Tag: homily

By Deacon Richard Hay

“Balancing the Extremes”

I recently had a conversation with someone where we talked about the extremes that are part of our lives these days. We often encounter these extremes through social media, the news, people we interact with and maybe even within our own family and friends. As I mentioned in a recent homily, we live in a world where the extremes are much more pronounced than they have been in the past. We also can spend time in our own thoughts about extremes and “what if” situations when it comes to our daily life and especially in our faith. Many of these internal extremes can rival the best that movie directors and producers put on the big screen.

This does not need to be our norm though – we can choose to not exist in these extremes. Whether it is in our external existence and interactions with others or our internal thought process – it is so important to have balance in all aspects of our lives so that we do not descend into despair and worry.

Rather we should make the effort to spend our lives so that those extremes do not have such high peaks and deep lows.

We should approach life in the love of God because ultimately, that is where we are intended to exist. Once we are there, then we can let those extremes go, trust fully in God’s will and love for us and then share his love with others.

Our readings today reflect this, beginning with the first from the prophet Isaiah. This is a prophecy about Jesus’s sacrifice for us and it starts out with a line that seems extreme – “The Lord was pleased to crush him in infirmity”.  

It comes across as if God might have been “happy” to send Jesus to become human like us and ultimately be crucified. However, this is all about God’s will – his plan for our salvation – his deep love for us – in that he sent his only begotten son. God wasn’t “happy” to send Jesus as a sacrifice, but he did so because it was his will that Jesus would save us through the cross.

Isaiah then writes that because of his affliction – through Christ’s suffering – there will be many blessings – “the light in the fullness of days” – because he will bear our guilt and justify many. That is God’s love for us in action – we often think we are unworthy of such unconditional love and therefore we end up in those extremes – because our humanity tells us we are not worthy of that kind of “agape” love – the unconditional love of God – but we are and that is something we need to always keep in the forefront of our minds and hearts.

I believe it is the evil one – the devil – who puts those doubts into our minds – to sow those extreme moments – to try and create distrust in our hearts because as we draw closer to God – the devil loses. That is why it so important to have balance with God’s love as the centerline in our lives.

The psalm in today’s readings is unique among all the psalms in this chapter because it is a cheerful one as opposed to a lament like the other psalms that are also in this chapter. These are words that we can reflect on to remind us why those deep extremes that we encounter are not of God.

First, we hear that the Lord is upright; trustworthy; that he loves justice and right; that the earth is full of his kindness; that his eyes are on those who hope for his kindness; and that he will preserve us in spite of death and famine in the world. Definitely words intended to lift us up and provide encouragement.

Then, the psalmist writes about us when he says that “our soul waits for the Lord who is our help and our shield”. This is the thought to also keep in our mind when we experience these moments in our faith of “what if” – he is our help and our shield – if we love him unconditionally like he does us – there is no reason for doubt – only hope.

Our second reading brings this into focus when we read that we should “…confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.”

Our approach to this mercy and grace is by regularly receiving the sacraments – particularly the Eucharist and Reconciliation plus daily prayer – because they will help us bring our existence into balance – our extremes will become less and less intense as we focus on the love of God.

Another way we create balance is laid out for us in today’s gospel. In fact, in keeping with the theme of extremes – what we learn in the gospel is that in our humanity we see things based on our own experiences of life – and there is Jesus teaching us that it is really the exact opposite.

First – let’s clarify that James and John realize that Jesus is the Messiah. That is why they ask him to permit them to sit on his right and his left. However, that request comes from their human understanding of what a kingdom is and what the various roles in that kingdom would be – they are thinking with an earthly perspective.

As we hear Jesus tell them – a leader is actually a servant – that the greatest leaders will be those who are the greatest servants. That of course, is not what James and John were thinking. We learn that is also not what the other 10 apostles were thinking when they overheard the conversation and became indignant.

Jesus clarifies this when he reminds all of them that they will in fact drink from the cup Jesus will drink from – persecution for their faith – and for James and the other apostles that means martyrdom and for John exile.  The exact opposite of what they thought the kingdom of God was about – glory, power, and riches of an earthly nature.

In the final part of the gospel, Jesus provides the apostles with understanding about their roles as servants in the church – roles that he showed them as an example in his own life – and our roles as well:

• That it is not about being served – but serving others

• That it is not about getting anything but giving all we have

• That it is not about being first but being the last to put others ahead of us

The Kingdom of God is beyond anything we might imagine. In our human existence there is no comparison – we get close and get very brief glimpses of what it might be like through the mass and the sacraments, but like the apostles – we can’t fully understand it until the day comes when we are called to be with the Lord at the end of our lives or at his second coming.

When that happens – that which we do not fully understand right now – the mystery of what our existence in heaven and eternal life with God will be like – ends up being filled with clarity and joy because we will then be in the full glory of God to honor, worship and praise him forever – no more living in the extremes.

As Pope Francis recently said in conjunction with the Year of Prayer:

“Daily prayer, and especially the Eucharist, makes us pilgrims and missionaries of hope. We journey towards everlasting life in God and the nuptial banquet that God has prepared for all his children.”

So, we should understand that this earthly existence will not matter and the only thing that will is pure glory and praise because the will of God, that each one of us will be in heaven with him, has been fulfilled and he will continue to love us forever.

By Deacon Richard Hay

“Nurturing and using our Prophetic Voice”

In the final few years during my military career as a Command Master Chief in the Navy, I started bringing God and faith into my counseling sessions with Sailors.

These Sailors were not in my office because things were going well at home, or with their finances, or family life – they were there because the command had been notified through some means that there were issues.

