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Homilies are posted no later than during the week
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7 Easter
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Abraham Lincoln won over more people to his cause
by his death than he would have had there been no
assassination. Begin with Edwin Stanton, his Secretary
of War. Early in his administration, Stanton had
sneeringly referred to him as "that giraffe." But
immediately after the president's murder, Stanton blubbered tearfully,
"There lies the greatest ruler...the world has ever seen."
Your personal radar should be warning you that today
you are walking into awesome country. For this is
the only Gospel where the Teacher names Himself "Jesus Christ."
Jesus has eaten sparingly. Still He reluctantly pushes
away from the table in that famous Upper Room that
Thursday eve. You would be reluctant too if you knew
what the next day was offering. The Last Supper is
history. Surrounded by His well-fed guests, He walks
out into the air. The clever John sets the scene
by telling us the Master raises His eyes to the heavens.
Then, under the starry, starry night, He begins what
has come to be known in history as the priestly prayer.
As you listen to Him speak to His Father, you fear
that you are listening to a conversation that was
meant to be private.
In the first five verses, He prays for Himself. And,
in the balance of today's Gospel, He prays for His
colleagues. They are shuffling restlessly about Him
and thinking only of an after-dinner cognac, a Havana
cigar, and a good night's sleep. At this point, Jesus
is the King who must die. Yet, He
says, "Father...glorify your Son that your Son may
glorify
you." What is this all about? How could He be so
upbeat?
It is one of the strange paradoxes of history that
death is often the entrance into glory. (William
Barclay) As it was with Lincoln, so too it is with
Christ. Matthew 27:54 tells us that the Centurion
on Calvary was overwhelmed by the majesty of the
death he had just witnessed. And there burst out
of him that eternal one-liner,
"Clearly this was the Son of God!" And, as it was for the nameless
Centurion, so it remains for you and me almost 2000 years after the
fact. "In hoc signo, vinces."
Erase Good Friday and you would have to put the glory
of Easter Sunday in the back of the file cabinet.
Yet some in each century insist on removing the cross
from Christianity. But what do they end up with?
A la carte choosings from the message of Jesus: a
sample of this and a sample of that. Many Christians
are not able to see the redemptive value in suffering.
In time of difficulties, they are deprived of a model
to emulate. God is neglected and a false god embraced
for one's own fulfillment and kicks. Stripping Christianity
of the cross prompts the question, "Where's the beef?"
"I have...finished the work that you gave me to do."
Once
Christ had finished that celebrated supper, He could
have
rolled up His sleeping bag and retreated north on
a long
fishing holiday to the Sea of Galilee. Not even the
Father
would have gotten in His way to ask, "Quo vadis?" Yet,
had He
listened to His fears and exited the programmed crucifixion,
you and I would never have known just how much God
was willing to expend for us. The Son freely walked
into a horrendous murder. Cannot even the dullest
among us guess at the love God has for everyone of
us? And, as the Christ stayed the course, so also
must we.
"Eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God." To
know the only true God means much, much more than knowing Him with
one's brainpan. It is to know Him with heart and the spirit. Sigmund
Freud wrote, "In small matters trust the mind but in the large ones the
heart." Thanks to Christ, we know that God is not
playing the recluse on us. Quite the contrary! He
is very definitely within our reach and touch. Is
it possible that the Teacher could have been more
graphic and blunt in His language? I think not.
I attended a grammar school concert. The man next
to me told me his son was singing in the choir. "Wait till you hear him."
The concert began. The choir was made up of eighty boys and girls. The
father asked, "Doesn't he sing beautifully?" I of
course could not hear the boy, but I was certain
his father could. God is the same with ourselves.
Though we are all part of a huge chorus that makes
up the six billion plus people in the world, He is
able to hear each of us as though we were singing
solo.
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7 Easter
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The
Ecclesiastical Province of Miami, of which our Diocese is a part, joins
most of the United States in celebrating the Ascension on the Sunday
that would formerly be the Seventh Sunday of Easter.
