Zechariah 2:14-17 or Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6, 10
Judith 13:18-19
Luke 1:26-38 or 1:39-47
Juan Diego had twice climbed the hill of Tepeyac and twice been told by the Blessed Virgin Mary to go to the bishop and ask that a church be built on that spot and had twice gone to the bishop and been twice put off. This time, as he walked near the hill, he would not climb it, for his uncle was sick and he was hurrying to get a priest, and he had no time now for visions. So he walked around the hill, but Mary appeared anyway at the bottom of the hill, for she is not restricted like some pagan gods were. She spoke tenderly to Juan Diego and told him, “There is nothing to frighten or distress you. Am I not your mother?” She spoke like a mother to her child and promised that his uncle was fine now. So, at her command, he climbed the hill and found there, in the dead of winter, roses of many different colors. He picked them and held them in his tilma and carried them to the bishop. Here was the sign that the bishop needed to believe: roses in winter. But when he went to the bishop and let go and the roses spilled on the ground, they went unnoticed because of the change that had occurred. On the tilma there was now an image of the woman who had appeared to him. There was a woman, with the moon under her feet, clothed with the sun, wearing the traditional sash that marked a pregnant woman in the native Mexican culture.
What thousands of missionaries would be unable to accomplish in a lifetime was done by Mary in a year. Millions of people suddenly knew for certain that this Jesus whom the Spaniards spoke of was not a Spaniard. His mother had appeared right there in their land, to one of their people, speaking their language, looking like one of them. She was not on the side of the conquerors. She was, as she always has been, on the side of the poor, because she too was poor, though now a queen. She was, in her humility, able to speak to humble people. Ever since the visitation, where she carried the body of Christ to Elizabeth and John, she has been bringing Christ to people throughout the world: in Mexico, in Lourdes, in Fatima, in Wisconsin, and many other places.
Daily Homilies
Showing posts with label Presence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Presence. Show all posts
May 20, 2012 - Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 47:2-3, 6-9
Ephesians 1:17-23 or 4:1-13 or 4:1-7, 11-13
Mark 16:15-20
At Easter we celebrated the Resurrection. Today we celebrate the solemn feast of the Ascension, on which Jesus, forty days after the Resurrection, went up into heaven. Just as, on Easter, the Resurrection was the cause of great joy for us, so too, today, the Ascension of our Lord into the highest heaven is a reason to celebrate. This is the day when our humble humanity was carried up, in Christ, above every angel, beyond the most powerful creatures in the universe, to God the Father.
Today, in spite of what could reasonably have been expected, in spite of the withdrawal from sight of him who is the cause of our joy, faith does not fail, hope is not shaken, love does not become lukewarm. We celebrate today because Jesus, the head of the Church, is with the Father, and we celebrate today because the Church, the body of Christ, survives, not without Jesus, but without being able to see him.
This event in the life of the Church proves how well Jesus had prepared his disciples, how great a light he put into their minds. After the source of light was gone, they continued to see by faith what they could no longer see with their eyes; they began to desire what they could no longer see.
Indeed, the current invisibility of our Savior allowed a great step of maturity in our faith, which no longer had to depend on what was visible. Our faith is stronger and more excellent, because sight, which comes and goes, has been replaced by a teaching, which remains. The illuminating rays of this supernatural teaching fills our hearts as no earthly light could. Before the Ascension, the disciples worshipped Jesus but doubted. Afterward, they worshipped Jesus and wondered.
This new faith, forced upon the disciples by the Lord’s Ascension, would have died away quickly if left to human strength. This faith is more than anyone can sustain by their own efforts. Yet, as we know, nothing was able to frighten it away, neither chains, nor prisons, nor exile, nor hunger, neither fire nor wild beasts, not even the most horrible tortures ever invented. Throughout the whole world, not only men but also women, little boys and girls as well, died for this faith. This faith sustained them through all, and, moreover, it has driven out demons, healed the sick, and raised the dead.
How did this faith survive and become so strong? It was not by human strength. Consider how, forty-three days earlier, the Apostles, who had had their faith confirmed by countless miracles and teaching, were too afraid to stand with Jesus while he suffered and were not able to accept the Resurrection without doubt. Yet after the Ascension of the Lord what had before filled them with fear, now filled them with joy. Their faith that was conceived in the teachings and miracles, which was first tested in the pains of the Cross, and grew to maturity in the Resurrection and Ascension, is sustained entirely by the Holy Spirit.
The Ascension taught the disciples to think of Jesus as God alongside the Father, since the body of Jesus no longer stood in the way of their faith. Surely it was difficult for the disciples to worship someone whom they lived with, shared meals with, and talked with so easily. They knew he was God; Jesus had taught them that he was equal to the Father, but only after he left them, were they able to realize that he had always been in heaven even while he walked on earth.
