.”

 

Homily – Pentecost 2010 (Deacon Dan Hann)

          Many years ago when I was “student-deaconing” at Orient Correctional, a state prison, I was shadowing one of the Protestant chaplains.  Chaplain Smith, although legally blind, ministered with grace and wisdom to the inmates.  He was able to challenge those who needed challenging and comfort those in need of comfort.

          Chaplain Smith invited and enabled a number of protestant churches to minister at Sunday morning services.  Sometimes, it might be Quakers and Mennonites or perhaps Baptists and Pentecostals.  Each group brought their own style of worship.  As you might expect, some styles were reserved and reflective while others were exuberant and even a bit rowdy.

          One church claimed to be particularly filled by and led by the Holy Spirit.  Observing them from the sidelines, it seemed to me that they came in without planning and things would just somehow work out.

          Now, 10:30 a.m. is one of the “count” times – which means at 10:30 sharp every inmate is to be heading back to the dorm to be counted – don’t want to lose track of anyone!

          This church group had trouble finishing in time for the count.  Chaplain Smith finally told them they couldn’t come back.  They knelt before him, begged for forgiveness, and promised they wouldn’t do it again.  They pointed to (or maybe blamed) the Holy Spirit who led them inspiring their words and actions.

          Chaplain Smith listened patiently and finally simply said “You know, the Holy Spirit does know how to tell time!” 

          This weekend we celebrate Pentecost.  For the Jewish people, Pentecost was a feast of thanksgiving for the grain harvest; it was also a time to commemorate the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai.  It was celebrated 50 days after Passover.  For the first Christian believers gathered to celebrate this feast in Jerusalem, the giving of the Holy Spirit re-invented Pentecost.  It marked a new beginning:  God would be present among his people not in words carved in stone, but in a whole new way, living in their hearts, and speaking through them.  Just as the old feast was a time to celebrate the abundance of God’s gifts by giving back to God the first fruits of the fields, so the new Pentecost celebrates the incredible abundance  of God’s giving, the many gifts of the Holy Spirit.

          With an abundance of scripture (12 different readings) we celebrate Pentecost.  That’s the same number of readings assigned to  Easter and Christmas.  All of the Pentecost readings, in way or another, point to the abundance of God’s gifts given to us by his Holy Spirit.  Listen to this list of the gifts – you may have memorized them preparing for your Confirmation.  They are Wisdom, Understanding, Right Judgment, Courage, Knowledge, Reverence, Wonder and Awe.

          Often, we are very conscious of the Spirit’s working in us, such as words of comfort that surprise us as they come out of our mouth – where’d that come from?  Perhaps, it is an overwhelming wonder and awe mingled with reverence as we hold our newborn children for the first time.  Maybe it’s Wisdom when we know what it is to stand in another’s shoes. 

          I believe we can be quick to see the Spirit at work in ourselves and even in others urging and inspiring us.  But there is another aspect of our relationship with the Spirit.  Our tradition and scriptures advise us to test the Spirit. (1John & 1Thess)

          Testing the Spirit doesn’t give us a license to be stubborn or to block the Spirit but rather to come to a true understanding of what the Spirit is asking.  That testing is a gift from the Spirit as well.  The challenges/the testing that we receive (whether they come thru a person or a situation) for an inspired work we’ve undertaken is the Holy Spirit at work as well – refining and defining.

          We expect the Holy Spirit to be our comforter, the best; and a most welcome guest.  We know the Spirit provides rest most sweet and coolness in the heat.  But it is part of the Spirit’s role in our lives not only to comfort the challenged but to challenge the comfortable – after all the Holy Spirit does know how to tell time.

2Sunday of Easter, 2009 – Homily by Fr. Ted Sill, Pastor

Those who pay attention to the news know that the Cleveland Diocese recently consolidated and closed some parishes. It is a very sad and difficult thing when a parish is closed and it is becoming more common throughout the nation. This problem will affect our diocese sooner or later. Shifting populations are usually given as the main reason for closures happening. Other contributing factors include the priest shortage, declining attendance at mass, financial indifference of parishioners (insufficient $). But all these reasons might be traced back to one: a weakening faith.

This being the 2^nd Sunday of Easter, we are going to focus…not on the dying and the dead, as is the case of these closed parishes…but rather on new life…on growing and vibrant parishes. What makes for life in a parish that keeps it from having to face a closing? Easter faith…a vibrant faith that is lived out actively by its parishioners as is called for by our readings today. A community’s faith is vibrantly alive when the people attend mass faithfully; build a loving, forgiving and welcoming community; pay their bills while taking care of those in need; strive to live a moral life by trying to keep the commandments; and generously encourage their sons to see the priesthood as a rewarding even as it is a challenging vocation.

All of these elements that make for a vibrant faith community are contained in our combined readings today. From the very start, Christians had to build community as described from leaders and believers who were flawed. We are human after all, so the Church is made up of sinners as well as saints. But where these elements have been maintained, parish communities have not just survived, but flourished…and not just for a generation or two, or for a hundred years or two, but even for thousands of years.

If you get the Catholic Times, you saw or will see a story on our parish. (Extra copies are available at the doors.) St. Patrick Parish has a long history here in Madison County…a history that is not limited to Madison County but can be traced all the way back to our Scripture today. It is because the members of this parish have strived to live what our scripture requires that we can call ourselves a parish that is alive with faith in the Risen Lord.

This parish has a history of parishioners who have attended mass faithfully (even when it was difficult or inconvenient),who have sought to build a loving, forgiving, welcoming parish; parishioners who generously sacrifice to financially support our parish and school; parishioners who take care of those in need; who strive to live a moral life and who pray for and encourage the sons of the parish to consider the priesthood as a rewarding way to serve God and neighbor. For without the priesthood we cannot have the Eucharist…the source and summit of our life as a parish. It is the Eucharist that nourishes our faith so that we can be strong to do these things that are necessary for the healthy life of any parish.

As we continue giving thanks to God for what has been accomplished here in our parish by the power of the Holy Spirit that comes from the Risen Christ, we ask that we not become pride filled and smug, but evermore humble and generous in joyfully living out our Easter faith.

 

 

GoodFriday, 2009 Homily by Fr. Ted Sill, Pastor

Good Friday is about destiny…the destiny of Jesus…the destiny of each one of us. That destiny…Jesus’ destiny…our destiny… deals with death. Since it is part of the human destiny, and Jesus became one like us in all things, except sin…Jesus took on that human destiny…a destiny that has been inflicted on us all by our first parent’s sin. Much as we try to ignore it, avoid it, delay it…death comes to each of us…our human condition is terminal from the minute we are conceived.

