31 May 2014

We Belong

Homily for the Seventh Sunday of Easter
1 June 2014

My brothers and sisters, deeply rooted in the very core of our humanity is the need to belong. We belong to families, circles of friends, schools, parishes, clubs, movements and organizations because we want to belong to something that is greater than ourselves.

Yet there is someone who has claimed us as His own for the majority of our lives.

When you and I were presented for baptism, the priest or deacon, along with our parents and Godparents, traced the Cross on our foreheads, claiming us for Christ. From that moment to this, we belong to Jesus Christ.

And now He prays to the Father for us.

He prays to the Father because, ultimately, we belong to the Father who gave us life.

Christ prays for us so that, through our lives, our God may be glorified. Saint Peter reminds us that in all things - including our sufferings - God is to be glorified.

And so, if we belong to Christ, we're going to do that which intensifies our bond with Him: We're going to spend time with Him and His friends. If we truly want to commit ourselves to something that we belong to, we're going to give some time to that organization, club, circle of friends or family so to get to know said group better.

The same with Jesus Christ and His Body, the Church.

Christ prayed to the Father so that He would remain close to the Father. Mary and the Apostles prayed in the Upper Room not only to prepare their hearts, minds and lives for the coming of the Holy Spirit, but so they would draw ever closer to the Heart and mind of God. So, too, must we spend time in prayer, contemplation, and conversation if we truly believe that we belong to Christ.

To prepare for the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit with the celebration of Pentecost, the Church is spending these next days in intensive prayer. The Body of Christ comes together to wait for the coming of the Paraclete, the Advocate, the Consolation of the Truth. The Church spends this time in prayer so that, as the Holy Spirit once again is poured out upon the world, we may know how to give glory to our God through our lives.

My friends, if we truly believe - heart and soul - that we belong to Jesus Christ, our lives will reflect His glory in all of our thoughts, words and actions. If we truly believe that we belong to Jesus Christ, then we will spend time in intensive prayer, searching in our hearts where the union with the Sacred Heart takes place. If we truly believe that we belong to Jesus Christ, His Spirit will become our own, bringing an overflowing source of new life to our souls, and convicting us to dive deeper in our living out of the Paschal Mystery.

And so, if we belong to Jesus, and if we truly BELIEVE that we belong to Jesus, we'll do what Mary and the Apostles did: Wait and pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit, so that, through His Presence, our lives will glorify God and help to renew the face of the Earth.







Enjoy the journey . . .

10 May 2014

Both Sheep and Shepherd



Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter
Good Shepherd Sunday
11 May 2014

        My brothers and sisters, the Fourth Sunday of Easter is traditionally known as “Good Shepherd Sunday,” for it is this week in all three cycles of our Sunday readings that we hear Jesus refer to Himself as this title.

        And yet, this is more than just a title – it is a way of life that we are to emulate. And it is a way of life that we need more men to accept.

        My friends, do we REALLY know the voice of the Good Shepherd? Have we TRULY taken the time to know what He is calling us to? Or do we run to the voices of strangers, since we do not know what the voice of the Good Shepherd truly sounds like?

        There was a comic I saw a few years ago of a sheep, sitting in a lounge chair, listening to his iPod, radio blasting, TV on, working on his laptop and reading a magazine. In the midst of all this, he says, “I wonder why I don’t hear from the shepherd anymore.” In the background is the shepherd calling, and under his chair, the Bible.

        How are you and I the sheep in this comic?

        Where have we allowed the modern life to become the voice of the stranger that we blindly follow?

        What are those things in our lives that block us from hearing the voice of the Shepherd?

        My brothers and sisters, part of the New Evangelization is leading others to know Jesus Christ – to help them discern the voice of the Shepherd, and to learn how to ignore the voices of the strangers. We cannot fulfill this vocation properly if we, ourselves, are not actively listening and discerning the voice of the Shepherd. And if we are unable or unwilling to hear the voice of the Shepherd, we fail in our vocation to holiness and in our vocation to evangelize; we, then, fail to bring others to the abundant life Christ promises because we are not able to attain that life ourselves.

