Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid

This reflection is based on Scripture at http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/14:22

With the pandemic that is effecting every part of society, I was thinking of the part of scripture where the disciples were on the boat during the storm, and Jesus starts walking towards them on the water. They were at first frightened and thought they were seeing a ghost. Jesus responds, "Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid." (Matthew 24:27)

During this "storm" of the coronavirus that's effecting our country and world, we need to reflect upon the fact that Jesus is present in this situation and is working though our health care providers to resolve this situation and to bring healing to all in our society. We are currently in the "waves" of the storm right now, and like Peter, are frightened by all that is going on because of this virus.

We need to, like Peter, reach out our hands towards Jesus in prayer and trust that he will pull us out of this storm, and to grant us, and all effected by the virus, healing and peace.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, we reach out to you, as Peter did, in our fear and ask for your help and healing in this time of need. We ask you to be with our health care providers and work through their minds and hands to resolve this issue and to bring healing to all those suffering as a result of this virus. We ask you to bring calm and peace to all who are frightened, and ask you to come upon all people to feel your loving presence during this time of need. Help us to truly believe you are the Son of God, and will bring us healing.  Amen.

Do not let your hearts be troubled.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me." John 14:1

In these very troubling days of the coronavirus pandemic, it seems that we are all being very much frightened by all the news reports, press conferences from the president to the local political leaders. They're attempting to keep everyone well informed and protected against this very dangerous virus. And these precautions that are being taken seem to be reasonable in order to protect as many people as possible. Unfortunately, no matter how reassuring our leaders may be in trying to calm everyone down as we deal with this most scary situation, it's a natural response to worry and be concerned about the dangers that seem to be present.

As people of faith, we can turn to our Lord for comfort as we deal with this situation. One of my favorite and comforting scriptures is from John, chapter 14:1:  “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me." God is calling us to have faith in him and not to be troubled. During this time of crises, let us take the necessary precautions to prevent the spread of the virus, but also let us turn to God in prayer and put all our cares and concerns for ourselves, our families, and our country, in the hands of Almighty God.

Dear loving and protecting Father, we turn to you in our time of need. We pray that this virus will be wiped out, people cured, and our peace be restored. This can only happen through your power. Grant healing and peace to all the people of this country and around the world who are suffering from the effects of the coronavirus. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who, with You and the Holy Spirit, live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”

The scripture readings for this reflection can be found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/031520.cfm

 In our gospel for today we hear of the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman. She’s a woman who you might say “Has a past.” It seems apparent that she has lived a life of promiscuity. She has had five husbands, and the man she’s currently living with is not her husband.

We need to remember that women of her day had very little choice or control over their own lives. If she is divorced it is because the men divorced her. She had no right of divorce. That was exclusively the man’s right. Maybe it was just divorce but maybe not. If she’s not divorced, then she suffered the death of five husbands. Five times left alone, five times nameless, faceless and of no value, five times starting over. Maybe some divorced her. Maybe some died. We don’t know. Either way, divorce or death, it is a tragedy for her life.
Further, as a Jew, Jesus should have nothing to do with Samaritans because of the animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans. Further, as a male, he was never supposed to talk to an unaccompanied female in public. He quickly violates both policies by assertively asking the woman for a drink. Jesus sees her struggles and needs. A conversation immediately starts over Jesus’ claim to be living water. The woman at this point cannot grasp the deeper meaning of water that Jesus is proposing.

Jesus looks beyond what her physical needs were and offers her spiritual water. Jesus is the Spiritual Water that can bring her closer to God. He knows her past, but her past doesn’t matter. He slowly draws her closer to relationship with Him, the living water, and to a loving relationship with God. She starts off by addressing Him as “Sir” to believing that he’s a prophet. She realizes her need of Him as her savior.

In her encounter with Jesus at the well, Jesus holds before her two realties of her life; the realty of what is and the realty of what might be. He brings up her past, not out of condemnation, but simply a statement of what is.

But it doesn’t end there. Jesus is more interested in her future than her past. He wants to satisfy her thirst more than judge her history. Jesus knows her. He looks beyond her past and sees a woman thirsting to be loved, to be seen, to be accepted, to be included, to be forgiven, to be known. Her thirst will never be quenched by the external wells of life. Jesus is offering living water that will bring new life, new possibilities and freedom from the past.

 We are like that Samaritan woman at the well. There may be things in our past that we may not be proud of. But Jesus is not interested in our past. He’s interested in who we are now and how we can turn to Him, the living water, repent of our past sinfulness and turn to God to find that peace that can come from God alone.

During this season of Lent God calls us to be like Moses in the first reading and strike open the rock that blocks the flow of God’s grace into our lives.

We can strike at the rock of anger to let in the peace of Christ.
We can strike at the rock of lust to let in an appreciation of our human dignity!
We can strike at the rock of envy to let in the grace of gratitude.

In order to let the flow of spiritual water flow over us, we can turn to the sacrament of confession during this time of Lent and try to turn away from our sinfulness to a better way of life. Jesus is waiting for us in the sacrament of confession to leave behind these sins of anger, lust, envy, and whatever else that is keeping us from a deeper relationship with God and with those in our lives that we may be alienated from.

God is calling us to a deeper relationship with him, and like the Samaritan women, he wants us to leave the past behind, to seek forgiveness, and to turn to Jesus with His living streams of water.

As we approach our Lord in Holy Communion, let us pray, “Jesus, may I thirst for you as you thirst for me!”

 

Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons

The scripture readings for this reflection can be found at: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/031320.cfm

“Israelloved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age.” Genesis 37:3

Being a parent isn’t always easy. Sometimes parents are the last to see clearly what’s going on with their children. If you have more than one child, you understand the foolishness of loving, or preferring, one of your children over the others.