Today’s memorial of our Lord’s passion and death is a reality check for us all. We recall that not even Jesus, the Son of God, avoided death…but in fact, faced it squarely in the power of love. He took it on for us…defeating it for us. In taking on death, Jesus has shown us that, even though our condition is terminal…our destiny…for those who put their faith in Jesus’ saving power… is not to end in death forever. But I want to leave that message for Easter.

Since it is Good Friday, we need to fight the urge to rush on to the end of the story. For now we need to let the reality of death sink deeply into our bones…into our hearts…into our heads. During Lent we have tried to take on some dying in our lives…by denying ourselves and doing more for others. If we persevered in our prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we should see some dying of our old habits…of our selfishness…our laziness. Lent is meant to be a sort of near death experience… so that we come to Good Friday with a better appreciation of what Jesus did and does for us. Good Friday is the culmination of Jesus’ lifetime of giving…he gives us everything he has…his life. In his death…in his giving us everything…Jesus offers us a second chance at life.

Fr. Vincent Nagle, in the publication The Magnificat, recounts the painful story of his fiancé’s termination of their engagement…before he went to seminary, of course. Presumably after she had just broke off the engagement, he tells of how he turned to his ex-fiance and said, “I do not see why you push me away. I give you everything I have.” “You give me everything you have,” she replied, “but nothing that I want.”

On Good Friday, we remember that Jesus was betrayed, denied, rejected, scorned, beaten, tortured, stripped, mocked, crucified and laid in a tomb. We look upon the cross as that reminder of how Jesus gave us…gives us… everything he has…his life. In a short while we will be invited to embrace his cross…not push it away. We come to venerate that instrument of his death…that means by which Jesus gave and gives his life…we kiss it as a sign that we love him for giving us everything he has…and as a sign that his life is everything we want.

 

 

HolyThursday, 2009 - Homily by Fr. Ted Sill

Most of you probably know that the Last Supper occurred in the context of a Passover Meal…that ritual remembering of how God saved the Israelites from their slavery to the Egyptians. That is why we listened to the reading from Exodus. Most also know that Jesus changed the Passover ritual in order to communicate what he was about to do: save us from our slavery to sin. Just as the Passover lamb’s blood saved from the angel of death those who marked their homes with it, so the Lamb of God would save us who are marked by His blood in this Eucharist. Now a Promised Land is reopened for us…not on earth, but forever in Heaven.

We might naturally expect our gospel tonight to make a connection with our reading from Exodus by recalling the words of Jesus during that meal. It doesn’t…instead we hear those words recalled by St. Paul in our 2^nd reading. In John’s gospel we get a different perspective of the Last Supper: Jesus acting out a homily by washing the apostle’s feet. Oftentimes, over the years, you have heard me (and, no doubt other priests) expound on the Lord’s teaching that we serve one other out of love. The Eucharist is a reminder of our obligation to humbly serve God and neighbor.

This year, however, I’d like to focus on another aspect of this gospel…the ritual washing of feet as symbolic of the forgiveness of sin that was about to be accomplished through Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection on Good Friday and is to be celebrated throughout the ages in the Eucharist.

First, let us recall another incident of feet washing that occurs in the gospel of Luke 7:36-50. Remember it? It is the story of the penitent woman who comes to Jesus while he is having supper at the house of a Pharisee. She cries tears that are used to wash the feet of Jesus…she dries his feet with her hair. Why is she crying? She is sorry for her sins. What does Jesus tell her? “Your sins are forgiven.” In this story, Jesus has his feet washed and sins are forgiven…at the Last Supper Jesus does the washing and still is the one forgiving.

What sins of the apostles does Jesus forgive? Quarrelling… over who should sit at his right and left when he is victorious. Betrayal…first by Judas…and then by the rest who abandon Jesus when the going gets rough. Peter’s denial that he ever knew Jesus after proclaiming with pride that he would never deny Jesus. The sins of cowardice in the face of injustice…pride…hunger for power, prestige and money…lack of loyalty…these are the sins needing forgiveness. These weak and sinful apostles were about to receive the body and blood of Jesus and first needed to be washed clean of their sins. Jesus was the only one who could do this for them.

So Jesus washes their feet as a sign of his forgiving them for what they had done and were about to do. Washing feet is only a sign of this. In the case of the penitent woman in Luke’s gospel…she was sad for her sins and desired greatly that her sins be forgiven. In the case of the apostles…Jesus was saddened by their sins and desired greatly to forgive their sins. Jesus knew whose sins would be the death of them (mortal sin)…Judas…that’s why Jesus said, “…so you are clean, but not all.”

Jesus, after first washing us clean in baptism, in effect, washes our feet in every Eucharist and thus continues to forgive our sins (venial…). And for that serious sin, called mortal (which leads to eternal death), that can occur after our washing in baptism, Jesus washes us clean in the sacrament of reconciliation so that we can receive Communion again. Jesus continues to forgive sin on earth…in the flesh…through the power he has given his Church and exercised in the priesthood of the apostles and their successors. Hence, Jesus says to the apostles, “…as I have done for you, you should also do.”(Jn13:15) And, later in John’s gospel on Easter evening, Jesus says to the apostles, “For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven.”

In this Last Supper, Jesus was preparing himself to die so that the apostle’s sins would be forgiven…and OURS as well. The real sadness is that the apostles, unlike the penitent woman, did not yet realize their need to be forgiven. It is our sadness too, when we do not realize how much we need to be forgiven and how much Jesus loves us and wants us to know this. As St. John says later in 15:11: “There is no greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” This is Christ’s loving service to us…to forgive our sins, freeing us from the slavery of sin and opening for us the way to the Promised Land.

 

5^th Sunday Lent, 2009 – Homily by Fr. Ted Sill, Pastor

I just finished Dr. Theodore Dalrymple’s book, Life at the Bottom: The Worldview that Makes the Underclass. Dalrymple is a psychiatrist in England who believes that the underclass is not poor by monetary standards; the underclass is all those who are poor because of their worldview. This worldview he sums up as an attitude where one does not take responsibility for their choices and instead blames everyone and anything else as the source of the misery that they brought on to themselves and others because of the bad/selfish decisions they have made.

In one chapter titled The Heart of a Heartless World, Dr. Dalrymple contends that organized religion can either contribute to the solution or to the problem. He gets the title for this chapter from Karl Marx who is more often remembered for writing that religion is the opium of the people…meaning that it kept the people oppressed and prevented them from doing anything about their plight. Marx meant the same when he called religion the heart of a heartless world. Marx blamed religion for giving the people the heart to something that he believed was really heartless…meaningless…and therefore, religion was contributing to the plight of the poor.