        The call to be both sheep and shepherd is at the very heart of what it means to be Christian. We must be able to hear and listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd, and to “follow in His footsteps” (as Saint Peter reminds us in our Second Reading), so that we, in turn, may become a shepherd for others, leading them to the abundant life promised to all.

        Yet today we recognize that some from our communities are called to share in the Vocation of the Good Shepherd in a unique way – through accepting and discerning the call to the ordained priesthood. While we do celebrate today the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, the emphasis is on priestly vocations – although we do continue to pray for all vocations throughout the Church and the world.

        Pope Francis, in his letter marking this great Day of Prayer, reminds us: A vocation is a fruit that ripens in a well cultivated field of mutual love that becomes mutual service, in the context of an authentic ecclesial life. No vocation is born of itself or lives for itself.  It is up to each one of us to call those young men among us to truly consider a vocation to the priesthood. Our parish family is to be one of those “well cultivated [fields] of mutual love”; our parish is to actively respond to the Holy Spirit’s promptings to encourage the young men of our parish – and of our lives – to pray about becoming a priest.

        The description of the comic I shared earlier is a true reflection of our society today. People want to hear the voice of the Shepherd, but they do everything to avoid hearing His voice. Pope Francis’ reminder that “no vocation is born of itself” is a call for each of us to promote the various vocations of the Church. I could not have become a priest on my own – it took many people to encourage and pray for me.

        Recently, Father Bob and I attended our Vicariate meeting where information was shared about the future of ministry in our beloved Diocese of Pittsburgh. The numbers, I must say, are a little frightening: Projected for the year 2020, with all things being equal and nothing extraordinary occurring, we will have around 185 priests in active ministry for close to 200 parishes and other ministries and institutions. Yes, the numbers may seem dreary. But I don’t share this information with you to depress you; I share this information with you so that we can truly realize that God still does call men from among our families and communities to share in His Priesthood! This is an invitation to prayer and to action! This is a moment not to see the bleakness of our future, but, rather, as an opportunity to help the Church of Pittsburgh to truly be a Church Alive!

        In the twenty-one months that I have been at Saint Teresa’s, there have been a number of young men whom I have met that I believe would make excellent priests. Have I talked to all of them about this? No, because the opportunity doesn’t always present itself. And, to be honest, there may be men among us that I don’t know who are considering a call to the priesthood. But it’s not my job alone to encourage these men. It’s our job together. These become the moments when the sheep becomes the shepherd. Remember: No vocation is born of itself! We must encourage others to listen for and to the voice of the Good Shepherd!

        To be a Christian, to be a true follower of Jesus Christ, is to be both sheep and shepherd. We must truly listen to and discern the voice of the Good Shepherd throughout our lives – no matter what our vocation is or is to be. Yet we have the obligation to help shepherd others to know the abundant life that Christ calls us to.

        My brothers and sisters: turn off the TV and radio; take out the ear buds and turn off the music; shut down the computer; silence the cell phones; put down the books, the magazines, the Nooks and Kindles.

        And as uncomfortable as it may be – and as frightening as it may be, sit and listen for the voice of the Good Shepherd. Listen to Him inviting you to His abundant life. Listen to Him calling you ever closer to His Heart. Listen to Him as He calls you to fulfill your vocation. After that, as uncomfortable as it may be – and as frightening as it may be, we must help shepherd the people of God closer to Him, coming to know Him as we know Him, and opening the door to His abundant life so that they may experience the fullness of His love.

        My friends, we are both sheep and shepherd. We follow the Good Shepherd and we lead others to Him. As sheep, we listen to His voice and, as shepherds, we become His voice. Yet the voice must always remain His; we must never become the voice of the stranger who mimics the voice of the Shepherd, leading others astray.

        Let us ponder the words of our Holy Father: The mystery of [Jesus’] voice is evocative. Only think that from our mother’s womb, we learn to recognize her voice and that of our father; it is from the tone of a voice that we perceive love or contempt, affection or coldness. Jesus’ voice is unique! If we learn to distinguish it, he guides us on the path of life, a path that goes beyond even the abyss of death.
 