Bringing faith into the conversation was an opportunity to see if they were looking outside of themselves to help them navigate these challenges or if they were trying to solve it all on their own.
I will admit, it was nerve racking to do this because there was a bit of a taboo about mentioning religion at work – especially in the Navy if you weren’t a chaplain.

However, it seemed to help in a few cases and hopefully made a difference in the long run in these Sailors’ lives as they continued in the Navy or entered civilian life.

While I thought I was unique in my faith in those days around the Navy, after retirement, I started to see many of my former shipmates mentioning on social media about their own faith and turning to God in different circumstances. How great it would have been to see those professions of faith while we were on active duty. I would have loved to know this about them.

Alas, the obvious challenge is that most, just like me, hesitate to bring up God and faith in work and other environments because of not being sure about how someone might react. I believe that is the case these days as well for us.

It is easy to talk about our beliefs and faith around people of a like mind because it is a safe environment – we get a pretty good sense of how someone will react and respond because we know they hold the same or similar beliefs.

However, speaking the truth outside of our church community – to someone with different beliefs and values to our own – that gets scary – I know it does for me.

Our readings today are about fulfilling our roles as prophets – which means proclaimers of the will of God.

As Catholics we believe that the sacraments of baptism and confirmation make us prophets like Christ through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. At our baptism we hear the words that we are now “priest, prophet, and king” but do we take on that role of prophet or do we place it in the background and avoid it at all costs?

We tend to think of prophets in terms of those big names in the Old Testament. Names like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Joel. Chosen by God to proclaim his will to the nations – and that is exactly what they did. Yes, some of them were also reluctant prophets – like Jonah.

Our saints are also prophets in the way they share the truth with us. How they lived their lives, spoke truth to others such as when John the Baptist did to King Herod and, in so many cases, gave up their lives for the faith by shedding their blood through martyrdom.

Now, here in the US, we are much less likely to have to die for our faith, although there are many places throughout the world, where Christians continue to be martyred for their beliefs.

Either way, even at the risk of losing friends or alienating family, our opportunity is to speak the truth to all – even those who disagree with us – and to do so in love.

Don’t get me wrong, it is not easy being a prophet. It is not easy to speak truth to others, but it is necessary, and it is not just intended for a select few.

The prophet Joel prophesied that the spirit of prophecy would not just be shared by a few as in the Old Testament days – but by every believer. That my brothers and sisters include each one of us through our baptism.

As I said earlier, these days it is even more challenging to be a prophet but there is an opportunity to really step into this role in our lives because right now our state has something called Amendment 4 on the ballot this November that must be defeated.

This amendment would make abortion even more accessible under the guise of healthcare, doesn’t define what a doctor is for the purposes of approving an abortion for someone, and would remove parental consent for minors seeking an abortion by changing that to just a parental notification.

As prophets we must speak the truth for the defenseless – speak out for the little ones as Jesus talked about in the gospel. We are their voices – and this is our time to share that with all our family, friends, and co-workers – including those outside of our church community.

Yes – there could be persecution and risks for speaking the truth – especially in the very divisive environment we live in these days.

Jesus acknowledges this in the Beatitudes when he says, “Blessed are you when men revile against you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”

He then goes on to say – “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.”

How do each of us get to this point where we are willing to speak the truth no matter what the circumstances might be?

First – meditate on the Word of God to cultivate the prophetic charism that we received in baptism and confirmation. The grace we received with those sacraments will help in this, but we must carry those graces forward.

Second – eliminate sin in our lives since it is incompatible with the presence of God’s spirit and separates us from Him. We must earnestly strive to live a holy life every day.

What we heard in the gospel today about cutting off our hand, foot, or plucking out our eye – it was not meant to literally do those things, but it is about removing sin from our lives including those things that lead us to sin.

Let’s be honest – we know what those things are, and they need to be removed from our lives so that we do not end up in Gehenna as Jesus says in the gospel.

Third – pray unceasingly. Personal prayer and public prayer are key to this. In addition, a great opportunity to do this together as a church community is during First Friday Adoration next week or during the 24 hours of adoration we will be doing here in the parish starting on October 6th during the National Eucharistic Rosary Congress.

If we cultivate this prophetic role in our lives by doing these things, we will gain insight into the truth that God wants us to speak for ourselves and to others – and the words we need will be given to us just as Jesus said they would.

So, when you hear me say the words “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord” at the end of mass – that is God sending you out into the world to speak the truth not me as the deacon.

As Chris Stefanik said at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis during his keynote – “Go is two-thirds of the word God”.

Know that it is He who is telling us to go out into the world to be His prophets and to fulfill this role in our lives of faith.

By Deacon Richard Hay

“Jesus and us; with us; for us; in us.”

In my last homily, I shared with you about how we had entered into Ordinary Time in the Church’s liturgical calendar – the longest season in our church year. I also described it as anything but ordinary.

Well, we are four weeks into a five week stretch in this anything but ordinary season where we have been in the gospel of John – in the sixth chapter – in what is commonly described as the Bread of Life discourse. Including next week’s gospel, in this five week stretch, we will have heard 57 of the 70 verses from the sixth chapter of John’s gospel. Just 13 verses are left un-proclaimed over these five Sundays.

While all the scriptures we hear at Mass are important, to hear this much of a single chapter from one of the gospels over five consecutive Sundays is significant. It means – pay attention – this is important. The bread of life – the most Holy Eucharist – the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ’s true presence in this sacrament is one of the most important parts of our faith. We receive this gift from God at this and every mass we attend, that gift is present at every mass and in every tabernacle around the world including ours. This is no mere symbol and our belief in this core tenant of our faith is one of the things that differentiates our church from other churches who simply view the bread and wine as symbols.

