not a sinner!... well.. I AM a sinner, but no more than anybody else!  My blindness was not a sign of my sinfulness.  That’s comforting.
Also – I’m actually kinda excited about the fact that I was part of Jesus’ plan.  He planned from the beginning that I would be a central part to helping people to believe in him.  The more I think about it – that is soooo cool.  My blindness and MY healing will be read about in churches for centuries to come and my blindness and my healing will help people to believe in Jesus.  I can’t think of a greater privilege.
(sun glasses off)

I wish it was dark outside.  Or - I wish we could do these readings on Holy Saturday night.  If you’ve never been here for the Easter Vigil service – you need to try it out.  You know – a lot of people don’t go, because it lasts longer than normal, but it is THE most beautiful liturgy of the whole year.  That is the night when all of our Lenten fasts are end, so we can eat ice cream .  That is the night when Jesus is risen.  That is the night when we baptize and confirm our new members into the Church.  But I want to talk about the Liturgy – what we DO at that Mass, because I think it sheds some light on our Gospel today. 

Picture this:  we start the liturgy with a campfire outside – sounds weird, right!  We START Mass with a campfire – but there are no hotdogs involved.  We bless the fire and the new Easter Candle.  See this candle back here – that’s the Easter candle from last year – it’s getting kinda short.  Well, at the Easter Vigil is when we get a NEW Easter Candle.  This candle represents Christ himself.  Why would we use a Candle to represent Jesus?  Even in today’s Gospel, Jesus told us “while I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”  We say in our creed ‘God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God’.  Jesus IS our light.

So we bring that new Easter candle into the darkened church – symbolizing Christ coming into the world which is in darkness.  Now there are actually two symbols here – first – do you remember what the first thing was that God created in Genesis?  What did he say?  “Let there be Light”.  LIGHT was the first thing God created.  Imagine being there when it happened… total darkness and then BOOM…LIGHT!  Must have been amazing.  Later, Jesus was born in the darkness of a cold December night.  December just happens to be the time of year with the shortest days… that’s the darkest time of year in the Northern Hemisphere – so once again, God was bringing light to a world in darkness…and that’s what it’s like when we bring that candle into the dark church.
It gets even better though… like I said, all the lights are off – and Each person in the church has a candle and lights it from the Easter candle – symbolizing that each of us receives our light from Christ.  We receive our faith from Jesus!  If Jesus was not in the world, there would BE no source of Faith.  The fire is then passed down the rows from person to person – symbolizing that we pass-on our faith from person to person until… until the whole church is lit with the light of Christ… symbolizing what the world will be like once we have all spread the light of Christ to every corner of the globe.

Do you see how this connects with today’s Gospel?  This man born blind represents you and me.  All of us are born in darkness – in other words – none of us is born knowing Christ.  We don’t have the light of faith yet.  Now – notice the different stages of the journey this man took.  At first, when they’re questioning him, he says, ‘this man, Jesus put mud on my eyes and made me see’.  Later when they’re questioning him he says, this man is surely a prophet.  Still later, he comes to the conclusion that He must be from God, because only someone from God could make a blind man see.  Did you see the progression?  First Jesus is just a man, then he recognized him as a prophet, then ‘from God’.  Finally, after he’s thrown out of the temple, Jesus meets up with him and asks – do you believe in the Son of Man…. And the man believes and worships him as God… THE God.  God from God, Light from Light.

Our Catechumens have been on a journey for months now – going to classes, opening their minds and hearts and eyes to try to understand more about our Catholic Faith – and more about Jesus himself. 

Their journey – and ours - are much like the blind man’s journey.  We are born in darkness – not knowing Jesus.  It’s a lifelong process of getting to know him.  At some point, we all must let Jesus open our eyes so that we can look into the light… and then – just like the candles at the Easter Vigil – we CATCH FIRE!  Then we SPREAD that fire to everyone we come in contact with.  We BECOME the Light of Christ…. So that the Glory of God may be revealed – through US.

February 26,2012: LenT with a capital 'T'!