Now they knew that Son of Man was truly the most excellent and holy Son of God, that he is worthy of all honor and glory with the Father. After the Ascension, even for those who had known Jesus in the flesh, he began to be understood as God. Most wonderfully, in a way that cannot be described in words, Jesus was now closer to them as God than he had ever been in his humanity.
Today the body was taken away from them, but Jesus came closer. He remains and always will remain fully human; his glorified body maintains its human nature, but we, his disciples, do not know him by physically touching or holding or seeing. We touch the Only Begotten One with our spiritual understanding. God has given us a Spirit of wisdom and revelation, resulting in knowledge of him. So it is that we know the Father through the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. We know God through God by the power of God.
Someday, Jesus will come again. We must not let fools cause us to doubt the coming of the Lord. People often predict the coming of Jesus, and they have always been wrong. This does not reflect badly on his coming, but on the predictive power of those people. If the coming of Jesus is predicted a thousand times before he comes and he fails to come each of those times, that is no reason to doubt that he will come. He told his disciples, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.” We do not know WHEN he is coming, but we do know THAT he is coming. It is only our responsibility to be ready for the end of this age.
In the meantime, we have his promise: “I am with you always, until the end of the age.” He did not say, “I will be with you” but “I am with you”. Even as he was leaving us, he was with us. Even now, he is with us. Where is he? Our Redeemer’s visible presence has passed into the sacraments. He is present when someone pours water and says, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” He is present when a priest says, “I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” He is present when the bishop anoints a Christian with the Sacred Oil of Chrism and says, “Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.” He is present when two people give their bodies to each other in the lifetime commitment of marriage. He is present when a bishop lays his hands on a man and prays the prayer of consecration, making him a deacon or a priest or a bishop. He is present when a sick person is anointed by a priest who says, “Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit.”
In these six sacraments, our Lord Jesus Christ, is still present among us. These have been his presence among us from the time he ascended into heaven until he comes again in glory. In each of these visible sacramental actions is the invisible action of Jesus. The seventh sacrament, of course, is different. There too the action of Jesus dying for us on the Cross is present when the priest says “This is my body” and “This is the chalice of my blood”, but it is only in this sacrament that the entire presence of Jesus, body, blood, soul, and divinity, remains with us, so that we can say as we enter this Church, “We are in the presence of Jesus Christ”, and we can say, when we receive Most Holy Communion that we have received Jesus Christ.
Psalm 47:2-3, 6-9
Ephesians 1:17-23 or 4:1-13 or 4:1-7, 11-13
Mark 16:15-20
At Easter we celebrated the Resurrection. Today we celebrate the solemn feast of the Ascension, on which Jesus, forty days after the Resurrection, went up into heaven. Just as, on Easter, the Resurrection was the cause of great joy for us, so too, today, the Ascension of our Lord into the highest heaven is a reason to celebrate. This is the day when our humble humanity was carried up, in Christ, above every angel, beyond the most powerful creatures in the universe, to God the Father.
Today, in spite of what could reasonably have been expected, in spite of the withdrawal from sight of him who is the cause of our joy, faith does not fail, hope is not shaken, love does not become lukewarm. We celebrate today because Jesus, the head of the Church, is with the Father, and we celebrate today because the Church, the body of Christ, survives, not without Jesus, but without being able to see him.
This event in the life of the Church proves how well Jesus had prepared his disciples, how great a light he put into their minds. After the source of light was gone, they continued to see by faith what they could no longer see with their eyes; they began to desire what they could no longer see.
Indeed, the current invisibility of our Savior allowed a great step of maturity in our faith, which no longer had to depend on what was visible. Our faith is stronger and more excellent, because sight, which comes and goes, has been replaced by a teaching, which remains. The illuminating rays of this supernatural teaching fills our hearts as no earthly light could. Before the Ascension, the disciples worshipped Jesus but doubted. Afterward, they worshipped Jesus and wondered.
This new faith, forced upon the disciples by the Lord’s Ascension, would have died away quickly if left to human strength. This faith is more than anyone can sustain by their own efforts. Yet, as we know, nothing was able to frighten it away, neither chains, nor prisons, nor exile, nor hunger, neither fire nor wild beasts, not even the most horrible tortures ever invented. Throughout the whole world, not only men but also women, little boys and girls as well, died for this faith. This faith sustained them through all, and, moreover, it has driven out demons, healed the sick, and raised the dead.
How did this faith survive and become so strong? It was not by human strength. Consider how, forty-three days earlier, the Apostles, who had had their faith confirmed by countless miracles and teaching, were too afraid to stand with Jesus while he suffered and were not able to accept the Resurrection without doubt. Yet after the Ascension of the Lord what had before filled them with fear, now filled them with joy. Their faith that was conceived in the teachings and miracles, which was first tested in the pains of the Cross, and grew to maturity in the Resurrection and Ascension, is sustained entirely by the Holy Spirit.