In this chapter, Dalrymple implies that the Church of England is not part of the solution, but part of the problem…contributing to the plight of people… when it is concerned more about other things than sin. He claims that “…its bishops [are] straining vainly after modernity by signing on to the fashionable sociological untruths of a couple of decades ago [such as liberation theology] or by suggesting that Jesus was a homosexual or that he was not resurrected in any corporeal [bodily] sense.” He goes on to add his belief that the Church of England expresses more interest in third world indebtedness or global warming than in sin.

Dr. Dalrymple’s experience has convinced him that most criminals believe they are the victims for having been brought up in a world that is responsible for what they have become…it is not their choice for sin that is the reason for their condition. He cites one case that epitomizes this attitude of blaming outside forces rather than their own heart’s choice: a man who had served several prison sentences for violent crimes blamed a little green devil which he had vomited up as the reason for his violent crimes. (Let me add that I believe, with the Church, in evil forces that can corrupt the heart, but that we are always responsible for inviting in the evil that makes a home in our hearts. I get the impression so does Dalrymple.)

To take responsibility for the condition of one’s heart is at the heart of Christianity and goes back to Old Testament times. It is this notion that Jeremiah spent his life trying to teach God’s chosen people who had become so accustomed to their sinful ways that it seemed impossible for them to change. It is why he says, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin? The leopard his spots? As easily would you be able to do good, accustomed as to evil you are”(13:23). Jeremiah calls them evil, refusing to listen to God’s word, preferring to “walk in the stubbornness of their hearts”(13:10). This sad state of affairs causes Jeremiah to conclude: “More tortuous than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy”(17:9).

God has other plans…plans to remedy that situation…plans to heal these tortuous hearts…we hear in today’s reading from Jeremiah. God promises to reestablish His covenant with the house of Israel, placing His law within them and writing it upon their hearts so that they will behave as His people. The Lord promises to “forgive their evildoing and remember their sins no more.”(31:34)

As Christians, we believe that God has kept and accomplished this promise in and through His Son, Jesus Christ. We believe it is possible for us to have a change of heart…when we are willing to admit that we are responsible for the condition of our hearts. Lent is all about doing what we can to invite the Lord to change our hearts through Jesus Christ.

After some prayerful reflection, some soulful heart searching, we might admit that our hearts have been hardened by many things: too much concern with material things or our economic status; stubbornness, impatience or harshness; festering anger that keeps us from being compassionate; insecurities, obsession with appearances or what others think of us; conflict with a spouse who won’t do what is wanted; lack of attention to the needs of the poor; voting for issues or candidates that are opposed to promoting life and moral ethics; not being very grateful for what God has given to us; lack of attention to the needs of the family, including the faith family; refusal for taking responsibility for some of the messes we’ve gotten into.

Through this sacrament of the Eucharist and the sacrament of Penance may God soften our hardened hearts…writing his law upon them so that we will act evermore like His chosen people…showing to the world that the compassionate heart of Jesus is beating strong.

 

 

 

4 Sunday, Lent, 2009 – Homily by Fr. Ted Sill, Pastor

It can be said of St. Mark’s gospel that it is punctuated with a sense of urgency throughout. Even its brevity as compared to the other gospels lends to this sense of immediate urgency. There is no birth story of Jesus in Mark’s gospel; we just break into His life immediately at the start of this gospel where we find Jesus beginning his ministry. It has been written that the word immediately is one of Mark’s favorite words. It is interesting to note that this word immediately has been left out of a couple places in our lectionary translation of today’s gospel.

Let’s back up from today’s passage to review what has led up to this point in the gospel. After being driven out into the desert by the Holy Spirit immediately after His baptism by John, Jesus confronts the Evil Spirit and triumphs over Satan’s temptations. Next, Jesus proclaims the reign of God is at hand (note the urgency in “at hand”) and that we need to reform our lives and believe in the gospel. While doing this, Jesus calls the first 4 apostles at the Sea of Galilee; they follow immediately. From there they go to Capernaum, “and [immediately] on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught” (MK 1:21). What happens next in our passage happens with urgency: “and [immediately] there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit” (1:23).

So, we see the urgency required of the disciples who agree to be part of Jesus’ mission. And, we see the reason for this urgency in what happens next. What happens next? Jesus performs his first miracle; and only in Mark’s gospel is it an exorcism. What normally would have happened is that a man possessed by an evil spirit would have been thrown out of the synagogue. The Pharisees and scribes had no power to cast demons out of a person, so they would cast out the possessed person instead. This time however, Jesus casts out the evil spirit and the man stays. This caused quite a stir as Jesus spoke on His own authority and ranked above not just the evil spirits, but also the Pharisees and scribes who were powerless to cast evil out of a person. Even the evil spirit recognizes what the religious leaders do not: that Jesus has the greater power; for it asks, “Have you come to destroy us?” And then goes on to confess what these religious leaders do not: that Jesus is the “Holy One of God” (1:24). This evil spirit then does what these leaders do not: it listens to Jesus and obeys; it leaves the man.

Herein lies the urgency and immediacy of Mark’s gospel as begun in our passage today. The casting out of the evil power that has taken control of this person, shows that the reign of God has begun. Jesus has begun His battle with the forces of evil…a battle that will go to the death…His death. But through His death, the powers of evil will be defeated…Jesus is victorious in the end because he is the “Holy One of God.” And because Jesus is victorious in conquering the powers of evil, we who are baptized into Him share this victory over the evil influences and temptations we face in our lives.

Yes, it may seem from time to time that evil has the upper hand with us. But if we remain faithful in believing that we who cling to Jesus will overcome, what seems like defeat will end in victory…just as what seemed like defeat for Jesus during his crucifixion was changed into His victory at the Resurrection. There is no power in the heavens or on earth that is more powerful than God the Father who works through His Son, Jesus.

Do we believe this? If we claim that we do then there are consequences: we are to live as if are lives are being reformed by Jesus…that He truly has authority over our lives. And we live this reform with St. Mark’s sense of urgency and immediacy. Let me illustrate this sense of urgency and immediacy with a story:

Hell had been experiencing a slight percentage decrease in capturing souls. Jesus was cutting into Satan’s take. Worried, Satan called together all his evil spirits to figure out how to get more souls for hell.

The devils were divided into committees, subcommittees, work groups and focus groups to brainstorm for ideas to capture more souls for hell. At the end of the discussions, Satan presided over the assembly as the best ideas were offered. One by one the devils came to the microphone to summarize their groups findings. One suggested poisoning further people’s attitudes towards sex and sexuality. Another spoke of putting more effort into convincing people that greed was good. Still another proposed convincing politicians to push through more liberal abortion laws under the illusion that they will be promoting democracy’s exalted freedom of choice. And another spoke of tempting people to spend more than they made so that they eventually would feel forced to make a deal with the devil to get out of debt.