For us this is real, and the bread of life accompanies us throughout our lives in so many ways.

Over the last month or so, I have had three unique encounters with today’s gospel. My wife Margo would have called these God-Incidences.

First was at the National Eucharistic Congress when we heard Jonathan Roumie, the actor who portrays Jesus in the Chosen TV series, recite these verses in his Jesus voice – if you watch the series – you know the voice and accent I am referring to – and it was powerful to hear those words come from him in the character he plays on this show and which has had such a big impact on so many.

Second was at the funeral mass a few weeks ago for one of our long-time parishioners – Brenda Heck. The family chose today’s gospel for that mass – it is not one you often here at a funeral mass, but it is intricately connected to our journey of faith in this life and in the next.

Third, I just recently finished a book written by Antonia Acutis – the mother of Blessed Carlo. Towards the end of the book, she shares from his personal journals what he wrote about today’s gospel.

As I spent some time discerning all these encounters with today’s gospel and why it has been so present in these last few weeks, I have come to realize that they represent various times in our lives when the Holy Eucharist is present and impacts us.

So back to Jonathan Roumie and reciting this gospel at the National Eucharistic Congress. That congress, where 60,000 people worshipped the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist, was a mountaintop experience for those in attendance. Not unlike when the three apostles who witnessed the Transfiguration of Christ on Mt. Tabor, we had the opportunity to see the glorious appearance of Christ in the Eucharist through adoration, mass, and seeing Him in each of the other attendees.

However, like Peter, James and John – we had to come down from the mountain and return to our normal lives just like many of you have after a powerful retreat experience.

However, I am reminded that the Christ that was and is present in Indianapolis during the congress is the same Christ that is present in our tabernacle, in our monstrance during Adoration, and on our altar after the consecration. It isn’t a different Christ – it is the same body, blood, soul, and divinity that is present throughout the universal church. This is what carries us through our lives every day when we come to the Eucharist. The mass is our mountaintop experience – where heaven and earth meet – and we are nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ.

Second, this gospel at a funeral mass is about hope – the hope we have in the promise of Christ that we heard in today’s gospel when Jesus said “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.”

For those of us who eat the bread of life and drink the cup of salvation, death just changes our existence – it does not end it. There is great hope in that for all of us.

The final encounter with this gospel came through the writings of soon to be Saint Carlo Acutis. This encounter brings our focus to the examples of the many great saints we have in the church and how we can try to emulate them in our own lives. When it came to the Eucharist, Blessed Carlo described the sacrament as the “Highway to Heaven”.

He wrote this about today’s gospel: “Jesus promises eternal life to those who take Communion, and he does not say “will have” but rather “has” eternal life. This union is not symbolic, not poetic, not sentimental. It is a reality that touches the roots, which reaches the depths, which emerges in the intimate. Jesus wants to realize and create this union by giving himself through his Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Through communion, this leads to life. Jesus talks of life, promises life, gives life. That life is the Eucharist. The Eucharist is Christ, true man and true God. The Bread of Life is Christ, it is bread come down from heaven.”

If we desire to live our lives like Blessed Carlo and other saints when it comes to the Eucharist, we need to gain and ask for that wisdom and understanding we heard about in the first reading.

First – acknowledge that we lack wisdom and understanding at times – being honest and humble with God, ourselves and each other.

Second – we should love it, desire it, care about it, and pursue that wisdom and understanding with passion and want it with our hearts before understanding with our minds.

Third – we should have hope – this goes back to that super natural kindness Deacon Charles talked about in his homily last week. If we think it is unattainable we will not seek it; if we are skeptical, cynical, and pessimistic – then we can’t have that super natural kindness – we can’t gain wisdom and understanding. This will impact our attitude towards everyone and everything.

Finally – we must have faith – because if we don’t believe there is wisdom and understanding or that God wants to give it to us, then we can’t receive it.

To become wise we must have humility, love, hope, and faith – those traits will help us not only gain wisdom and the joy that comes from understanding, but it will also bring us to that super natural kindness – that Christian kindness – so that because of our lives, others will want to ask us how to make the Eucharist their “Highway to Heaven” too.

By Deacon Richard Hay

“A Mascot for the Holy Spirit”

When I was a senior in the early 80’s at Bullitt Central High School in Shepherdsville, KY, which is just south of Louisville, I had the opportunity to be the school mascot. Our mascot was a cougar, and the costume was a full head to toe setup with a large, oversized cougar head I wore, along with a full zip up body suit of fake fur and a tail long enough that it made for a great prop for such things as “playing the guitar”.

While I wouldn’t label myself shy or introverted in those days, I also wasn’t the type to just jump out in front of others and engage in various attention-grabbing antics.

However, when I donned that cougar costume for a pep rally in the gym or for a football or basketball game – I was transformed into our school mascot. I would then easily and willingly run around and engage in those previously mentioned attention-grabbing antics.

Although people knew I was the mascot, the costume helped give me a layer of boldness to step out beyond myself.

Today, as we celebrate Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon us as our helper and guide, we’re receiving something that gives each and every one of us a boldness to step outside of ourselves and proclaim the good news.

We encounter the Holy Spirit throughout our entire lives. It happens in all the sacraments and is in fact the river that flows between and connects all our sacraments at their core.