There were only eleven of them, eleven
disciples.Judas had betrayed the Lord. Matthias had not yet been
chosen.So just eleven men went to Galilee following the
messageJesus had given to them on Easter Sunday through
Mary Magdalen.They were told to meet Jesus on the mountain in
Galilee. What were they thinking when they climbed that
mountain?Were they thinking about Moses who climbed Mt. Sinai to
receive God’s covenant of the Ten Commandments. Perhaps they were
thinking about Elijah who climbed that same mountain, only called
Horeb.Elijah was told he would experience the Presence of God
and expected the same display of power and awe that Moses experienced.
Only for Elijah, God’s power was in the still, quiet voice of the
Spirit.Maybe the discipleswere thinking about a mountain
they climbed only a few years before, the Mountain of the Beatitudes
and the Sermon that Jesus gave there, the Sermon on the Mount.
Perhaps they were thinking about the Transfiguration, the mystical
appearance of Jesus, Moses and Elijah, also on a Mountain.
Certainly, they new that there would be a special experience of God
waiting for them on the mountain in Galilee.
When they got to the top, they found Jesus
there.They saw him and they worshiped him.They realized
that He was the Son of God.Yet, some of them still were full of
doubt.How could it be possible that this man with whom they
walked and ate and talked over the last three years, whose violent
death they had fled, how could it be that he could have risen from the
dead and be waiting for them on the mountain.Was this a
dream?Was it an apparition?Some of the disciples still
doubted.
Jesus answered their doubts immediately: “All power
in heaven and earth has been given to me.Now, go from here and
make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the Name of the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit.”Jesus himself proclaims the Divine Trinity
and empowers the disciples to bestow the life of the Trinity on the
Baptized. "Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you, and
know that I am with you always, until the end of time.”
The learners are now sent. How could these eleven
transform the world? They could transform the world through the power
they received.They could transform the world through the Presence of
the Lord. “Know that I am with you, always.” It is not just the
disciples who felt alone when the Lord left them and Ascended to the
Father.The feelings of being deserted, alone in life, are very
human and very real.Even the busiest of Moms with a house full
of children and an attentive husband feels alone in the world.
How can anyone understand her fears, her struggles, her upset?
Everyone compliments her, but no one realizes how tired she is.
She can talk to her mother, but her mother only says it will
pass.She might as well talk to the wall.
That
attentive and dutiful husband likewise feels overwhelmed with his
responsibilities to the present and future of his family.He
doesn’t want to burden his wife.She doesn’t fully understand his
fear.He can try talking to his friends, but they all have quick
answers without any solutions to the real problems of life.He
also feels so alone.
Even
the most pious senior who says three rosaries a day and is crowded with
his loved ones checking in on Gramps, on Dad, on Good Old Mr. Jones,
even the most faithful senior, feels very alone in the world.
Everyone thinks that he is a man of supreme faith.How can he
tell them that he is afraid to die? How can he tell them that he is
afraid to think about the past because most of those he knew way back
then are no longer alive?
For
teenagers it is even worse.As they enter into maturity, their
first experiences of rejection, of defeat, of questioning all they were
taught as children, convince them that no one understands them.
Every teenager thinks that he or she is alone.Every teenager is
convinced that their experiences have never been felt by anyone
else.When the teenager says, “You don’t know what it is like to
be in love, Mom and Dad,” he or she is projecting onto the world a
feeling that is new to him or her.Although we might chuckle at
the statement, the truth is that none of us know the feelings inside
the Teen.He or she is truthful in feeling alone.
Even
our little children, often feel very alone.How many times has
the four year old climbed into Mommy and Daddy’s bed because she or he
could not bear the feeling of being alone?How many times has the
school age child wanted to go with Mom or Dad to the store just to be
with him or her to combat the loneliness of life?
Jesus knows what it is like to be alone.Jesus, one of us, the
one who died deserted by all, felt the loss of his Father’s Presence
and cried out, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” He
experienced the human feeling of loneliness.So it is not just
the disciples who felt alone on the mountain of the Ascension. Jesus’
answer to loneliness is his Resurrection and Ascension.Now no
one who calls upon him will ever be truly alone.“Know that I am
with you always until the end of days.”I don’t think that there
are any more reassuring words of Scripture than those.We are not
alone.Jesus is with us.In fact the name he is given in
this same Gospel is Emmanuel, God with Us.He never deserts
us.He never leaves us alone.
So
go out and get to work.Tell the world about the Messiah.
Preach through your lives, our lives, and when we think we are alone,
we need to realize that Jesus is closer to us than ever before.