In the middle of one presentation, Satan screamed a horrific, “NO!” startling every devil into silence. “No! No! No!” Satan shouted, “We’ve done all that and will keep doing it. But, we’ve got to come up with something new to get more souls.”

All the devils sat there, fearing to say a word. In that silence there came a sound like scratching nails on a chalkboard. It was an ancient evil spirit pushing back his chair to rise and address Satan. “I know how to get more souls into hell,” the ancient devil said. “Speak, ancient one!” Satan bellowed. “If you want to get more people in hell,” the old devil said, “tell them they have plenty of time to reform their lives.”

As we continue our Eucharist, we continue not with anxiety, but with a sense of urgency…trusting that as we unite ourselves to Christ in this Eucharist, we can be assured of Jesus’ power to cast out evil from our lives…if we turn to him immediately each and every day.

 

2nd Week Lent, March 1, 2009 - Homily - Fr. Ted Sill

News story of chimpanzee attack…man stepped in and fought it off…

when wild beasts attack, experts say that usually, the worst thing one

can do is run because it senses your fear and more quickly realizes you

as attainable food and is driven on in its attack. Most say face the beast.

In our gospel we hear that Jesus is driven out into the desert for 40 days

…for what? Some peace and quiet away from the crowds…some

undistracted prayer? That doesn’t seem to be the case in St. Mark’s

rather laconic (concise, but saying a lot) account. It seems more likely

that Jesus goes to engage in… not tranquil prayer… but the kind of

heart wrenching, soul-searching prayer that is riddled with distractions…

such as Satan and wild beasts, St. Mark mentions. Jesus goes to the

desert… yes, maybe to get away from the wild crowds…but only to face

wild beasts and Satan.

As we begin Lent, we are encouraged by the example of Jesus to

do some heart wrenching, soul-searching prayer of our own…to face the

beasts in our lives and not run from them. We are to face down what

distracts us from God…first and foremost, sin…asking God’s help to

overcome it. We face it squarely with our prayer, fasting and almsgiving

…the weapons God tells us in SS that have His power to overcome them.

Maybe this Lent we are to face our greatest fears from which we usually

run in terror. Could that be our fear of not being loved or lovable?

Our fear of finding happiness… financial security…trusting a spouse’s or

friend’s advice…trusting the Church’s teaching about something…

letting go of some sinful habit or addiction? Forgiving someone who has

ravished our ego or has torn our heart out with their claws?

We may fear facing our beasts. The greatest temptation may be the belief

that we can do nothing about them. If we face them alone, that may be

true. But our faith assures us that we do not have to face these beasts

alone…we are assured of God’s help, if only we call on it.

“Change we can believe in” was the rallying cry of some this past election.

“Belief we can change in” is the rallying cry of Christians, esp. during

Lent. If we truly believe in the power of God’s grace to overcome all

obstacles, beasts included…then we have it within us to change. We can

face squarely the wild beasts that roam the wilderness of our souls and

defeat them…with the help of Christ…who has already faced them

down and defeated them. Christ wants to help us be free of these beasts

…Satan included.

Some may say I have a whole herd of wild beasts to face…it is just too

overwhelming to think about the task. In the wild kingdom, when a pack

of beasts attack a man, if one of the beasts is faced down and run off or

defeated, oftentimes the entire pack will run off. Divide and conquer one

by one. Pick just one beast this Lent and ask Christ to help you face it

and tame it with prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. If we face our beasts

this Lent with the help of Christ and his Church, then we can face Easter

with less beastliness and more gentleness in our hearts and souls.

So, we can run from this opportunity of Lent to change or we can face

the wild beasts in our lives. Or, as Robert Lewis Stevenson wrote,

“You can not run away from a weakness, you must sometime fight it out

or perish. And if that be so, why not now and where you stand?” And,

that’s another ”belief we can change in.”

Homily - February 8, 2009 - Fr. Sill (Year B-5th Sun. Ord.Time)

There was a man in Budapest who went to the police station to ask
permission to emigrate to Western Europe. “Aren’t you happy here?”

the police asked. “I have no complaints,” said the Hungarian. “Are you

dissatisfied with your work?” “I have no complaints.” “Are you

discontented with the living situation?” “I have no complaints.” “Then

why do you want to go to the West?” “Because there I can have

complaints!” explained the man.

Job is free to complain to God in our first reading and does so. He

had everything (good wife, children, livelihood…) and then loses it all

in one catastrophe after another. He was a good man so his suffering

can’t be explained as a punishment for sinning. That’s why he is

complaining. In the end Job learns that one’s goodness/righteousness
give one no claim on God. Job faces the problem of suffering and in

the end does not despair in misery. He learns that he can still encounter

God in the midst of his suffering and that God is mindful of him.

God is mindful indeed of all suffering and eventually sends his Son to free

us from the kind of misery that confronted Job. God frees us not by

taking away all our present troubles but by offering us a life that takes

us beyond them: eternal life. A life of suffering is not what God wants

for us in the end.

The real solution, however, to the problem of suffering is not simple

resignation to it. Rather, faith/ belief that Jesus has the power to take us

beyond it is the solution. We are to do what we can to alleviate suffering

wherever and whenever we can…but we cannot go through life entirely

free of it. This is the lesson of St. Mark today in our gospel. There we

find the people flocking to Jesus the miracle worker to have Him cure
and end all their suffering. This Jesus does to a certain extent, but then

leaves to go to the next town before everyone is cured.

Jesus treats his miracles as subordinate to His mission of preaching the

gospel…the good news that God’s kingdom is at hand. Otherwise,

He would not have left some uncured. Those in misery quite naturally

look for miracles. But Jesus is teaching,
“I am so much more than that. I am more than someone who can raise

your standard of living or make you happy here for a time. I can make

you happy for all time for I am eternal life.

What it boiled down for them and for us is a matter of faith. No

miracle, no matter how spectacular can make us believe…can bring faith

on. Even those who were cured were free to believe what they wanted

about Jesus…they didn’t have to strike a deal with Jesus first… and

most seemed to believe him just a wonder worker.
Once they got what they wanted, they moved on. They missed the point

that Jesus could give them a way of life that would raise them above

suffering for all eternity.

All of us will or have faced suffering. We will/have had our complaints to

air with God. All suffering has the purpose of bringing us to answer for

ourselves a very important question: What is the purpose of life…what

is the meaning of suffering?
The answer is not found in miracles that deliver us from suffering,

although they can help. The answer is found in Jesus. It is the miracle

of His life, death and resurrection that is the answer to suffering. It is

this miracle that Jesus shares with us in this Eucharist where, in faith,

or the desire for faith, we encounter the Son of God even in our
suffering and know that God is mindful of us to not leave us in suffering

forever.