We were on vacation – driving through the mountains in Colorado.  We were tired of the highway – we wanted to get off the beaten path and see what else was out there!  All that land – there HAD to be something interesting out there… so we pulled off onto the next gravel road we found.  At first, it was exciting – something NEW – something unexpected… but after 30 minutes of driving slowly on the dusty rock road, it started to get old.  In fact, after 45 minutes on this road, I started to get a bit nervous… where was this taking us?  Then we came to a T in the road.  It wasn’t on the map, so we hadn’t a clue which way to go.  Right, left, or go back?  We chose to go right, hoping that it would take us someplace interesting… or maybe back to the highway.  But after another 30 minutes of steep hills and washboarded roadways that rattled our teeth, we came to another T.  Again – right, left, or go back?  We KNEW that to go back, we could get to familiar territory… but hated the thought of going back.  We were hoping we would find a short-cut back to the highway.  Finally, we turned back.  I sometimes wonder – if we hadn’t come to that T, when would we have turned around?

Most of us are travelling down the road of life at full-speed.  But…The road that this world puts before us is filled with curves… and it’s leading us AWAY from God… it’s leading us to where God is not… that is the definition of Hell.  The Psalm tells us, Lord, teach me your paths.  Jesus teaches us throughout scripture how to live –  you might say, He teaches us the path that is straight and narrow.  But the world makes it hard to follow that path…. We want to widen the path and make it easier to travel our own way… do what WE think is right and just.  Most of us are tempted by the curvy side-streets, seeking excitement – and then we keep going down that road until SOMETHING makes us change.  Something or somebody knocks us to our knees and we REALIZE that we really ought to get back to the straight and narrow. 

That’s what Lent is for.  The church puts this T in the road so that we have to slow down and decide which way we’re going to turn.  Without this intersection, we might never have a reason to slow down, much less turn around.  We sit at the intersection and crane our necks looking down one way and the other.  One way leads to the superficial happiness that this life offers – the other leads to more of the same dusty, bumpy roads.  Which way will we turn?  Right, Left, or turn around?  How many T’s do we need to come across before we finally decide that driving our own direction isn’t working…  How long til we repent and turn back toward God… ?

What does it look like?  To turn back to God?  My first thought came to me at a funeral Saturday morning.  Too often we get on the road of unforgiveness with somebody – and it only ends when we go to the funeral home.  In the end, we regret never having turned that relationship around.  What else does ‘turning back to God’ look like?  We do the things that the Scriptures TELL us to do:  love our neighbors, give up our selfishness, pray, fast, give to the poor, and go to Church.

Some people say, “I don’t need to go to church… I can pray in the woods.”  That’s Great!  How long did you spend in the woods praying today?  Last Sunday?  And the Sunday before that?  The same argument could be made that I don’t need to take my wife out on a date,…”I can tell her I love her at the supper table”.  That’s great.  Did you tell her last night?  The night before?

You and I have to develop habits… we have to set aside time to do the important stuff.  Without a community around us to help us stay on the straight and narrow, It’s too easy to allow time to just slip right by – and we look back and think – what have I been doing?  Think about your own life… did you accomplish anything yesterday?  Do you often find that hours and even days just seem to disappear, and you’re not really sure what happened?

Each of us has to look at our priorities in life.  We might all be able to sit here in the comfort of this church and agree that - if my life was perfect, I would spend 1 hour a day in prayer and reading the Bible, 1 hour exercising,  1 hour spending time with my kids, 1 hour just spending time with my wife, and 1 hour doing something for someone in need. 
Obviously, we can’t physically do it all every day… but do we do them at ALL?  Would you agree that each one of those things SHOULD be on our list of most-important-things?  Sooo….how much time did you pray yesterday?  How much of the Bible did you read?  How much time did you spend exercising?  Spending time with your kids?  Your wife?  Doing something for somebody in need?  Volunteering?
We live our lives as if we’re immortal – as if we’ve got all the time in the world.. so we constantly put-off those things we ‘should’ do.  It’s easy to get on the highway of Procrastination and never turn around.  One of the CD’s I just listened to said, “Live your life with the End in mind”.  In other words, when you’re on your deathbed looking back, what will you regret?  What do you want people to say about you when you’re gone?  Will their first statement be, “He really loved Jesus”?  She really gave selflessly?  She was always a good listener?  What do you WANT people to say?  What do you want GOD to say about you?
Figure out that answer, and then make a plan and DO it… NOW… so there will be no regrets.

A lot of people don’t really start LIVING until they realize that they are dying.  So live your life with the End in mind.

That is the genius of Ash Wednesday and Lent.  This is the T in the road to give us a chance to turn back to God; to check our priorities.  To remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. 

2012 February 12 - Unclean! (6th Sunday Ordinary Time)

I drive a lot… and to occupy my mind, I like studying bumper sticker Theology.  One of my favorites says, “God is my co-pilot”!  Or – there was a similar one that said, “My co-pilot is a carpenter from Nazareth”.  I always thought that was a cool way of showing your Christianity to others on the road.  But I’m going to give you a different way to think about that theology at the end of my homily… but you gotta hang on.