It begins at baptism – our first sacramental encounter with the Holy Spirit. Oils we use at a baptism are blessed by our bishop through the invocation of the Holy Spirt each year at the Chrism Mass during Holy Week. We then use those oils over the following year in our parish for various sacraments including not only baptism, but also the Anointing of the Sick and Confirmation.

In the celebration of the Mass, the Holy Spirit is called down by the priest during what is called the “epiclesis” – this is the part of the Eucharistic Prayer where he extends his hands over the gifts of bread and wine on the altar and asks the Holy Spirit to bless and sanctify those gifts. After the gifts are consecrated, we then receive another sacrament connected to the Holy Spirit – the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ – fully present in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar – the Eucharist.

In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Holy Spirit is present as we confess our sins and are given absolution. We are then encouraged to go forth and sin no more. It is the Holy Spirit whom we can lean on as we leave the confessional to wrap us in a layer of his protection and to help us to refrain from repeating those sins.

At Confirmation, which we will celebrate this Monday evening here at the church with Bishop Pohlmeier for our candidates, he will anoint each of them with Sacred Chrism as part of this sacrament and after saying their name he will say – “Be sealed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.”

This is the same oil we use for baptisms and other sacraments at our church which the bishop blessed at the Chrism Mass before easter and breathed upon to invoke the Holy Spirit in the process of blessing the oil.

As a couple participates in the Rite of Matrimony – through this sacrament, the Holy Spirit brings about the nurturing, equal dignity, mutual giving, and undivided love that is shared between a man and a woman in marriage because through the Holy Spirit, God called the couple to marriage.

Although the sacraments and our liturgies are unique actions in our church, isn’t it beautiful how they are all intricately connected together by the Holy Spirit?

The events of that first Pentecost, which we heard about in our readings, when the Holy Spirit was sent to be our advocate, our helper, and to be with us, are like the headwaters of a river – the source of all that we are and can be in this world in our faith. This river connects and flows into and throughout our lives in the sacraments and in our liturgies. It keeps everything flowing forward towards Christ.

Last Tuesday, during his daily mass homily, Fr. Marek shared something that is very applicable to our celebration of Pentecost. It was on the Feast of St. Matthias, the disciple who was picked to replace Judas as one of the 12 apostles.

After prayers were offered by the other apostles invoking the Holy Spirit, Matthias was selected by lots, the modern-day equivalent of flipping a coin but there was no luck involved in this because the Holy Spirit made the choice known to those present in the casting of that lot.

In his homily, Fr. Marek said:

“We need to be available all the time for the Holy Spirit to pick us for different things. This should be our way of life – being available to the Holy Spirit to do whatever we need to do so we can bear fruit.”

So, how do we do that?

First, it’s the sacraments – especially the repeatable sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation. Participate in them as often as possible to receive the effects of the graces that flow from the Holy Spirit through them.

Second, through prayer including time for sacred silence and meditation over the scriptures. This will give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to whisper into our souls and let us know that he is picking us for something so we can also go out like Saint Matthias did and bear fruit.

These are not obligations – these are opportunities for all of us to grow in the Holy Spirit. Opportunities to step outside of ourselves. An opportunity to put on the Holy Spirit as I did that mascot outfit, to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to don our faith in a way that manifests itself not only through our words, but even more so in our actions – in the boldness in which we proclaim our faith, especially, in the way we love others as the Lord loved us through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

By Deacon Richard Hay

“Bold shepherds…”

There are a few distinct themes in our readings on this Fourth Sunday of Easter – one of boldness on the part of the apostles after receiving the Holy Spirit, and then Christ as the cornerstone of our faith, and as our Good Shepherd.

So far, the mass readings since Easter have taken us on a journey of transformation among the apostles and disciples of Christ. We had that first weekend where in their continued confusion about what has happened concerning the Lord’s passion and death, we hear they are still fearful and have locked themselves in the upper room. A carryover of the fear and denial most of them experienced during the Lord’s passion and death on the cross.

However, despite that fear – despite their reaction to his passion and death, the resurrected Lord appears to the apostles and after breathing on them he says “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Receive the Holy Spirit.”

This is the pre-cursor to Pentecost – this is when the apostles receive the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised as an advocate. This is the cure for their fearfulness and confusion, and they break out of it in a very dramatic way.

Look at our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles as an example. It begins by stating that “Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit.” and then he goes on to proclaim that the crippled man was not healed in his name but in the name of “Jesus Christ the Nazorean”.

Here is Peter – right in the middle of the temple courtyard – boldly proclaiming the good news to all there including the people and the religious leaders of Jerusalem – that God raised Jesus from the dead for our salvation.

Peter doesn’t stop there. You know, we often think of Peter as being a little impulsive at times, but now he stands boldly and reminds those around him that Jesus is the cornerstone which they all rejected. He goes on to say that there is no salvation through anyone else and that there is no other name under heaven given to us for our salvation.

That doesn’t sound much like the fearful Peter that we heard denying Christ during his passion and death, does it?

So, what is the difference?

The Holy Spirit…

The Holy Spirit has changed everything for the apostles. They are now joyfully and willingly facing imprisonment and other consequences to proclaim the good news. They are doing this boldly despite being told by the authorities not to say the name of Jesus Christ publicly.

Our responsorial psalm emphasizes all of this by reminding us again that the stone rejected by the builders has in fact become the cornerstone. In construction, the cornerstone is a key aspect of any building and without a strong cornerstone, the building will not be as sturdy. It will have a weak foundation which means it will be a weak building. The same applies to all of us – our foundation must be in Christ and Christ alone.

This psalm of thanks and praise, recognizes the firm foundation Christ gives us as the cornerstone – that he is good, that his mercy endures forever, that we should always take refuge in him and not in man or things of this world.