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Enjoy the journey . . .

03 May 2014

The Burning Journey



Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter
4 May 2014

        Put away the TUMS. Get rid of the Prilosec. Throw away the Pepcid. Abandon the Alka-Seltzer.

        I’m speaking spiritually, of course.

        My friends, if we truly desire to be like the first Christians, if we want to be like those two disciples journeying to Emmaus, then we’re going to need to have a perpetual spiritual heartburn.

        “Were not our hearts burning within us?” This is the quintessential question that we must be asking ourselves after every encounter that we have with the Risen Lord. But we also need to alter the question to “Are not our hearts burning within us?” as we encounter Christ resurrected and present in our midst in the here and now.

        And now, still in the dawn of the third millennium, are not our hearts burning as we encounter the same Risen Christ through the Church, Word and Sacrament? Will not our hearts be burning ferociously and with great intensity as we leave this place, going back out into the world, announcing by our lives that Christ is truly risen?

        The journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus, and back again, is the journey which you and I must make throughout this lifetime; it is the journey which we must make over and over and over and over again. For it is in this journey that we continue to discover and rediscover Christ, and in each discovery, joyfully return to the world to evangelize our environments. It is the journey which continually sets our hearts on fire as followers of Christ.

        Yet the journey and our encounters with Christ often become routine in our lives. We lose the passion for Christ; we lose our focus along the road of salvation. Pope Francis, in speaking to some Italian youth, offers us the following reflection:

“Journeying is an art because if we're always in a hurry, we get tired and don't arrive at our journey's goal … If we stop, we don't go forward and we also miss the goal. Journeying is precisely the art of looking toward the horizon, thinking where I want to go but also enduring the fatigue of the journey, which is sometimes difficult. … There are dark days, even days when we fail, even days when we fall … but always think of this: Don't be afraid of failures. Don't be afraid of falling. What matters in the art of journeying isn't not falling but not staying down. Get up right away and continue going forward. This is what's beautiful: This is working every day, this is journeying as humans. But also, it's bad walking alone: It's bad and boring. Walking in community, with friends, with those who love us, that helps us. It helps us to arrive precisely at that goal, that 'there where' we're supposed to arrive.”

        Sin distorts our vision along the journey. Sin becomes those bumps along the road which causes a pause or detour along the journey. Sin is that agent that deadens our hearts to the stirring of God’s fire within us. Sin is the ultimate spiritual antacid.

        There are many distractions along the journey; we must learn to ignore and avoid them. There are many ways in which the fire in our hearts can become tempered; we must learn to allow our God to stir the embers deep within us, so that the fire is never extinguished.

        The journey may seem long and difficult: Keep going! The fire in our hearts may seem to be too hot at times: Let it burn! We are never alone on the journey: Christ walks with us!, and He gives us a community to journey with. As a member of the Body of Christ, we are never alone; as a member of the Communion of Saints, we are bound to each other as we journey from this life to the next.

        And so, as we journey in the here and now, are not our hearts truly burning as we walk along the way with Jesus Christ and one another? Do we allow our encounters with the Risen Christ through the Church, the Word and Sacrament to once more be the fuel for the fire that burns within each one of us? Do we allow the eyes of our hearts to be open to the presence of Christ in the ordinary and extraordinary moments of our lives?

        Do we journey with and for Christ?

        Do our hearts burn for Him?

        My brothers and sisters, having just opened the Scriptures, we will, in a few moments, break the bread. If our hearts are burning with passionate love for our God, we need to ask Him to re-ignite that which drew us to Him in the first place. If we have fallen in our journey, then we must get up again and keep going.

        In this moment, we should make the words of Saint Augustine of Hippo our own:

“You never go away from us, yet we have difficulty in returning to You. Come, Lord, stir us up and call us back. Kindle and seize us. Be our fire and our sweetness. Let us love. Let us run.”

        My friends, pursue Christ, encounter Him, burn for Him, and enjoy the journey . . .