That’s what we have in our first reading. We see a father playing favorites with his youngest son, to the point of failing to see how his other children are feeling neglected. And we see the bitterness in the hearts of the other sons towards Joseph. Joseph, obedient to his father, goes to help his brothers. But, from a distance they see Joseph coming and say, “Here comes that master dreamer!” and plan on killing him out of jealousy towards him due to their father loving him more than he loved them. They say, “Let’s kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns.” Their jealously for him is so great!

They stop short of murder, but instead they allow greed to set in and sell Joseph off to slavery for 20 silver pieces.

Later, in Genesis, Joseph becomes an instrument of God to save his father and brothers from famine. In Genesis chapter 50, verse 20 we read what Joseph tells his brothers: “Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good.”

Many of the Church Fathers see in the story of Joseph a foreshadowing of Jesus’ life and God’s plan for salvation. Joseph was the favorite son of his father. Jesus is the favorite son of His Heavenly Father. Both were betrayed for pieces of silver. Joseph would go on to save his father and brothers from famine. Jesus would go on to bring salvation to all mankind at the hands of those who were jealous and envious of Him.

As we approach the Eucharist today, let us remove all bitterness that we may have for others in our lives. Let us, like Joseph, be forgiving of them, even if we feel betrayed by them. And as we receive our Lord in Holy Communion, let us pray for those we find most difficult to forgive.

Do Not Babble

The scripture for today's reflection can be found at http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/030320.cfm

In our gospel for today, our Lord is teaching his us how to pray in an effective way. He's telling us to not be "wordy", but to keep it simple. He's saying: "Do not babble." Filling up prayer time with a laundry list of things that we want to say to God is not the best way to pray. God already knows what we need even before we ask. Jesus then goes on to give us the Our Father.

The Our Father has everything we need to say to God. If we pray that prayer in a simple and sincere way, and be open to what God is trying to tell us, then we will find that peace that can only come from Him.

Our Lord goes on to remind us that, in addition to developing that relationship with Him through prayer, we are to develop good and positive relationships with those in our lives, whether they are family, friends, or co-workers. Our Lord says, "If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions." (Matthew 6:14-15)

Starting with today, keep your prayers to the Lord simple and short, and then go from prayer to those in your life with a spirit of love and forgiveness.

Do you call this a fast?

The scripture readings for this reflection can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/022820.cfm

This past Wednesday we started the 40 days of Lent with the imposition of ashes on our forehead. As you approached the priest or deacon you would have heard one of two phrases: “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” or “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” One person who approached me for Ashes this past Wednesday, after I reminded her that she was dust and to dust she will return, asked me, “What does that mean?” I just responded that it means that without God, we are nothing. Her eyes widened with understanding and it was then that she understood that we are totally dependent on God for who we are.

It is during these days of Lent that we will be focusing on prayer, fasting, and works of charity, in order to bring ourselves closer to God, recognizing that we are dependent on Him for everything.

In our first reading from Isaiah, we learn how we really should be fasting and turning to God. Most people, when they think of fasting, thinks of giving up food for a period of time, or giving up their favorite treat like chocolate or ice cream. Isaiah points out to the people around him in today’s reading that their fasting “ends in quarreling and fighting.” This defeats the whole reason for fasting. Fasting for spiritual reasons is meant for us to become less self-centered and become more concerned with those that God has placed into our lives. The people Isaiah was talking to didn’t seem to get this.

Isaiah goes on to tell us that the fast that God is most pleased with is that of service to those in our lives and society. He tells us that God expects us to help free the oppressed, share bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless and to cloth the naked. These are all different ways of serving Christ. By serving the least among us, we are serving Christ.

Other fasts that we can do is to fast from excessive talk and making time for prayer and contemplation on scripture. We can fast from excessive use of the computer and internet, or we can fast from TV. In place of these things we can use the time to pray for those in our lives that need our prayer. Further, by fasting from these things and reflecting on Scripture more, we can be open to the promptings of God in our lives.

As we approach the Eucharist for today, let us think of the ways we fall short in serving God in our friends and families and pray for the strength to serve God in those people he has placed in our lives.

Faith without works is dead

The following is the homily I gave on Friday, February 21st, 2020 at St. Michael's. The scripture readings for it can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/022120.cfm

There’s two saying that I’m sure we all know: “Actions speak louder than words” and “if you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk.”  We can say a lot of words about how we love the Lord. We can go to church every day and pray a lot of prayers, yet if we ignore those in our lives (our family and friends) that may need us, then we’re not really putting our money where our mouths are!


All throughout the gospels, Jesus is calling us to do what St. James is telling us in this letter: to love God with our whole mind, hearts and body, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Further, through the parables, Jesus taught us that works go hand in hand with faith. The parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us that to be concerned with things of God (prayer and worship) needs to be coupled with our concern for those who we see suffering. St. James in today’s reading says, “…(if) you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?”


One example of someone following what St. James was teaching was Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She had a strong faith in God. She could have stayed in the convent praying to God and showing Him how much she loves Him through prayer, but she heard the words of St. James that “faith without works is dead” and went out of her way to serve those in India, to the poorest of the poor, to put her faith into works.

We are called to follow this example of faith and works in how we live our lives. We are challenged by St. James to take the faith that we proclaim here in church to those in our lives. We will have our challenges in doing so. But by doing this we are doing what our Lord says in the gospel for today, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” By proclaiming our faith in Jesus Christ and bringing His love to others through action, that will be our cross. Following Jesus and doing what we need to do in faith and love of Him is not easy. But it’s what is expected of us as Christians.