There is nothing else in this world that can provide us with that kind of grace.

The question for all of us is this – do we fully trust in the Lord as our cornerstone? Can we be as bold as the apostles were after they received the Holy Spirit?

Of course we can because we all have that same Holy Spirit in each one of us – the same Holy Spirit that Jesus gave to the apostles in the upper room. We receive it through our baptisms and confirmations. We continue to receive the graces of the Holy Spirit through the other sacraments.

Are we prepared to speak boldly in the public square like Peter or maybe in this day and age to our family, friends, and co-workers about this good news?

Remember what Peter said in the first reading – salvation is not available through anyone else – not available through anyone or anything other than Jesus who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life? He is the only path to salvation.

Are we convicted of that truth and ready to carry that message out of this church and into the world? That is in fact our mission as a result of our baptism – because we are all called to be priest, prophet, and king.

This isn’t a mission we have to carry out alone either because we have a shepherd to guide us and protect us.

In the gospel today from John, Jesus tells us that he is “the Good Shepherd – a shepherd who willingly lays down his life for his sheep.”

A shepherd accompanies his sheep, he knows them, and they know his voice – there is relationship there between the shepherd and his sheep.

Because of this gospel, today is known as Good Shepherd Sunday across the church. Although we should always be praying for our priests, today is a special day to pray for and be thankful for their yes and their vocation to serve God and the people of Christ.

In conjunction with that, today is also World Day of Prayer for Vocations because of the connection between the sacraments and priests who bring them to us in the name of Christ the Good Shepherd. Many of you may not know this but right now in our parish, we currently have four men who are in formal discernment for the diaconate. I am sure there are others who might also be discerning a vocation to the diaconate, priesthood or religious life that we do not know about.

Today we are called to pray for each and every one of them.
Without vocations, the church could not exist. Nor could we have the sacraments and many other blessings we receive because of those who have answered a call from the Lord to serve His church. We also need to pray for new vocations, so these individuals are encouraged as they nurture the possibility of serving God in our church.

So here is our mission on this Fourth Sunday of Easter:

• Be bold and share the faith in those places where we might be hesitant to share it with others. Trust the Holy Spirit to be there with you like Peter did.

• Lean on the cornerstone that others rejected. Know that we are his and that his mercy and kindness endure forever. He is our one and only stronghold.

• Pray for those who serve our church in the role of deacon, priest, and religious. Pray for continued vocations so that we may be blessed to receive the graces of the sacraments and prayers so that our church can flourish and boldly proclaim the good news to everyone that Jesus Christ is the Lord and our Good Shepherd.

By Deacon Richard Hay

“A Perfect & Everlasting Covenant”

How is everyone doing with their Lenten observances? Has it been challenging? Is it going smoothly? Maybe you are somewhere in between those two ends of the spectrum?

Let me say this, wherever you are in your journey through Lent, it is OK to be in that very spot. For me, I am somewhere in the middle. A reminder – the goal is not perfection but improvement. I will talk more about achieving perfection later.

The key for all of us is to keep moving forward and know that it’s OK to give ourselves permission to make changes, adjust things a little bit to spend these final days of Lent in a real effort to continue deepening our relationship with the Lord.

Last month, back on the 1^st Sunday of Lent, my homily was about the covenant relationship that God offers us through Jesus’s passion, death, and resurrection.

In today’s scriptures, we hear more about that covenant relationship as we prepare for Palm Sunday next week and then the Easter Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.

I am going to go out of order here as I dive into the scriptures today because I want to talk about Jeremiah last, so let’s begin with Psalm 51 – our responsorial psalm. This is a psalm we pray regularly in the Liturgy of the Hours and it centers around the Holy Spirit and King David’s request for forgiveness – much like our Lenten observance and asking God’s forgiveness as we prepare our hearts for Easter.

• He asks for mercy even though he is guilty, just like us, and has offended God, just like us…
• He asks for a steadfast spirit – and asks that it be renewed…
• He asks not to be cast out of the presence of God…
• He asks to not have the Holy Spirit taken from him…
• He asks to be given the joy of God’s salvation…
• He asks that a willing spirit be sustained in him…

This is a beautiful psalm we can all pray. It will help us approach God with humbleness to acknowledge our sinfulness and in turn ask for forgiveness, but to also asks God that we be filled and sustained with His Holy Spirit.

The second reading from Hebrews, is considered by scholars to be a description of Jesus’s evening in the Garden of Gethsemane after the Last Supper – the beginning of his passion. We know that Jesus prayed in the garden to his Father, asking to have this cup pass from him – but he said not his will but that the Fathers will be done.”

However, like it also says in our reading from Hebrews – “he learned obedience from what he suffered.” That obedience delivered to us this new covenant in his precious blood and it’s the “source of salvation for all who obey him” which also includes each one of us.

In John, Chapter 12, our gospel today, we begin to focus on Jesus’s passion.

Jesus tells the apostles that the hour has come for his Father to be glorified and he tells the parable about the grain of wheat which must die to produce fruit – describing exactly what will happen when he dies on the cross for our sins – the result of which gives us the fruit of faith that we have seen over the more than two thousand years since his passion, death and resurrection.

Jesus then adds that he is troubled and wonders if he should ask the Father to save him from this hour – his passion – but he then makes it clear why he came to this hour – to glorify his Father’s name. In response, the Father, in a voice from heaven that sounds like thunder to the crowd, states, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.”

All of this should give us great hope of what this covenantal gift will afford us – eternity in heaven with our Father – and in heaven it will be a perfect covenant relationship which brings me back to the first reading from the prophet Jeremiah.