He
didn’t ascend into heaven to leave us.He entered into the
dimension of the spiritual so we could experience his presence in our
spirits, our souls, and bring his presence to the world.
The
Solemnity of the Ascension is not just a nice wrap up to Easter.
The Ascension is a celebration of our possession of the Presence of
God.
“Know that I am with you always until the end of time.”
It,
life, doesn’t get any better than that.
How
could it?
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http://www.geocities.com/seapadre_1999/
* available in Spanish - see Spanish
homilies
7 Easter
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Bottom line: Venerable John Henry Newman and St. Maximus of Turin
explain the significance of the Ascension.
Although I am not preaching this year on the Ascension, I could not
resist sharing two quotes on the meaning of the Feast. The first is
from Venerable John Henry Newman:
"Moses brought out of Egypt a timid nation, and in the space of forty
years trained it to be full of valor for the task of conquering the
promised land; Christ in forty days trains his apostles to be bold and
patient instead of cowards. They mourned and wept at the beginning of
the season, but at the end they are full of courage for the good fight;
their spirits mount high with their Lord, and when he is received out
of their sight, and their own trial begins, they return to Jerusalem
with great joy, and are continually in the temple, praising and
blessing God."
The second, from St. Maximus of Turin, compares Christ to an eagle that
swoops down to wrest the prey from another:
"As the prophet says, Ascending on high he led captivity captive; he
gave gifts to men.. The undoubted meaning of these words is this: that
since the devil led the human race captive, our Lord, by wresting it
from him, took it captive himself, and as the prophet tells us, led
that very captivity to the heights of heaven. Both captivities do
indeed bear the same name, but they differ one from the other. The
devil's captivity means enslavement; Christ's, on the contrary, means
restoration to freedom.
"*
**********
*These quote are from A Word in Season, Readings for the Liturgy of the
Hours, Vol. III, Easter Season, Years I and II. Overall, A Word in
Season is a fine series for a person desiring a two-year cycle of
Scripture and Patristic-Modern readings.
Spanish Version
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http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html
7 Easter
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http://benedictine.stvincent.edu/archabbey/Weeklywords/Weeklywords.html
7 Easter
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Seventh Sunday of Easter
Gospel Summary
The mystical intimacy and poetic beauty of this prayer of Jesus with
the Father make any attempt to summarize it quite futile. The following
highlights of the prayer are intended merely to serve as an aid to
memory for personal reflection: the hour has come when the mystery of
eternal life is revealed in glory; to know the Father and Jesus Christ
is eternal life; Jesus prays for all who believe in him in every age;
Jesus is no longer in the world, but those who accept him remain in the
world to manifest his glory.
Life Implications
First there is the gift of peace and joy that comes from the
realization that Jesus talks with us and prays for us at our Eucharist
just as he talked with his disciples and prayed for them at the Last
Supper. He tells us that though we, like them, remain in a world of
darkness and death, our hearts need not be troubled and afraid: "In the
world you will have suffering, but take courage, I have conquered the
world" (Jn 16:33).
In his prayer Jesus reveals the meaning of eternal life: it is to know
the Father and to know him, the one the Father has sent into the world.
John, in the section of his gospel preceding the prayer, fully
elaborates what Jesus means by "knowing" the Father and the one whom
the Father has sent. Jesus knows the Father and the Father knows Jesus
because they live in each other: "Do you not believe that I am in the
Father and the Father is in me" (Jn 14:10)?
To receive the gift of the divine "knowing" that is eternal life means
to share in the relation of love between Father and his Son, Jesus
Christ: "On that day [when the Spirit is given by the Father and Son]
you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you"
(Jn 14:20).
In praying with the Spirit we come to know more deeply that Jesus came
into the world to manifest the glory of the Father's name through love,
ultimately the act of love on the cross. To be a disciple in our world
today means to manifest the same divine glory through love so that all
may come to enjoy the gift of eternal life. "Righteous Father, the
world also does not know you, but I know you . . . I made known to them
your name . . . that the love with which you loved me may be in them
and I in them" (Jn 17: 25-26).
Campion P. Gavaler, O.S.B.