Did you notice what the Leper said to Jesus?  ‘If you wish, you can make me clean’.  Doesn’t that strike you as sort-of odd?  Wouldn’t it make more sense if he said, ‘if you wish, you can heal me’?  After all, Leprosy is a disease.

That’s because – as bad as the DISEASE of leprosy was to endure – it was the MORAL,  SPIRITUAL, and SOCIAL ramifications of the disease that were there hardest to bear.  Leprosy was seen as a curse of God – for having done something against the law of God… so to have the disease, you were considered impure.  Anytime you got near people, you had to cover your mouth (like this) and shout out ‘UNCLEAN, UNCLEAN!’ to make sure they knew not to touch you – because if they did touch you, then THEY would become spiritually impure – they would be unclean as well.

Because of that, Lepers were shunned.  People avoided them as much as possible.  Lepers were expected to live outside the city.  They lived in deserted places where they didn’t have to endure the constant indignation of people turning up their noses at them and running away.  Put yourself in that position for a minute – really – what would life be like if you were a leper? 

This time of the year, I sometimes get dry patches of skin – on my elbows or knees.  It’s probably just dry skin – brought on by the low humidity during the winter.  However, if I lived in Jesus’ time, and if anybody SAW those patches of dry skin – I would be brought before the Priest, and he would look at it and declare me to be UNCLEAN!  Like it said in our first reading then – I’d have to put away my good clothes and wear torn clothes – I’d have to mess up my hair and beard, so people would recognize that I’m unclean… then I would have to live outside the city for a period of seven days.  At the end of that time, I would go back to the priest and show myself.

In the book of Leviticus, we read, 'And the priest shall look on him again the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague be somewhat dark, and the plague spread not in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is but a scab.’

That would be our hope.  If you or I were a Leper – every minute of every day, we would be waiting, hoping, PRAYING for that glorious day when we stand before the Priest and he says those words… “You are clean”.

OK –so what’s all this have to do with you and me?

We are all Unclean.  Every one of us is morally and spiritually impure – because hard as we try- we can’t follow the law of God – not completely.  We try – but we just can’t.  For that reason, all of us are impure and forced to live on the outside the garden of Eden.  Like Adam and Eve – we were thrown out of Paradise and forced to live as an outcast.  Whenever we approach God, we shout UNCLEAN, UNCLEAN – recognizing that we don’t have the right to approach God.

At the start of Mass, we purposely prayed the Confetior – you know – I confess to almighty God… that prayer is OUR shout to God recognizing that we aren’t worthy!... we recognize that we are Unclean.

Fortunately, Jesus is reaching out His hand to you right now.  Through the hands of the Church, He reaches out to Baptize you – to confirm you – to heal you – to feed you - and to forgive your sins.  The Sacraments of the Church are the main places where Jesus reaches out with a human hand to physically touch you and me.

Notice what happens next:  right after Jesus touches the leper…  it says the word spread like wildfire…it was like a viral-video on youtube… the whole thing became so publicized that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly.  HE remained outside in deserted places.  Did you notice the irony?  Jesus --switched places with the Leper!  The leper was clean now, so he could live in town – but Jesus was now forced to stay outside of the town.

He does the same for you and me.  He reaches out to touch us – and he’ll touch us right where we are most unclean.  He’ll reach right into depths of our sin and say those words we’ve been waiting, hoping, PRAYING to hear:  “I do will it.  Be made clean”.  And then Jesus will swap places with us.

Here’s your new bumper sticker:  If Jesus is your co-pilot, swap seats.

Jan 15: What's MY purpose? (4th Sunday Ordinary B)

What is my purpose?  Have you ever wondered that... God...why did you put me here?

I imagine most young people ask SIMILAR questions, like ... What career should I study for... Whom should I date and marry?  And that all important question of the universe... Vanilla or chocolate ice cream? (of course the answer is vanilla…)

While those are important questions, they take on a different meaning when you ask it this way... GOD what is YOUR purpose for me?

I can just imagine that’s what happened to the two main characters in our readings today... Samuel and John the Baptist.  They both had been dedicated to God by their parents...but they still had to wonder sometimes ...what DOES God want me to do?  I imagine John was sitting in the Synagogue one Sabbath – and the sermon was particularly boring, so he did what most of us would do… he read the bulletin.  … and on the second page at the bottom, he noticed that God was looking for somebody to do a special job.