There are three key details in these words of the prophet that bring us hope of the promises of heaven and eternity.

First – this covenant is not like the earlier covenants God made with His people through prophets like Moses and Noah. All of those covenants were violated by the people and resulted in a broken relationship with God. In this new covenant there will be no separation from it – no sin. Instead, when it is perfected in heaven, sin will cease to exist. While it is not perfect here on earth because sin still exists, we are learning how to live life without sin through the regular reception of the sacraments and receiving the graces they provide.

Second – Why will sin cease to exist in heaven? It will be because God’s law will be written on our hearts and not external to us on stone tablets or in scrolls. Written in our hearts so it is inside of us – personal and intimate – so that we will “know” God. In Hebrew, the word for “know” refers to a “personal knowledge” of someone. A relationship so deep, that we do not need external references or instructions to understand it.

Third – in heaven we will be taught by God himself – now here on earth we have others, those we share this faith with, those who teach us and guide us, who help us in our earthly journey so we can try and “know” God as best we can but ultimately, it is God who will lead us, guide us, and speak to our hearts. Sin will not only be forgiven and forgotten like it is now, but it will be abolished.

These things will come true in heaven, and we are already beginning to grow towards that now through the sacraments and their graces.

Right now, it is all a seed within us – a seed that needs to continuously die – as it first died through Christ on the Cross – and now we need to die to our own selves – through this journey in Lent and beyond – so that the seed within us can grow and bear fruit as we, imperfect as we are, wait for our perfect eternal reward in heaven.

By Deacon Richard Hay

“Covenant Relationship”

I want you all to know that I was watching as each of you entered the church. Based on all the clean foreheads, everyone has had the opportunity to at least wash their faces in the last few days since receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday.

Apparently, we have a very hygienic group of parishioners.

In all seriousness though, think about the story of the Ninevites – you remember Jonah and the whale story, right from last month? The people of Nineveh repented by putting on sack cloth and covering themselves in ashes – and I don’t think it was just something on their forehead either.

Today we don’t put on the sack cloth and cover ourselves completely with ashes, but those ashes we received are a representation of offering that type of penance.

Remember, that no matter how long we wore those ashes – our intent this Lenten season is to always be “wearing” those ashes.

Whether your ashes were a smudge, a perfect cross, or anything in between – picture those ashes on your forehead and remember why we received them and why they are so important – as symbols of our repentance and conversion.

As each of us received those ashes, we heard one of two phrases:

“Repent and believe in the Gospel.”

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

When we hear “Repent and believe in the Gospel” we acknowledge that we are all sinners and imperfect and need God’s forgiveness. We seek forgiveness through the sacrament of reconciliation because we believe in the Gospel and know that forgiveness and the cleansing of our souls only comes from God – a gift of grace instituted by Jesus through the Apostles. Lent gives us a focused time to prepare for Easter through the disciplines of Lent – prayer, fasting and almsgiving – so that we can understand where we sometimes fall short and pray to improve in those areas.

The other phrase you may have heard, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” is a reminder that we are not of this world – that we are intended for much more – that is to spend eternity in joyful praise with God in heaven. No matter how big our house is, how shiny our car might be, or how many other possessions we might have, we will all ultimately return to dust.

Through the Lenten disciplines we can come to realize that we need to do more for others in this life though when it comes to fulfilling God’s commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves.

This first week of Lent can also be pretty daunting as we each decide what our Lent might look like. What we will do differently within the disciplines of Lent. What we might give up or add to our faith lives to grow closer to God in these forty days – to not only build new habits that bring us closer to God but those that will help us to keep building that relationship even after Lent is over.

That brings us to the readings on this first Sunday of Lent and there is plenty of reason to have hope as we enter this penitential season.

Let’s begin with the first reading from Genesis – this is the story of where God establishes a covenant with Noah, his descendants, and every living creature after the flood. In this covenant, God promises to never destroy the earth again with a flood. Ever since, we often see the rainbow in the sky after it rains to remind us of that covenant with Noah.

The flood served its purpose because it cleansed the earth and made all things new again. It overcame the sinfulness that prompted God to bring the flood, but he also had mercy to not end all of humanity – thus He makes the covenant with Noah – the flood waters being like the Holy Spirit that flows into us through our baptisms and all the other sacraments we receive.

Our responsorial psalm today reminds us of the relationship that is part of our covenant with God. It reminds us that the Lord is “love and truth” to those of us who keep that covenant. We hear a call asking the Lord to “make known his paths and to remember us in His kindness”; and an acknowledgement that He “teaches the humble His ways”.

Lent is an opportunity for us to be humble and to learn how our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving can help us grow closer to God and not just assume we are already in a perfect relationship with God. Lent takes work because relationships take work and Lent gives us the opportunity to proclaim that God “is our Savior” in our lives and in that relationship we have with Him.

In the second reading from First Peter, we hear a reference back to the time of Noah and the flood, but now the flood is replaced by our baptism which “saves us” as Peter says. The Holy Spirit poured out for all of us through all the sacraments – which begins of course at baptism.

In Mark’s gospel today there are two distinct story lines – both very short.
First, right after Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, he went out into the desert for 40 days and was tempted by Satan before he began His public ministry. Those three years of ministry would eventually lead to the new covenant in the blood of Christ which was shed on the cross for all of us. This is also a part of the hope we have in this season of Lent – leading to Easter.