Father Sill's Homily February 1, 2009

 

It can be said of St. Mark’s gospel that it is punctuated with a sense of urgency throughout. Even its brevity as compared to the other gospels lends to this sense of immediate urgency. There is no birth story of Jesus in Mark’s gospel; we just break into His life immediately at the start of this gospel where we find Jesus beginning his ministry. It has been written that the word immediately is one of Mark’s favorite words. It is interesting to note that this word immediately has been left out of a couple places in our lectionary translation of today’s gospel.

Let’s back up from today’s passage to review what has led up to this point in the gospel. After being driven out into the desert by the Holy Spirit immediately after His baptism by John, Jesus confronts the Evil Spirit and triumphs over Satan’s temptations. Next, Jesus proclaims the reign of God is at hand (note the urgency in “at hand”) and that we need to reform our lives and believe in the gospel. While doing this, Jesus calls the first 4 apostles at the Sea of Galilee; they follow immediately. From there they go to Capernaum, “and [immediately] on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught” (MK 1:21). What happens next in our passage happens with urgency: “and [immediately] there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit” (1:23).

So, we see the urgency required of the disciples who agree to be part of Jesus’ mission. And, we see the reason for this urgency in what happens next. What happens next? Jesus performs his first miracle; and only in Mark’s gospel is it an exorcism. What normally would have happened is that a man possessed by an evil spirit would have been thrown out of the synagogue. The Pharisees and scribes had no power to cast demons out of a person, so they would cast out the possessed person instead. This time however, Jesus casts out the evil spirit and the man stays. This caused quite a stir as Jesus spoke on His own authority and ranked above not just the evil spirits, but also the Pharisees and scribes who were powerless to cast evil out of a person. Even the evil spirit recognizes what the religious leaders do not: that Jesus has the greater power; for it asks, “Have you come to destroy us?” And then goes on to confess what these religious leaders do not: that Jesus is the “Holy One of God” (1:24). This evil spirit then does what these leaders do not: it listens to Jesus and obeys; it leaves the man.

Herein lies the urgency and immediacy of Mark’s gospel as begun in our passage today. The casting out of the evil power that has taken control of this person, shows that the reign of God has begun. Jesus has begun His battle with the forces of evil…a battle that will go to the death…His death. But through His death, the powers of evil will be defeated…Jesus is victorious in the end because he is the “Holy One of God.” And because Jesus is victorious in conquering the powers of evil, we who are baptized into Him share this victory over the evil influences and temptations we face in our lives.

Yes, it may seem from time to time that evil has the upper hand with us. But if we remain faithful in believing that we who cling to Jesus will overcome, what seems like defeat will end in victory…just as what seemed like defeat for Jesus during his crucifixion was changed into His victory at the Resurrection. There is no power in the heavens or on earth that is more powerful than God the Father who works through His Son, Jesus.

Do we believe this? If we claim that we do then there are consequences: we are to live as if are lives are being reformed by Jesus…that He truly has authority over our lives. And we live this reform with St. Mark’s sense of urgency and immediacy. Let me illustrate this sense of urgency and immediacy with a story:

Hell had been experiencing a slight percentage decrease in capturing souls. Jesus was cutting into Satan’s take. Worried, Satan called together all his evil spirits to figure out how to get more souls for hell.

The devils were divided into committees, subcommittees, work groups and focus groups to brainstorm for ideas to capture more souls for hell. At the end of the discussions, Satan presided over the assembly as the best ideas were offered. One by one the devils came to the microphone to summarize their groups findings. One suggested poisoning further people’s attitudes towards sex and sexuality. Another spoke of putting more effort into convincing people that greed was good. Still another proposed convincing politicians to push through more liberal abortion laws under the illusion that they will be promoting democracy’s exalted freedom of choice. And another spoke of tempting people to spend more than they made so that they eventually would feel forced to make a deal with the devil to get out of debt.

In the middle of one presentation, Satan screamed a horrific, “NO!” startling every devil into silence. “No! No! No!” Satan shouted, “We’ve done all that and will keep doing it. But, we’ve got to come up with something new to get more souls.”

All the devils sat there, fearing to say a word. In that silence there came a sound like scratching nails on a chalkboard. It was an ancient evil spirit pushing back his chair to rise and address Satan. “I know how to get more souls into hell,” the ancient devil said. “Speak, ancient one!” Satan bellowed. “If you want to get more people in hell,” the old devil said, “tell them they have plenty of time to reform their lives.”

As we continue our Eucharist, we continue not with anxiety, but with a sense of urgency…trusting that as we unite ourselves to Christ in this Eucharist, we can be assured of Jesus’ power to cast out evil from our lives…if we turn to him immediately each and every day.

January 18, 2009 - Homily by Fr. Sill

A story is told of a young mother who was so into the Sunday worship
service that she wasn’t noticing what was going on around her. When she suddenly
turned to check on her 5 yr. old son, she saw that he was not sitting next to her. In a
panic she looked around and saw him crawling down under the pew. In that motherly corrective voice, she whispered loudly, “What are you doing under there?” To which
the child responded, “I’m looking for God.”

Today’s readings are about looking for God: how to do it and where to do it. We see a
common theme in our readings: that others can play an important role in helping us search
for God. The young Samuel had the older Eli to guide him. We come upon the young boy, who has had no previous personal experience with God, sleeping in the place where the ark
of God was kept. Samuel was probably responsible for making sure the lamp that burned before the ark…the tabernacle… never ran out of oil. To be that close to the ark was
believed to be that close to the physical presence of God. And to be that close physically
to God meant that you would probably have a personal experience of God. That’s what happened to Samuel. But it took the wise experience of Eli to help Samuel come to
understand whose voice was calling to him and eventually to what that voice was calling
him to do.

The Corinthians (and we) have St. Paul to help in their (our) search for God. In our letter
today, Paul is telling them that they have gotten off track in their search and reminds them where to look and where not to look for God. Corinth was a port town full of sailors and
dock-workers. These inhabitants of port cities often have the bad reputation of “looking for love in all the wrong places.” Hence, prostitution was a big business. The city’s reputation
was so bad that people used the phrase “acting like a Corinthian” to refer to anyone who
was being unchaste…that is, accused of sexual immorality.

In a town where sex for sale was easy to find, Paul calls to mind this fact when he tells the Corinthians (and us) “you have been purchased at a price.” The big difference being that
Paul is referring to Jesus, the Son of God who used his very life to purchase us back from
the powers of sin and death to belong to His body…the body of Christ...the Church. This
body, and every member of it, is to be revered and respected. As members of this body, we
are to also respect our own bodies…we are not to use them for immorality.