That’s all it said.  No job description.  None of the ordinary stuff like – must be able to type 100 words a minute, must be able to cook and clean windows, … no contact information.  No mention of what would be expected of him.

But he listened.  He took it as a nudge from God, and he went about doing what he felt God was calling him to do…baptizing people and preaching Repentance…. That was it... Baptizing and preaching,  Baptizing and preaching, day after day.  And there had to be days he wondered.... Is this it?  Is this my purpose?  Until today – quite out of the blue – his REAL purpose became clear.  HIS job was to point out the Lamb of God!  His job was simply to point people to Jesus!  All that  Baptizing and preaching was just to get people prepared to meet the messiah.  And by him doing HIS job, it started a domino effect that continues even today.

Notice in that Gospel - two of John’s own disciples were paying attention… they were looking for God – so when John pointed out Jesus, they immediately went to follow him.  After spending the rest of the day with Jesus, they were convinced…and so excited that THEY went to tell others.  Notice who Andrew told:  Peter – the first Pope! 

Can you imagine if God’s purpose for you was to introduce Jesus to the first Pope!  A guy could get a big head after something like that.  Maybe you and I wish WE had a big, important job to do like that – but maybe instead of the Pope, our job is to introduce our family to Jesus.  Maybe it’s somebody at work.  Maybe we spend every day cleaning and cooking, cleaning and cooking and wonder is this it God?  Is this my purpose?  But in doing that job, you are physically SHOWING your family and others what selfless love is.  Your job is to point them to Jesus. 

Maybe it's our job simply to pray for people who are sick or injured.

I was told a story just a couple weeks ago about a local miracle.  That’s what he called it – a miracle.  This guy’s daughter had been badly injured in an auto accident several years back.  She had severe head trauma, and was in intensive care in Louisville for weeks.  One day, it seemed all was going south.  She had 105 fever, the pressure in her brain kept increasing despite the care she was receiving… and the nurses admitted there was nothing else they could do.  This man was trying to deal with all of this bad news when a neighbor lady from back home walked in.  It was a strange time of the day for visitors, but he went out to visit with them.  The neighbor lady said, “I’m here because God told me to come pray for your daughter”.  Well, this guy was like – “Hey, it can’t hurt… in fact, as bad as things are getting, it will take a miracle”.  So they went in – and to make a long story short – this lady prayed – fast and loud.  This guy was amazed of the prayers that came from this woman’s mouth… and when she was done – something amazing happened.  The sun came out.  It had been overcast and dreary for days on end, and at that very moment, the sun came out and was at such an angle that it shone right into the room.  He was awestruck by the beauty of it – and by the improbability of it.  He said the sun had to be in just the right spot to shine between the two buildings next to the hospital.  It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.  They all went back to the waiting room to talk a bit more – and when he went back to his daughter’s room – her temperature was down to 101 and the pressure in her brain had returned to normal.  A miracle!  The next day, she was taken  after weeks in intensive care, out of intensive care, she was taken to her own room. 

Now – you COULD call it a coincidence – you COULD say that God could have worked that miracle without anybody’s help… but the fact is:  this lady LISTENED to God’s instructions.  As pointless and silly as it may have seemed at the time – she drove to Louisville to do God’s will....to fulfill her purpose.

She was listening.  I wonder …..how many of us would listen?  Ask yourself this question...How many miracles have NOT happened today because I didn’t do my job?  How many times has god wanted me to act, but I wasn't listening?

One of the Catholic CD’s I was listening to last week… I think it was Fr. Larry Richards… He said that “We meet Jesus in His Word”.  In other words, in order for us to learn about Jesus and his purpose for us, the best way to do that is to read the bible.  But how many of us actually read it?  Maybe we don’t feel comfortable reading the bible?  Maybe we think we have to have Father or a Deacon up here to interpret it for us.  Nope.  The Bible is for everyone.

So – in order to help us all get more familiar with how to dig into the bible, our adult formation team has two things coming up for Lent.  First is the small group scripture study that was talked about at Mass the past couple of weekends.  Those groups will start meeting in early February and go through the end of Lent.  The other option we’re calling “Sunday School for Everyone”.  We’ll meet at 9 a.m. each Sunday during Lent… that’s after Mass at SC and before Mass at SR.  We will dig a little deeper into the readings for the day.  Hopefully, in addition to being a time for fellowship and sharing, it will help us all to become more comfortable with cracking open the Bible.  In fact, I think it would be cool if we get to the point that everybody would tell me what YOU would have preached about if you were the one standing up here.