Then, in the second part, after John the Baptist has been arrested, Jesus proclaims the gospel of God when he says:

“This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

With that last line, we come back full circle to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of this season of Lent – once again a reminder that we must repent and believe in the Gospel to grow in our relationship with God.

Otherwise, all our efforts during Lent are just checking items off a list. While I am a fan of a good to do list and checking items off of it, that is not how we should approach our faith.

Faith requires relationship and Lent gives us a perfect season to improve our relationship with our God.

By Deacon Richard Hay

“Surrendering…”

In all our readings today, there is a theme of “surrendering”. I don’t know about you, but most of the time when I hear the word “surrendering or surrender” it does not invoke a positive connotation, but it tends to take on a negative meaning along the lines of “giving up” or “losing”. Of course, we never want to “give up” because that is usually seen as an indicator of failure.

However, the theme of “surrendering” in today’s readings and the gospel is not about giving up or losing. It is about receiving the precious gift of eternal life by surrendering our will to God’s will.

That is a winning form of surrender because when we surrender to God’s will for our lives, it will result in our being blessed beyond measure because nothing makes God happier than when we hand our lives over to him completely.

With that said, it is still not an easy undertaking to surrender to God’s will because we as humans tend to want to be in control of all things in our lives.

Blessed Carlo Acutis, the young man who died of Lukemia at the age of 15 and offered all his suffering for the church was beatified about four years ago in Assissi, described this type of surrender to God in one of his journals.

He wrote:

“If we consider ourselves to be passing through this world, if we act as though we are temporary, if we aspire to what is Up Above, if we set our lives up based on the Beyond, if we base our existence on the Afterlife, then everything comes into order, everything becomes balanced, everything is oriented, everything is fed by hope.”

Take for example the story of Jonah in our first reading, Jonah is going to Nineveh. Jonah is instructed by God to go and preach to the Ninevites. When he refused, we all know what happens – he ends up in the belly of a whale for three days. However, God is persistent, and Jonah ends up on the shores of Nineveh despite his reluctance to obey God. He then willingly submits to God’s will even though Jonah himself is imperfect. In fact, Jonah doesn’t even get across the entire city preaching before the word spreads and the hearts of the Ninevites are changed and they repent and conformed to God’s will and God chooses not to destroy them.

The second reading is a little tougher to follow because we have St. Paul telling the Corinthians that if they have wives then they should act like they don’t have wives; that if they are weeping then they should act like they are not weeping; those rejoicing as if they are not rejoicing and so on. Paul is speaking rhetorically in this letter and does not literally mean the people of Corinth should not be married, or weeping, rejoicing, and otherwise living their lives,  but he is reminding them that even though we need to live today and do these various things as we live in this world, we should always keep our mind on doing God’s will and that like Blessed Carlo wrote, this world is just a temporary part of our journey to eternal life. That means we must surrender to God’s will and change our lives like the Ninevites did so that we can one day stand in front of the throne of our Lord for judgement and show how we fulfilled that line in the Lord’s Prayer that reads “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.

In the gospel, we hear Jesus’s reaction to the arrest of John the Baptist as he proclaims that “This is the time of fulfillment…” and that the “Kingdom of God is at hand…” and then he tells everyone to “Repent and believe in the gospel…”.

This is another reminder that the ways of men and this world are not the ways of God. He calls us to surrender to His will and live out the gospel life without any variations, modifications, or hesitation because as Jesus says in Matthew about His second coming, “but of that day and hour no one knows” and He wants us to be ready for that day through his will so that He can then at the final judgement tell us – “Well done, good and faithful servant”. The way we get ready for that moment during our earthly lives is by turning ourselves over completely to God’s will.

The second part of today’s gospel shows us examples of complete surrender to God’s will when he calls His first apostles at the Sea of Galilee.

He first calls out to Simon and Andrew, and we see that they “abandoned their nets and followed him”.

A little further down the shore he sees James and John with their father Zebedee in their fishing boat. Jesus calls them and they “left their father in the boat and followed him”.

No hesitation – just complete surrender to God’s will and call.

Now, I have sat out there in those pews for nearly 40 years since I professed the Catholic faith and entered the church in 1987. I have listened to many homilies over those years where I heard similar messages as I have shared with you today. So, I have a pretty good sense of what might be running through some of your minds right now as you hear me say this because I had those same thoughts and that was “Well, easy for you to say…”

I would agree – it is easier said than done – but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t persevere in surrendering to God in our lives each and every day and God is always going to be there waiting for us to open the door to Him. I can also attest to the easier said than done statement as well in my own vocation.

See, I began hearing a calling to ordained ministry shortly after I was received into the church. I thought it was just excitement about finally being able to participate in the full communion of the church after RCIA.

Little did I know that those promptings, which I did not respond to, would last for 20 years. It wasn’t until I was in front of the Most Blessed Sacrament during adoration, that I finally said yes to God’s call. Even after that, it was still another 13 years before I was ordained to the diaconate.

Whatever our vocation is, and we are all each called to some vocation in our lives – such as being married and raising a family, professing as a religious sister, brother or maybe as a member of a secular religious fraternity like the Franciscans, or even a deacon or priest – it does require discernment and putting ourselves in the presence of God.

I encourage all of us to spend that time with the Lord – spend it in quiet reflection and listen for the voice of God because his presence is in us and all around us if we but slow down and listen for his voice in the quiet of our hearts.

By the way, a wonderful opportunity is coming up in just a few weeks here at our parish mission which will focus on the presence of God in our lives.