Pornography is a big problem today…the Internet has made it so. It is as addictive as any
drug. It distorts people’s view of the body and sexuality…it damages marriages …and
warps society. It jeopardizes souls. Yet many minimize the dangers of it. The solution to
it is the same as Paul proposes: Jesus Christ. Is involvement in this kind of activity
something that Jesus would say is no big deal? Those who are serious about their search
for God, find in Jesus the power to make changes in attitudes and behaviors.

The apostle Andrew has John the Baptist point him in the right direction. And Peter has Andrew to help him find the Messiah. Once they find Jesus, they continue their search by staying in his presence…by seeing where and how Jesus lives. Which brings us back to
the same thing that Samuel did, stay in the Real Presence of God. The very thing we do
now in this Eucharist, we come before the Real Presence of God…we take that Presence
into our very being…to be changed…to become more and more like Christ. This is
where our looking for God begins…this is where it is to end…in Jesus Christ.

Christmas 2008 - Father Sill -

Just a couple of days ago I was channel surfing in the evening for something

on TV to watch and found that The Wizard of Oz was on. “With all the

special Christmas programming on, why was The Wizard of Oz

scheduled? What does that have to do with Christmas?” I thought to

myself. I decided to turn off the TV and finish the book on tape I had

started titled, Finding Noel by Richard Paul Evans. It’s an emotional

story about two young people who come from troubled family

backgrounds and who are both looking for a place to belong. It is a

story about the power of love and kindness, finding family and a place to

call home. Which brings me back to the Wizard of Oz. What is the phrase

Dorothy has to repeat as she clicks her heels if she is to find her way back

home? “There’s no place like home!”

The longing to return home or find a home or make a home is a deep one.

Sometimes it takes a lot of searching…even soul searching…to return, to

find, or to make a home. In the epilogue of Finding Noel, the author writes

that Christmas is “…a story of searching, not so much for the lost as for

the familiar. Mary and Joseph sought in Bethlehem, the home of their

familial ancestry, a place to start their own family. The three kings from

the East journeyed beneath that sentinel star to find the King of Kings.

And the shepherds saw the child in a place most familiar to them. A

manger. …Christmas…is humanity’s search for the familiar. Every year

we bring out the same songs, partake of the same foods and traditions,

and share the things that make us feel that there is someplace we belong.

And, in the end all any of us are looking for is home.”

On that first Christmas, God made his home on earth…in a stable…

so that we might find our home with God. God reaches out to us in Jesus,

inviting us home. This home with God is not something Jesus came to tell

us that we only find when our life on earth has ended. Jesus

came to show us that this home with God is meant to begin here…now…

on earth. In fact, it must begin here if it is to continue into the hereafter. Life

on this planet is not meant to be a continual searching for a home…as if it is

lost and needs to be found. Jesus has already shown us where home is to

be found: living life with him…being part of his family…as we do now

gathered for this mass.

How many here have the familiar feeling that this is really Christmas now

that we have gathered for mass? After all, Christmas means Christ’s mass.

It really doesn’t feel like Christmas for a Catholic unless mass is part of it

unless we have gathered with our faith family to have that familiar meal with

it’s familiar songs, and familiar decorations and familiar rituals. This familial

gathering…this gathering of the family…is so important to our being at

home with God. It makes perfect sense why God wants his family to gather

for this familiar meal every week…it is the best way to make our home

with God on earth. It is truly the best way to keep the Christmas spirit

throughout the year.

At Christmas, we do our best to get that familiar Christmas feeling. We

want so badly for everything to feel like we are “home.” Christmas

decorations can help. Christmas cards can help. Christmas gifts can help.

Being extra nice…good…considerate…can certainly help. Making peace

with others…setting aside grudges…forgiving can help a lot. But one thing

is certainly necessary. If we want to return home, find home, or make a

home, we need look no further than the house of David and the new-born

king who invites us into his home…into his family that lasts forever.

There’s no place like home with Jesus.

 

 

 

 

 

Homily – Advent Penance Service Jn. 2008 - Deacon Dan Hann

When our children were babies, I never could hear them cry during the night but Paula could. In my defense, I couldn’t give them what they were wanting anyway but at least I could hear the dogs barking or thunder on hot summer nights. Paula couldn’t.

One night, an approaching storm woke me up and I went about the house barefoot shutting windows. When I walked into the kids’ room I went into stealth mode and I didn’t even consider turning the lights on. I sure didn’t want to wake the baby.

As I made my way through the dark room I stepped on a toy and made it squeak. I froze in place and held my breath but the kids slept peacefully on. I silently closed the window and began to leave. I remembered the toy and gave it a wide berth. That was my plan but, darn, if I didn’t step on it again. I was startled as it squeaked when I stepped on it. I was sure that I’d allowed plenty of room to avoid it. Plus, it suddenly dawned on me that we didn’t have a small fuzzy toy that squeaked!

Crying baby or not I turned on the light to see a somewhat flattened bat crawling across the floor. I wish I hadn’t remained in darkness but stood in the light sooner to see clearly.

In today’s gospel, we come to understand the different expectations among the Jews’ of Jesus’ day about a coming anointed one. Some thought Elijah would come to purify the priesthood and restore the tribes of Israel; others expected a prophet like Moses. John the Baptist accepts none of these designations for himself. He is simply the one pointing toward the expected one. He himself is not “the light”; he came to testify to the light and to bring others to believe through his testimony.

It can be argued to a certain extent, John is light. Just as effective lighting in a room may not call attention to itself, but rather enables us to see what is in the room, so too John is not the focus but rather points to the one who is light.

There is one in our midst this afternoon who is the light of which John spoke. He is Jesus Christ and we can encounter his loving and forgiving presence in the sacrament of penance through the ministry of the priest.

As we prepare to meet Jesus, we can make ready for this encounter by standing in the light of Christ to examine our hearts, our hopes, our actions, and our lives. The examination of conscience helps to shed Christ’s light into the shadows of our lives where darkness can hide those things we might simply prefer to avoid - things that the darkness might say is only a small squeak but Christ’s light reveals it for what it truly is.

3rd Sunday Advent, Year B, 2008 - Fr. Ted Sill

In his book, The Gift, author Richard Evans tells the story of Nathan Hurst who meets a unique mother, Adison and her child with leukemia, Colin, who has the incredible gift of healing. Nate hates Christmas because it is an annual reminder of a Christmas tragedy that traumatized his childhood. Nate killed his older brother by shooting him accidentally with the .22 rifle that their dad had given Tommy for Christmas while they were playing their fantasy game of safari hunter.