As an example of the sort of thing we might dig into at Sunday School - I want to point out something from that first reading.  There is a phrase right BEFORE our reading which we didn’t get to hear.  Let me read the whole sentence:  “The lamp of God was not yet extinguished, and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord....”.  “The lamp of God was not yet extinguished…” The Lamp of God referred to the light that continuously burned in the temple which signified the Lord’s presence…kind of like our Sanctuary Lamp -   This red candle here signifies that Jesus is still in the Tabernacle.  God was present in the Temple … and that’s where Samuel heard him.

You and I have an opportunity that may not last forever.  OUR sanctuary lamp is still lit.  The Lord is still present right here in our Church.  How many actually come here to listen for his will?  We may not have to SLEEP in church like Samuel did… but We can still come to adoration on Friday evenings or just come to church anytime to ask God- what do you want me to do?  Try it sometime.  Sit down in front of the tabernacle and simply say… Speak Lord, your servant is listening….

But be prepared… He will probably have a job for you to do!  Because it’s when we’re about DOING God’s will – that’s when he will reveal to us our true purpose.

2011/12/11 Gaudete / Rejoice! (3rd Sunday Advent B)

  If you ever ask me how I’m doing, you’ll most likely get my standard response – AWESOME!  It’s funny, but many people are surprised by that answer….as if… they don’t really expect to hear anyone admit that they’re actually…happy!

I remember when I started saying 'Awesome'.  Back in High School I worked at a bank, so I saw lots and lots of people every day – and especially on Friday evenings – cars would be lined up constantly all evening.  Now – when you work in a service industry like a bank – you have to be ready to make pleasant conversation with people.  Good afternoon and Thank You were the standard things to say – but inevitably, someone would say ‘How you doing?’.  At that point, my standard response was “not TOO bad”.  As if – I’m really doing bad – barely hanging in there… but not bad enough that I’m ready to die or anything.  As if – I wanted to be slightly positive, but not too positive.  I hadn’t even noticed it until one of the young ladies I worked with asked me why I answer that way… and pointed out that it actually sounded very negative.  I was glad she brought it up!  I didn’t want to be a negative person, so I changed my standard answer to ‘awesome’.

Maybe some of you are like me.  Some of us get the wrong message from the world….that the key to happiness is to be busy – really busy – and to make sure everybody KNOWS how busy we are…and how that’s keeping us from getting enough sleep… and how life sure is tough for us… surely nobody could be as busy and worn-out as I am!  We wear our busyness like a badge – thinking it wins us honor and esteem in the eyes of the world.  In the end, it merely chases them away.

Or maybe it’s not so much being ‘busy’… sometimes it just seems like it’s our JOB as a member of society to point out everything that’s WRONG!  We spend so much time concentrating on what’s not right, that we don’t even notice the GOOD stuff when it happens.

The problem with that is – it’s not the Christian way.  Christians are called to Rejoice – not grumble.  Today’s readings say it at least three times:  “My spirit rejoices in God, my Savior”.  “I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul”.   And Paul had the strongest  statement in the 2^nd reading:  “Rejoice always”.  In other words, no matter what’s going on –rejoice and be thankful.

Shoot – today is called Gaudete Sunday – which means REJOICE!  Here in the midst of our Advent, when the sunlight is fading, the temperatures are dropping, the clouds seems to hang around more often, and the nights last longer – the Church dares to tell us to Rejoice.  Get real, Church!  What’s there to rejoice about?

I mean, Have you watched the new lately!?  DEPRESSING!  : the economy, gas prices, political instability, debt crisis in Europe, unemployment.  On top of that, we all have family issues, marital problems, addictions, and health issues.  Even the Church might give us reasons to be grouchy:  changes in the Mass translation, changes in the music, changes in the mass schedule … we don’t have to look far at all to find SOMETHING to Gripe about.  But if we’re always concentrating on the negative, we fall into a rut of despair and negativity which will not only make us a sour Scrooge – but we end up chasing other people away.  But the Church gives us this day of Gaudete to REMIND us… WE HAVE CAUSE FOR REJOICING!  All is not gloom and doom.  Let me give you a perfect example:

Our parishes have had plenty of reason to NOT rejoice for the past 9 years… but things have changed!  We have a MAJOR blessing in Fr. Eugene… I honestly don’t think there is another priest in our diocese who could be a better match for our parishes – HONESTLY!  Have you RECOGNIZED that?  Pay attention to how he spends his time outside of Mass.  His ministry is his life.  He is a light that has risen in our darkness.  In addition to that - Both of our parish councils have started Welcoming Ministries – where some of our members go out to meet new people in our parish, to make them feel welcome in our community.  Our youth ministry at St. Raphael has some new leaders who have lit a new fire in that group.  Our Adult formation team is about to start some new small group sessions and Bible study.  I could go on and on… Great things ARE happening here… but I’m afraid many people might be like I was at the bank – so accustomed to the negativity – thinking things are all doom and gloom, that we don’t raise our heads to realize just how good we’ve got it.  Like John the Baptist, we should be ‘testifying to the Light’. 

Let me give you an Analogy:  When you’re out in the woods deer hunting…. You walk into the woods in total darkness and sit down to wait for the sunrise.  Your eyes get adjusted to the darkness as you scan around and listen for any movement in the leaves.  The sky starts to brighten very slowly then suddenly  you look around and realize that you CAN see… the colors start to show up… the woods come alive as the birds start to sing.  My point is that until we REALIZE that it is light, in our mind we’re still thinking it is dark.  Same goes for our parish.  Things have been in turmoil for so long, it would be easy to STAY in that frame of mind.  But - It’s time to wake up, open our eyes, and realize that THERE IS CAUSE FOR REJOICING!  The dawn from on high has shown on a people in darkness.

This is important.  For one thing, happy people are healthier people.  Somehow our attitude can impact our physical well-being.  But it also effects the health of our church.  You and I are like billboards – we are advertising Christianity to the rest of the world.  What message are you displaying on your billboard?  Catholic and Bored?  Catholic and Ticked?  Or Catholic and Loving Life?

Things are good and getting better here.  It’s time to invite back to the table of the Lord all of our neighbors and co-workers and family members who have stopped coming.  There’s even an article in this week’s Message about a national campaign inviting fallen away Catholics to come back home.  That’s our job.  We were sent to spread the GOOD news.

Before you go out inviting people though, Imagine how that conversation might go: – say your buddy at work  left the Church and you want to invite him back - so you suggest - Why don’t you come to church with me this Christmas?  What’s his response going to be?  “Wait a second – all I ever hear from you about your church is complaints about how the mass changed and the mass schedule changed and we keep changing Priests, and you don’t like the music….doesn’t sound very appealing to me!  Besides, if going to your church is going to make ME be more like YOU, count me OUT!  I’ve got enough misery in my life without adding more things to complain about.

Each of us – myself included – need to check the message on our billboard.  Hopefully the message we share is the GOOD news… the Gospel. 

2011 November 27 - Clean your House! (1st Sunday of Advent Cycle B)

Some of you, I’m sure, are perfectionists.  You keep your house spotless all the time –so if I was to stop by unannounced, you wouldn’t worry about it a bit.  Now, if you’re like that – you may not understand my homily today… so let me explain to you how the REST of us live. 

See – this week being Thanksgiving, some of us had company coming… so we spent last weekend and Wednesday evening, and probably Thursday morning cleaning – dusting – washing windows – moving furniture and cleaning up dust bunnies so big it’s a wonder the family pets didn’t get lost in them!

It’s not that we’re slobs,… well, most of us aren’t… but well – the clutter just sort-of gathers…it becomes part of the furniture… we don’t even notice it anymore.  That is… until we have company coming.  Then suddenly our eyes are opened to what a royal mess our house is, and we finally get serious about cleaning it. 

I often joke that we need to invite somebody to the house at least once a month just to force us to clean up the clutter!  We like it when the house is clean!  We feel better about ourselves and we’re not embarrassed to invite other people to come on in.

Isn’t it the same with our spiritual life? 

We sometimes go for months – even years – without cleaning up our act.  Bad habits and sins gather in our character and just become part of who we are – we don’t even notice it any more… just like the clutter in our houses.

If company is what forces us to clean house… what is it that finally forces us to clean our souls? 

That’s one of the Genius’ of Catholicism.  Somehow the Church knows that you and I usually need to FORCE ourselves to stop, take a look at ourselves, and clean up our act.  THAT is what Advent is all about.  Advent means “God Coming”…. You and I have company coming in four weeks… and he wants to come live with you…. So we need to clean house.  Is THAT our excuse to clean our spiritual houses?

You may have noticed that during Advent, there are always Reconciliation services to attend…why do you think that is?  Because we usually need help moving the furniture and recognizing the clutter that we’ve grown so accustomed to… all those sins that have been accumulating since our last confession. 