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http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html
Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
7 Easter
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SEVENTH
SUNDAY, A
Acts 1:12-14; Psalm 27: 1,4,7-8a ; 1 Peter 4: 3-16; St. John 17: 1-11.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
"Jesus looked up to heaven and said: 'Father the hour has come!' "(Jn
17:1)
When "his hour" came, Jesus prayed to the Father. (Cf. Jn 17.) His
prayer, the longest transmitted by the Gospel, embraces the whole
economy of creation and salvation, as well as his death and
Resurrection. The prayer of the Hour of Jesus always remains his own,
just as his Passover "once for all" remains ever present in the liturgy
of his Church. (CCC 2746)
Christian Tradition rightly calls this prayer the "priestly" prayer of
Jesus. It is the prayer of our high priest, inseparable from his
sacrifice, from his passing over (Passover) to the Father to whom he is
wholly "consecrated." (Cf. Jn 17:11,13,19.) (CCC 2747)
In this Paschal and sacrificial prayer, everything is recapitulated in
Christ: (Cf. Eph 1:10.) God and the world; the Word and the flesh;
eternal life and time; the love that hands itself over and the sin that
betrays it; the disciples present and those who believe in him by their
word; humiliation and glory. It is the prayer of unity. (CCC 2748)
Jesus fulfilled the work of the Father completely; his prayer, like his
sacrifice, extends until the end of time. The prayer of this hour fills
the end-times and carries them toward their consummation. Jesus, the
Son to whom the Father has given all things, has given himself wholly
back to the Father, yet expresses himself with a sovereign freedom (Cf.
Jn 17:11,13,19,24.) by virtue of the power the Father has given him
over all flesh. The Son, who made himself Servant, is Lord, the
Pantocrator. Our high priest who prays for us is also the one who prays
in us and the God who hears our prayer. (CCC 2749.)
By entering into the holy name of the Lord Jesus we can accept, from
within, the prayer he teaches us: "Our Father!" His priestly prayer
fulfills, from within, the great petitions of the Lord's Prayer:
concern for the Father's name; (Cf. Jn 17:6,11,12,26.) passionate zeal
for his kingdom (glory); (Cf. Jn 17:1,5,10,22,23-26.) the
accomplishment of the will of the Father, of his plan of salvation;
(Cf. Jn 17:2,4,6,9,11,12,24.) and deliverance from evil. (Cf. Jn 17:15.)
Finally, in this prayer Jesus reveals and gives to us the "knowledge,"
inseparably one, of the Father and of the Son, (Cf. Jn 17:3,6-10,25.)
which is the very mystery of the life of prayer. (CCC 2751)
Let's pray for each other until next week when, together, we "meet
Christ in the liturgy"---Father Cusick
(See also CCC 217, 589, 684, 730, 1069, 1085, 1721, 1996, 2604, 2746,
2765, 2758, 2812, 2815, 2849.)
(Publish with permission.) www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/
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http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/
7 Easter
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Contact Father at cbonar@cfl.rr.com;
information about his book of homilies is available at www.clydebonar.com.
7 Easter |
Seventh
Sunday of Easter, Cycle A
Readings: Acts 1: 12-14; 1 Peter 4: 13-16; John 17: 1-11
A Model For Praying
Introduction
Often times when we really want something from God, we do a Novena. A
novena, nine days of prayer, usually prayed asking for a special
petition to be granted. A novena repeats nine days of prayer by the
disciples. Just before he was taken up into heaven, Jesus prayed. Then,
for the next nine days, his disciples prayed, until the descent of the
Holy Spirit. Nine days of prayer between the ascension of Jesus into
heaven and the descent of the Holy Spirit. Nine days from the Feast of
the Ascension to Pentecost Sunday. From last Thursday until next
Sunday.
Pray To Know God
Let's talk about prayer. The very first reason to pray is to know God.
To establish an intimate relationship between ourselves and God. Prayer
puts us in contact with God.
To have this one-to-one contact with God, we need to put ourselves in
God's presence. And a way to turn to God is to pray with scripture. To
read the Bible and meditate about what we read. It's easy. First, pick
out a passage from the Bible. Read the verses. Then, re-read the
verses, slowly. Then, a third, even a fourth time, re-read the passage
from the Bible. Then, put the Bible down and rest in the presence of
God for a few minutes.