You have likely seen the signs in the narthex, outside as you come in from the parking lot, and info in the bulletin. That mission, which is being presented by three Dominican Friars of the Angelicum in Rome, Italy, will be all about the presence of God. Confession and Eucharistic Adoration will be available during every mission talk and on the last day a powerful Eucharistic Healing Service will be available to bless all our parishioners and any visitors who attend the mission.

If you have any questions about the mission just let me know. We hope and pray all of you will choose to join us.

By Deacon Richard Hay

“Preparing for the good news…”

Last week, I had the opportunity to preach for the Third Sunday in Advent about being able to rejoice and be joyful about the first coming of Christ at Christmas while in the midst of our Advent preparations.

The Fourth Sunday of Advent is now here and as we talked about last week, in less than a day, we will begin our celebration of Christ’s birth as the Christmas season begins.

We are truly blessed to have had the time to focus on preparing our minds and souls for the Nativity of our Lord. I also know that excitement about Christmas has continued to build within our hearts, around our families, and here in our local church.

Whether Advent is a full four weeks long, or just three weeks as it is this year, no matter what is on the calendar, the final seven days of Advent, from December 17th until Christmas Eve on the 24th, always shifts into a very particular sequence of gospel readings in the daily mass along with the use of what are called the “O” antiphons which are said prior to the proclamation of the gospels and during the prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours. These “O” antiphons have two key elements, first is a title that refers to Jesus and a role in our lives as our Savior. The second half comes from the prophet Isaiah to help us recall the life and ministry of Christ and how he lived out that role. As I share these antiphons in my homily, I encourage you to listen for those two elements in each one.

We begin back on Monday of this week where we hear the first of three annunciations. The first one is when Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant and rather than exposing her to shame, had decided to divorce her quietly. It is after that when he is visited by an angel of the Lord in a dream and told to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife because she had conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and that son would be holy and he was to be named Jesus. After the dream, Joseph did as he had been told by the angel and took Mary into his home. After the annunciation to Joseph by the angel, he said yes to his role in salvation history as the foster father of Jesus.

The “O” antiphon for this day was “O leader of the House of Israel, giver of the law to Moses on Sinai; come to rescue us with your mighty power.”

On Tuesday, we hear the second of our three annunciations – this one was to Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth, and he would be the father of John the Baptist. He was also visited by an angel of the Lord. Once Zechariah was given the message about John’s birth, he replied by asking – “How shall I know this?” – despite having just been told by the angel what would happen. As a result, his voice was taken away and he was made speechless.

The “O” antiphon on this day was “O root of Jesse’s stem, sign of God’s love for all his people: come to save us without delay!”

Then on Wednesday, just as we heard in today’s gospel, we hear Gabriel’s announcement to Mary and how she found favor with God and would conceive and bear a son who was to be named Jesus. This is the annunciation we are more familiar with compared to those received by Joseph and Zechariah. She also replied with a question – “How can this be?” and the angel went on to explain how Jesus would be conceived through the Holy Spirit and the power of the Most High which would overshadow her.

After this, Mary replied with her Yes to being chosen – to being set aside as the Mother of God. “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

Two yes’s and one no, at least initially, in these three annunciations to Mary, Joseph, and Zechariah. Ever wonder why Zechariah was made mute in his response though?

As I prayed and reflected on these two parts of Luke’s scripture, I heard Zechariah’s response as more of a challenge to the angel, while Mary’s was open, accepting, asking for understanding. Maybe the difference was that Mary was immaculately conceived without original sin while Zechariah had to live with the effects of original sin and therefore had doubts.

The blessing we are graced with in our lives is that through our baptisms, no matter what age we were baptized at, we are made clean from original sin so that we can be more open to God when he calls us to fulfill our own vocations.

“O Key of David, opening the gates of God’s eternal kingdom: come and free the prisoners of darkness!” was the “O” Antiphon that preceded this gospel.

Moving into Thursday, we heard the next stage of Mary’s journey toward giving birth to Jesus when she travels to the hill country to visit her cousin Elizabeth who is pregnant with John the Baptist. In this gospel, we hear Elizabeth exclaim at the sound of Mary’s greeting – “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Elizabeth goes on to share that the infant in her own womb leaped for joy when she heard that greeting from the mother of her Lord.

This gospel was preceded by the antiphon “O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law: come to save us, Lord our God!”

As we reached Friday of this past week, we head into the gospel proclaiming, “O King of all nations, and keystone of the Church: come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!”.

The Gospel is part of that beautiful exchange between Mary and Elizabeth we know as the Magnificat. It states all these different ways that God not only blesses Mary but how he will and has kept his promise of mercy to all of us, his children forever.

On Saturday, we heard the gospel about the birth of John the Baptist and how Zechariah did get his voice back after John’s birth, once he declared that the name of his son would be John – once he accepted the calling of God which came through the angel Gabriel. Zechariah’s challenge became belief and God rewarded him.

Our last “O” antiphon of these final days of our Advent preparations is the same one from Friday – “O King of all nations and keystone of the Church: come and save man whom you formed from the dust!”

On this Fourth Sunday of Advent, our gospel is once again the annunciation to Mary about the birth of Jesus. We have returned nearly full circle to Mary’s yes and her trust in the Lord in these final days of Advent.

As we move into the Christmas season from our Advent preparations, I hope and pray every one of our souls’ will leap for joy each time we approach and receive Jesus’s body, blood, soul, and divinity in the Most Holy Eucharist – his True Presence – which came about because he was first born and became man as an infant laying in a manger.

I also encourage all of us to carry Mary’s yes with us into the Christmas season and beyond as we fulfill that special and unique vocation the Lord has for each of us.

“O King of all nations, and keystone of the Church: come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!”.