The Ascension taught the disciples to think of Jesus as God alongside the Father, since the body of Jesus no longer stood in the way of their faith. Surely it was difficult for the disciples to worship someone whom they lived with, shared meals with, and talked with so easily. They knew he was God; Jesus had taught them that he was equal to the Father, but only after he left them, were they able to realize that he had always been in heaven even while he walked on earth.
Now they knew that Son of Man was truly the most excellent and holy Son of God, that he is worthy of all honor and glory with the Father. After the Ascension, even for those who had known Jesus in the flesh, he began to be understood as God. Most wonderfully, in a way that cannot be described in words, Jesus was now closer to them as God than he had ever been in his humanity.
Today the body was taken away from them, but Jesus came closer. He remains and always will remain fully human; his glorified body maintains its human nature, but we, his disciples, do not know him by physically touching or holding or seeing. We touch the Only Begotten One with our spiritual understanding. God has given us a Spirit of wisdom and revelation, resulting in knowledge of him. So it is that we know the Father through the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. We know God through God by the power of God.
Someday, Jesus will come again. We must not let fools cause us to doubt the coming of the Lord. People often predict the coming of Jesus, and they have always been wrong. This does not reflect badly on his coming, but on the predictive power of those people. If the coming of Jesus is predicted a thousand times before he comes and he fails to come each of those times, that is no reason to doubt that he will come. He told his disciples, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.” We do not know WHEN he is coming, but we do know THAT he is coming. It is only our responsibility to be ready for the end of this age.
In the meantime, we have his promise: “I am with you always, until the end of the age.” He did not say, “I will be with you” but “I am with you”. Even as he was leaving us, he was with us. Even now, he is with us. Where is he? Our Redeemer’s visible presence has passed into the sacraments. He is present when someone pours water and says, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” He is present when a priest says, “I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” He is present when the bishop anoints a Christian with the Sacred Oil of Chrism and says, “Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.” He is present when two people give their bodies to each other in the lifetime commitment of marriage. He is present when a bishop lays his hands on a man and prays the prayer of consecration, making him a deacon or a priest or a bishop. He is present when a sick person is anointed by a priest who says, “Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit.”
In these six sacraments, our Lord Jesus Christ, is still present among us. These have been his presence among us from the time he ascended into heaven until he comes again in glory. In each of these visible sacramental actions is the invisible action of Jesus. The seventh sacrament, of course, is different. There too the action of Jesus dying for us on the Cross is present when the priest says “This is my body” and “This is the chalice of my blood”, but it is only in this sacrament that the entire presence of Jesus, body, blood, soul, and divinity, remains with us, so that we can say as we enter this Church, “We are in the presence of Jesus Christ”, and we can say, when we receive Most Holy Communion that we have received Jesus Christ.
December 4th, 2010 - Saturday, 1st Week of Advent
Blessed John Paul the Great was the first to say that “we are the Easter people and ‘Alleluia’ is our song.” There is no cause to disagree with him, but I would like to expand the idea a bit. We are indeed the Easter people, but we are no less the Lenten people and the Christmas people. The seasons of the Church year give us an opportunity to concentrate on these various aspects of our relationship with God.
For the past week, and for the next three weeks, we are the Advent people and “Veni, Veni Emmanuel” is our song. The readings this past week have been building an atmosphere of expectation. We can see how the people of Israel were anxious for a savior. We have heard the promises that were extended throughout the Old Testament. We have seen their fulfillment each day in the Gospel. There will be food for all, and so there was. The lame will walk, and so they did. The blind will see, and so they have.
Today marks an important line. Up to this point Jesus has been like a great prophet, but nothing more. What has he done that Moses or Elijah did not do? Today, however, he does something new. He sends forth the twelve Apostles with power like his. This is truly a new power. Jesus does not simply have a special relationship with God, giving him power to work miracles. The power comes from within him, and he, himself, is able to give this power to anyone he wishes. When we consider that even Judas, a greedy thief who would be the betrayer, received power from Jesus for healing and casting out demons, we are assured that our own unworthiness is not an impediment to God using us as his instrument. It is also clear that when he does so use us, that will be no proof of our salvation.
We are the Advent people, and Advent does not mean "waiting" but "coming". Jesus Christ has come into the world. Jesus Christ will come again in Glory to judge the living and the dead. Meanwhile, which is to say right now, Jesus is coming into the world. He is ever more and more present as he fulfills his extravagant promises, fulfills them through us, in spite of ourselves. Jesus is using us in this way, so we, the Advent people, ought to pray that we may be apt instruments in his hands, not obscuring his coming with our sins and pride, but being lampstands, so all the world may see that everything has changed, that the promised one is coming.