One year later, on Christmas, Nate’s father killed himself with the same rifle because he couldn’t forgive himself for giving the rifle to Tommy for Christmas. Nate blames himself for both deaths and so does his mother. Therefore, Nate grows up believing that no one could possibly love him because of that. As a result of living with this dark secret, Nate always breaks off dating women when it could result in marriage. Nate does not know who he is and who he is not…he does not believe that he is a truly good person and that he is not the bad person he thinks he is because of an accident.

John the Baptist is presented to us in our gospel today as a man who clearly knows who he is not, as well as who he is. Both (who he is and is not) are known by his deep relationship with God. John the Baptist knows who he is in his relation to the Lord and thereby doesn’t take advantage of the opportunity to point to himself and profit from it… choosing rather to point to the One who is source of eternal life and light…the One who helps us know clearly who we are, who we are not, and what we are to do with our lives.

This One is the long awaited Savior, who is sent to fulfill the prophecy foretold by Isaiah in our first reading…who is to, among other things, heal the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to captives and release to prisoners. Jesus Christ does this by loving us into knowing who we are: His beloved children. Most frequently Jesus uses us to love others into knowing who they are and who they are not.

This is what happens to Nate in the story. Nate meets Adison who, even before she knows his dark secret tells him that, “There is no hurt so great that love can’t heal it.” It is Addie’s love for Nate, even after she knows his dark secret that helps Nate come to believe that he is truly a good person and is not the bad person he always believed he was.

Sometimes we buy into the lies we, or others, tell us about ourselves. Sin, our sin and other’s, affects how we look at ourselves and at others. It confuses us as to who we are and who we are not. As Nate writes in his journal, “To the thief, everyone’s a crook. To the liar everyone’s a fraud. The curse of all sin is the mirror of false perception it traps us in.”

That is why St. Paul encourages us in our second reading to “Test everything; retain what is good. Refrain from every kind of evil.” That is why Jesus gave us the Church and the sacraments that the Church administers…to help us test everything…to help us know and retain what is good as well as know and refrain from what is evil. If we are left to our own sinful inclinations, we are prone to distort things…especially the image of who we are and who we are not.

That is also why the sacrament of Reconciliation was given to us by Jesus… to help rid us of the effects of sin that distorts who we really are by making us believe we are someone we are not. If one believes that they have no need of this special help Jesus gives us in this sacrament, then you have deceived yourself into believing you are someone that you are not. In faith we come to the sacrament of Reconciliation believing that Jesus entrusted the Church with this gift of love to heal us from the distortion of sin into which we all fall in our lives. So, I pray that you give yourself a gift this Sunday at 4 pm…come to our parish penance service…allow Jesus to heal you with his love in this sacrament…so that, with the help of Jesus’ Church we all will come to a greater awareness of who we are and who we are not.

Feast of Christ the King - November 23, 2008 - Fr. Ted Sill

In The Book of Virtues, William Bennett retells a story from the Brothers Grimm about an old woman who went to live with her son and his family after her husband died. She was losing her sight and hearing as well as developing a shaking in her hands that was so bad she would make a mess when she ate.

The son and his wife got irritated with the spilled food on the dinner table and herself. The last straw was when she tipped over a glass of milk. The couple could no longer stand having her eat at the dinner table, so they set up a place for her to eat in the corner by herself where they wouldn’t have to look at her messiness on herself and her surroundings. At each meal the mother sat staring with teary eyes as she ate by herself. The only time anyone spoke to her was to yell at her for spilling or dropping things.

One evening the couple’s little daughter was making something with her building blocks before dinner and her dad asked her what she was making. She answered, “I’m building a little table for you and mother so that you can eat by yourselves in the corner someday when I get big.” This time it was the son and his wife who stared at each other with teary eyes as they learned what they had taught their daughter by their actions. Starting that very evening they got rid of the separate eating arrangements and brought grandma back to their table. Whenever grandma made a mess no one made a bother.

We hear in our gospel on this feast of Christ the King, that our king wants us to make a bother about those who have legitimate needs. We are to love those in need by the way we care for their needs. Yes, it is easier to have our troubles out of sight and thus out of mind…to put them off to the corner so we don’t have to look at them. But that is not the way our King wants us to behave. Just as our King serves us, we are to serve one another.

We may think that some of these things that Jesus mentions are not really our duties…they are the duties of agencies and people who are trained for such things as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned…but they are our duties to support, not just financially, but personally as our state in life permits. One duty we have as pointed out by Jesus that we all should not have an excuse to avoid is welcoming the stranger.

During our recent parish self study that need was mentioned again. It is something that is mentioned time and time again as we have evaluated ourselves as a parish over the years. Everyone can do this without too much trouble by showing up for parish activities (including mass) and getting to know someone whom we do not know. We still need volunteers for the ministry of hospitality that we want to get started for all the weekend masses. Making sure that everyone is welcomed and cared for is what pleases the King.

Jesus clearly points out our duties today. We may think that we are doing enough good, but that can be dangerous thinking as those in the parable find out that they are judged not for what they have done, but for what they have not done. What good we do is valuable when it is done for Christ. What good we fail to do when the opportunity presents itself, we fail to do for Christ. These two aspects are both considered by the King when we are called to give an accounting for our lives. Making sure everyone is welcome and cared for at the table of our lives is what pleases the Lord. As our generosity towards others grows, so too does our joy at having done these things for Christ our King.

First Sunday of Advent – November 30, 2008 - Deacon Dan Hann

There is a legend told of St. Paul when he was hauled into a Roman court under the judge, Hadrian. Paul was on trial for being a Christian and refusing to offer sacrifice to idols.

Hadrian sneered at Paul, “I want to see your God.” Paul answered “That is impossible.” The judge said, “You must show him to me.” So, Paul convinced Hadrian to go outside with him. It was summer and the noon sun was blazing in a cloudless sky. Paul said to the judge “Look at the sun.” “I can not,” answered Hadrian. The St. Paul replied, “If you can not even look at the sun, which is but one of the servants of God, how shall you look at the Holy One himself.”
The brightness of the sun, the strength of its brilliance is too much for us. If we dare to seek God how can we hope to withstand the glory of God face to face.
As we begin a new season of Advent, there are two things to keep in mind. One is that we remember that the Lord Jesus came into our human history. The one who time and space can not contain was born into our human existence with its constraints of time and space. The other is that the Lord Jesus will come again and we are to keep watch for his return.

The watchfulness about which Jesus speaks today is not waiting in dread but rather is an attentive listening for the familiar footstep of the returning beloved. We don’t want to be found sleeping but ready with open arms.

But we do find waiting and watching difficult and we try to eliminate it. We have fast food, express lines, and ever speedier internet connections. Waiting for the end of a prolonged illness or at the unemployment office is an even more difficult wait.