Advent is a time for us to Wake Up!  Jesus said today – Watch Out!  Stay Awake!  We have to constantly be on guard against letting bad habits and sinful behavior become a normal part of our lives.  We cannot become complacent.

Last Monday, I was headed to work in Newburgh – a drive I’ve made hundreds – maybe even thousands of times…. 15 minutes into my drive, I had just turned onto the highway in St. Anthony – As you come out of town going toward Bretzville – just after you pass the gas station, there’s a road that comes out on the right side of the road.  Just as I got about 20 feet from that intersection, a car races up to the stop sign – slows down- and pulls out right in front of me.  Fortunately, my reflexes are in-tact – and fortunately there was nobody coming in the other lane.  I slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop – veering slightly to the left.  I probably missed him by only a couple of feet.

Now – if you’re like me – when you’re driving like that for a long period of time, it’s easy to kind-of get into the ‘zone’ – where you’re not really thinking much about driving.  I often drive on auto-pilot, listening to a book or a Catholic CD or something like that.  Fortunately, I’ve developed some GOOD habits of keeping my eyes on the road and watching out for traffic.  Had I been distracted for that one second, I would likely not be standing here today.  It highlighted for me the extreme importance of Jesus’ message today….Watch Out!  Stay Awake!  Another word for that is Vigilance. 

I want to talk just a minute about this little candle.  Know what it’s called?  It’s a vigil light.  Know what ‘vigil’ means? 

Saturday night is even referred to as a vigil Mass, because it is celebrating the Sunday Mass the night before – so it would be easy to think that vigil is defined as ‘the night before’ or ‘opportunity to get Mass out of the way so I can sleep in the next morning!!!’.

Actually, vigil means ’a watch kept during normal sleeping hours’…or in a religious sense, it’s ‘a service held overnight’.  We’ve lost some of that meaning of the word, because, for example, the Easter Vigil used to start at sundown and end at sunrise!!!  Can you imagine?  Could any of us stay awake that long? 
While Jesus isn’t really telling us to stay awake all night… he knows we need sleep to stay healthy.  He is meaning we should keep constant vigil to not let ourselves be captive to sin.  If a temptation pulls out in front of us, will we be able to react and slam on the brakes?
People light these little vigil candles for a reason….and you know, growing up Catholic, I don’t think anybody ever explain why they light them.  You and I cannot stay here in church 24-hours-a-day… but these little candles do.  So, when we have a prayer that we want to place before God, we light this little vigil light which keeps vigil for us… it stays awake, here in church, even when we cannot.  It’s one small way that we can remain vigilant.
So… Use this Advent season to clean your house… to look at your own habits– to clean out the old clutter that has gathered, and to develop new ones.  In short, Advent is when we prepare a manger in our soul for our company who arrives on Dec 25th.  We each need to Clean our spiritual house, so we won’t be embarrassed to invite HIM in.

2011 October 23 - Tomatoes (30th Sunday Ordinary Time A)

I know what you’re thinking… you’re thinking – I wonder why Deacon Mike is carrying a hoe in church?

Well I’ll tell you why – because Fr. Eugene wouldn’t let me bring in the wheelbarrow full of manure that I wanted to use as a prop!

I’ve got this hoe because today – I want to talk about tomatoes – but not just ANY tomatoes – HOMEGROWN tomatoes.  I love them!  Some of my favorite foods are made from tomatoes:  salsa, lasagna, BLT sandwich – although I’ve still not thought of a way to make tomato and ice cream go together…

Have you heard the old song, “there’s only two things that money can’t buy, and that’s ‘true love’ and ‘homegrown tomatoes’.  It’s true – you can’t buy a true friend any more than you can buy a homegrown tomato.  Why is that?  Because you gotta work for it.  Anybody in a real, loving marriage will tell you it takes work.  You can’t just coast along or the relationship will fade.  Same goes for tomatoes.  I can’t just sit on my porch and comment about how nice the garden looks.  If I never got off the porch, the garden would never get planted…. Never get weeded… even the fruit would never get picked.  No – if I want homegrown tomatoes, I gotta get my hands dirty, invest my time and sweat, fertilize them and keep the weeds down with this hoe.

But in the end – that’s part of what make me love my homegrown tomatoes:  I get to see and even EAT the fruits of my own labor.  If I didn’t have to work for them, they wouldn’t have much value to me. 