For the past week, and for the next three weeks, we are the Advent people and “Veni, Veni Emmanuel” is our song. The readings this past week have been building an atmosphere of expectation. We can see how the people of Israel were anxious for a savior. We have heard the promises that were extended throughout the Old Testament. We have seen their fulfillment each day in the Gospel. There will be food for all, and so there was. The lame will walk, and so they did. The blind will see, and so they have.
Today marks an important line. Up to this point Jesus has been like a great prophet, but nothing more. What has he done that Moses or Elijah did not do? Today, however, he does something new. He sends forth the twelve Apostles with power like his. This is truly a new power. Jesus does not simply have a special relationship with God, giving him power to work miracles. The power comes from within him, and he, himself, is able to give this power to anyone he wishes. When we consider that even Judas, a greedy thief who would be the betrayer, received power from Jesus for healing and casting out demons, we are assured that our own unworthiness is not an impediment to God using us as his instrument. It is also clear that when he does so use us, that will be no proof of our salvation.
We are the Advent people, and Advent does not mean "waiting" but "coming". Jesus Christ has come into the world. Jesus Christ will come again in Glory to judge the living and the dead. Meanwhile, which is to say right now, Jesus is coming into the world. He is ever more and more present as he fulfills his extravagant promises, fulfills them through us, in spite of ourselves. Jesus is using us in this way, so we, the Advent people, ought to pray that we may be apt instruments in his hands, not obscuring his coming with our sins and pride, but being lampstands, so all the world may see that everything has changed, that the promised one is coming.
September 20, 2011 - Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Taegõn, priest and martyr and Saint Paul Chõng Hasang, martyr and their companions, martyrs
Today's Readings
“I rejoiced when I heard them say, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” This psalm is one of the ascension psalms which were sung by pilgrims as they walked across Israel to Jerusalem to visit the temple for one of the feasts. The Jews would only have been able to come to the temple a few times each year, so it was a very important occasion. Throughout this psalm we hear the joy of returning to the temple after months away.
In the first reading, we learn about how the temple was rebuilt. There was resistance from all sides, but eventually the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem after living in exile were able to rebuild the temple and offer sacrifice once again. This after not a few months but seventy years. Imagine the rejoicing in Jerusalem on that day!
In the Gospel we have the same theme. Mary is coming to visit her son Jesus. I wonder how long it had been since she had seen him. Long enough for someone to announce that she was there. I am sure that she, like any good mother, would have waited patiently until Jesus was done working. Just to see him again and hear his teaching must have caused her to rejoice, just to be near him, she who had double reason for joy since he is both her son and her God.
Did you rejoice when you walked in here today? I know that it has not been a few months since you came to church. Most of you were here yesterday. This is our difficulty: familiarity. We do not have to wait months between visiting the house of God like the ancient Jews. We do not have to wait 70 years like those returning from exile. We are able to spend time with God daily.
We should be careful that this familiarity with God does not lead us to dismiss him, to talk in church while waiting for Mass to begin, to read the bulletin or balance a checkbook. It is not easy, but we ought to experience the joy and wonder of being in God’s presence each day as if it were our first time. As the old saying tells us familiarity can breed contempt, but it can also foster love. If we use the gifts of silence and genuflecting and prayer whenever we enter the church, we can make a habit of wonder and awe in his presence.
“I rejoiced when I heard them say, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” This psalm is one of the ascension psalms which were sung by pilgrims as they walked across Israel to Jerusalem to visit the temple for one of the feasts. The Jews would only have been able to come to the temple a few times each year, so it was a very important occasion. Throughout this psalm we hear the joy of returning to the temple after months away.
In the first reading, we learn about how the temple was rebuilt. There was resistance from all sides, but eventually the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem after living in exile were able to rebuild the temple and offer sacrifice once again. This after not a few months but seventy years. Imagine the rejoicing in Jerusalem on that day!
In the Gospel we have the same theme. Mary is coming to visit her son Jesus. I wonder how long it had been since she had seen him. Long enough for someone to announce that she was there. I am sure that she, like any good mother, would have waited patiently until Jesus was done working. Just to see him again and hear his teaching must have caused her to rejoice, just to be near him, she who had double reason for joy since he is both her son and her God.
Did you rejoice when you walked in here today? I know that it has not been a few months since you came to church. Most of you were here yesterday. This is our difficulty: familiarity. We do not have to wait months between visiting the house of God like the ancient Jews. We do not have to wait 70 years like those returning from exile. We are able to spend time with God daily.
We should be careful that this familiarity with God does not lead us to dismiss him, to talk in church while waiting for Mass to begin, to read the bulletin or balance a checkbook. It is not easy, but we ought to experience the joy and wonder of being in God’s presence each day as if it were our first time. As the old saying tells us familiarity can breed contempt, but it can also foster love. If we use the gifts of silence and genuflecting and prayer whenever we enter the church, we can make a habit of wonder and awe in his presence.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)