Or, just start reading in the Bible, and stop when something strikes
us. When some words or thought seems to jump out and catch our
attention. Take several minutes to meditate on the passage from the
Bible. Let the verses sink into our hearts. Repeat a key sentence or
word.
As the words from the Bible rumble around within us, we'll notice the
words of the Bible speak to what's happening in our daily life. Jesus
seems to be talking directly to us, helping us understand God's place
in our life.
From listening to God, another thing begins to happen. We feel like
saying something to God. Perhaps, to ask God for something, perhaps
help with a problem. Or, we feel like thanking God, because we
recognize God has been with us all along, our constant companion. Or,
we feel like praising God. Prayers just bubble up within us. Until, we
feel all we want to do is sit and be quiet and be with God. Knowing God
loves us, holds us in the palm of his hand. We’ve entered into a
one-to-one contact with God. We are developing a personal relationship
with Christ.
Ask With Faith
When we know God, when we have a personal relationship with God, when
we have shown our faith by prayer, that's when to present our needs to
God.
Prayer shows faith, God answers the prayers of those with deep faith.
How many times did someone ask Jesus for a favor, and Christ shot right
back: "Do you have faith I can do this?" Jesus insisted on faith before
he would heal or cure or work miracles. Where Christ found no faith, he
worked no miracles. But, when we have faith, the saints tell us we can
almost demand that God give us what we want.
Some saints have prayed for ridiculous things. On a whim to satisfy the
fancy of a young pregnant woman, St. Vincent Ferrer prayed for figs. It
was medieval Spain, and figs were not in season. But, this holy man
prayed, and then went outside and found a fig tree filled with ripe
fruit.
Prayers of petition work — if we have faith. A Carmelite Monastery in
New Hampshire was nearly destroyed by fire. The Mother Superior said
that always before when they needed something, they prayed, and always
their prayers were answered. So, the nuns placed before God their need
for money to rebuild their monastery. As the Mother Superior said,
money started to pour in. From all around the globe. God answers
prayers, the nuns rebuilt their home.
Nothing is impossible for God. Jesus said, "ask and you shall receive."
We must ask with faith. Christ said, "believe that you will receive
what you pray for, and it will be yours." When we have great faith, God
does wonderful things for us.
Prayer With Thanksgiving
One more thing — don't forget to thank God. For all things God gives to
us, for all the prayers God answers, we must say, "thanks, God."
There's a funny thing about this thanks, however. Paul tells us to
present our petitions with thanksgiving. That is, we are to thank God
for giving us what we ask for in the very same prayer that tells God
what we want. Petitions and thanks for granting those petitions all in
one prayer. Why? Because, thanking God when we ask shows our great
faith. If we believe Jesus when he said, "ask and you shall receive,"
then certainly we will thank God for doing what we are just now asking
God to do.
Normally, we thank God after we get what we want. We know the prayers:
"thanks God for getting me thought this heart attack," we say after we
leave the emergency room; or, the student says, "thanks God for letting
me pass that examination," words spoken after the examination has been
graded. Or, we thank God for helping us get a new job, thanks spoken
after we get the job. We need to revise our prayers of petition.
Remember to ask and thank all in the same prayer.
Here in Church we ask and thank all at once every time we pray Mass.
When the words of Mass say, "We come to you Father with praise and
thanksgiving through Jesus Christ," we are thanking God for sending his
Son, and for the Son leading us to the Father. During the Eucharistic
Prayer when the priest says, "We come to this wonderful sacrament to be
fed at your table," our words thank Christ for giving us his Body and
Blood at the same time we ask to receive Holy Communion.
Prayer with thanksgiving. Never forget to say "thanks" to God. Thanks
to God for giving us a beautiful world to live in. Thanks to God for
answering our prayers, giving us every good thing.
Conclusion
Shortly before his death, Jesus gathered his disciples in the upper
room in Jerusalem. Christ prayed: for himself, for those he would leave
behind, for people of all generations. Then, his disciples prayed, for
nine days, between the ascension of Jesus into heaven until the descent
of the Holy Spirit. That's our model. Prayer.
Prayers so that we might have a one-to-one relationship with God.
Prayers of petition to present our needs to God. And, prayers of
thanksgiving to a God who is so good to us, who cares for us and loves
us, his sons and daughters. |
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These
homilies may be copied and adapted for your own use;
however, they may not be commercially published without permission of
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