By working my garden,  I’m participating with God to create something – I supply the sweat – he supplies the sun, rain, dirt, photosynthesis, pollination.  By co-operating with God’s plan for the garden, I not only help the garden, but I help myself….and all the people I get to give-away veggies to.

This is where my garden applies to today’s Gospel – Jesus told us “Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength… “

What’s that look like?  Is it kneeling in prayer 24-hours-a-day?  Raising our hands and voices to sing praises to God?  We can only understand how to love God through our human understanding of love.  For example, I love my wife and family:  What’s that look like?  I spend time with them whenever I can – I make them a priority in my life – I do things for them – I speak nicely to them and about them – I share in their sorrows and their joys. 

Is that what love of God would look like?  Sort-of… I think that’s why Jesus added the second part – ‘and Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 

Did you ever hear of Dorothy Day? is one of those modern-day saints.  Most famous for the Catholic Worker movement, she spent much of her life caring for the poor – starting during the Depression in the 30’s.  One day was going particularly badly – trying to keep her ‘guests’ from fighting, trying to keep enough food on the table, then one of her guests came in drunk and threw-up on her.  Exasperated and tired at the end of the day, she went to the chapel and looked up at the crucifix and said – ‘Jesus- you really make it hard to love you sometimes’. 

Dorothy understood very well what Jesus said today – Loving God is the most important thing there is…. But loving your neighbor is just as important.  The reason both statements can be true is that we Love God BY loving our neighbor.  Reaching out to the poor, to friends in need, and to enemies in need… that is how we Love God…and that is how we experience the joy of heaven right here – right now.  For Dorothy, the poor were ambassadors of God.  They were sent so that she could experience the Love of God by loving them.

Sometimes it seems overwhelming – like we have one tragedy after another hitting our community.  We just start to recover from one blow and we get hit from the other side.  It would be easy to get discouraged and to give up on God’s faithfulness.  It seems like he’s forgotten us sometimes.

But if we look at it from the perspective of Dorothy Day – every tragedy – every bad medical report, every struggling alcoholic, every family trying to pay their bills, every parent praying in the waiting room at the hospital… every one of those is God reaching out to you and me – to tug on our heartstrings to remind us to LOVE HIM.  We love Him by loving Them.

Most of us have a natural instinct to help others – it’s in our blood – it’s how we were raised.  We don’t like feeling helpless.  We see someone hurting, and we wish there was something we could do.

The Grace Co-Op was setup just for that reason.  The Co-op works like this:  when YOU know of somebody who needs help, you can give to the Co-Op, and we can make the donation to them anonymously.  In addition, you are giving other people the chance to help that person as well.  Let me give you an example:

Paul and Sue both had low-paying jobs, but there were making it fine – until a couple years ago when suddenly a medical issue forced him out of work.  He spent lots of money trying to get it fixed – but it actually got worse instead of better.  He’s been out of work for a couple years now.  She still has her low-paying job, but no benefits.  Financially, they are in trouble.  To make matters worse, the doctors told them he needed another treatment or else things would get even worse.  Their family really wanted to help them out, but were afraid their pride would get in the way.  They were able to put the word out via email to family and friends that if they wanted to help, they could give to the Grace Co-op – and a donation would be sent to them anonymously.  Unbelievably, over $4000 was collected – and they didn’t hesitate to accept the check that was sent to them.  Paul and Sue experienced the Grace of God by receiving His blessings through the Co-Op.  However, the family and friends ALSO experienced the Grace of God by sharing the gifts they had been given – and therefore feeling useful.  Half  the problem with helping others is know WHAT TO DO.

In your pews, you’ll find some brochures for the Grace Co-op.  We are NOT collecting money!!!  What we ARE collecting are names of people who would like to be on our resource list.  We want to have a list of people whom we can call whenever a need is brought to our attention.  However – we know that not everybody is made of money – so we want to provide some other ways for people to help:  driving someone to a doctor’s appointment, helping the elderly with yard work, delivering a meal to someone… there’s a whole list of ideas.  Please take a moment to consider how you might like to help and fill out the sheet in the brochure – then you can drop it in the collection – or contact me anytime to get in on the action.

A farmer grew award-winning tomatoes. Each year he entered his tomatoes in the state fair where they won a blue ribbon. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his tomato seeds with his neighbors. “How can you afford to share your best seeds with your neighbors when they are competing against you each year?” the reporter asked. “Why sir,” said the farmer, “didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening tomatoes and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior tomatoes, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my crop.

If I am to grow good tomatoes, I must help my neighbors grow good tomatoes.”.