Waiting for the return of a long expected loved one can seem impossibly long. But this is what the gospel speaks of – a constant vigilance for the return of the Beloved who has entrusted everything into our care.

This time of waiting and watching is not idle time – just ask any expectant parents! There’s plenty to do! The gospel tells us that we have work to do. In St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians we are reminded that we have been given every “spiritual gift” needed as we wait for the “revelation of our Lord, Jesus Christ.”
How will we recognize the Lord when he returns? Isaiah and his people didn’t want to be mistaken so they asked the Lord for awesome deeds to tear open the heavens and come down.

But in Advent, we remember that divine power is not revealed in pyrotechnic displays of fire and quaking mountains but in an immense love of a vulnerable child. God has ruptured the dividing line between divinity and humanity by taking on human flesh in Jesus Christ. God has veiled his blazing glory by becoming one of us.

The season of Advent asks us to embody Christ and to watch for the revelation of his presence in one another. In our watching and waiting we can become discouraged at how unlike Christ we have been. Isaiah and his people knew this too and lamented “all of us have become like unclean people, all our good deeds are like polluted rags;... or guilt carries us away like the wind.”

Like them, we’ve experienced God’s awesome redeeming acts but may be discouraged at how unlike Christ we are. Unable to re-shape the inner and outer messiness of our lives we can give ourselves over to the divine “potter” as Isaiah put it: “we are the clay and you the potter”.

As we continue on with our Eucharist, our thanksgiving, let us remember that in the end it isn’t we but God who is faithful and watchful. The Lord delays his return.
Kenny Chesney sings “Everybody wants to go to heaven but no body wants to go right now!” And to a certain degree Christ answers our prayer by delaying his return. If the Lord delays, it is for our own good so that we can be refashioned by the divine “potter” into a work of art – an empty bowl – open and waiting to be filled with the wonder of the Father’s love and glory. In that day, we shall see him face to face as he really is and live.

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Homily - Deacon Dan Hann - Nov. 16, 2008 - 33rd Ord. Time

It’s been almost forty years and I still deny that I had anything to do with it – it was in the back of a high school classroom and I was seated up front closest to the teacher’s desk. I don’t know what happened but a girl jumped out of her seat and turned to the boy sitting next to her and snapped “You’ll be sorry when Jesus comes!” Our class erupted with laughter - as if Jesus was coming anytime soon. “Fear of the Lord” wasn’t a high priority.
The scripture readings we’ve heard all have a sense of “the fear of the Lord” as a reference point. The husband who has for a wife a “woman who fears the Lord” has an unfailing prize. But the servant who feared his Lord and Master was an abject failure - thrown out into the darkness where there is a wailing and grinding of teeth.
So, what is “fear of the Lord” supposed to be? “Fear of the Lord” is an attitude of proper respect for God, based on a realistic appreciation of who God is and who we are. It expresses itself in actions that are appropriate to a servant of God. “Fear of the Lord” is not a recipe for passivity and inaction. Rather, it is the beginning of true wisdom.
When St. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians he was writing to a people who had become so pre-occupied with the return of Jesus that they had ceased to work and go about the daily things of life. They had forgotten who they were.
It would be like saying in our time “There’s no need to get the oil changed in the car – we won’t be driving it much longer. No point in going to work. “Your folks won’t mind if we move in with them, will they, Honey? It won’t be for long.” This is a negative sense of “fear of the Lord” where people are reduced to doing nothing.
St. Paul urged the Thessalonians to be prepared always and to be ever vigilant. That means continually acting as “children of the light” by doing what is positive, constructive, and life-affirming. In other words, they are to act out of “fear of the Lord” in its positive sense as the beginning of wisdom.
Two of the three servants in the gospel respected and understood their master and did what was positive, constructive and good. The capable wife in the first reading was anything but passive. She knows who she is and why she does what she does. Her life is motivated by recognizing who God is and who she is as she cares for her family and household.
So, who is God? God is the supreme being, the one who out of great love and goodness made us to know, love, and serve him in this world and in the next.
So, who are we? Well, we aren’t God. Thank God, we aren’t God. We are husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, students and teachers, employees and retirees. We weren’t always but we are now. We won’t always be but we are now.
Our heavenly Father expects us to do well what we are now. If we are a parent, God expects us to be a good parent. If a spouse – then, a good spouse; if an employer– then, a good employer; if a catechumen – then a good catechumen. God expects us to do a good job where he has placed us – that is a proper “fear of the Lord” when we respect God for who God is and we respect who we are.
When God is finished with us in our various roles in life, God will put us where we are next meant to be.
In our Eucharist, our great thanksgiving, the church prays that we be kept free from sin, protected from all anxiety and fear while waiting in joyful hope for the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
When the Lord comes again it will be, not to make us sorry, but to make everything right – to make things the way they are supposed to be. Is that something to fear? – not hardly. In the meantime, as we wait, may we be found bringing good and not evil to the place where God has put us for the time being.

Homily – Deacon Dan Hann - October 19, 2008 (29th Sunday Ord. Time)

A Catholic missionary was making his first visit to a former tribe of cannibals way back in the mountains of Borneo. The missionary asked the chief, “Do you people know anything about the Catholic faith?” After a thoughtful pause, the chief answered, “We got a little taste of it when the last missionary was here.”
Today is World Mission Sunday. Today, the Church also turns to St. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. This epistle is the oldest of the New Testament writings written only twenty years after Jesus’ death.

St. Paul is known as the “missionary to the Gentiles”. Today’s second reading is the beginning of his letter to the Christians in Thessalonica. Even if it is only a short time after Christ’s resurrection, it shows a maturation of Christian thought and doctrine. St. Paul, as he typically does in his letters, first gives God thanks for the Thessalonians and then praises their “work of faith”, their “labor of love”, and their “endurance in hope”. This is the first time but not the last that St. Paul ties faith, hope, and love together. Faith, hope, and love; these are the marks of an authentic Christian community. They are the signs of a community alive. They show human activity inspired by God. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy had preached the gospel by their words but the Holy Spirit had added power to their preaching. The success of this venture was evident in three ways: faith, hope, and love.

Even today, a good Christian community – whether a family or a parish, whether a mission outpost or mega- parish in the suburbs – is noted by faith, hope, and love. Christians have faith in God and demonstrate that faith by their worship together and prayer in private. Faith prompts believers to work for the sake of the gospel, spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. For Christian communities, love is a labor. It brings happiness and it starts from feelings of joy, but it demands hard work and patience. Communities thrive when the members are willing to do the hard work. Hope permits endurance. Waiting for the coming of Christ, we hope in his word. That hope helps us to continue when the struggle gets hard. Faith, hope, and love keep communities alive.

When the Church, through its missionaries, goes to a people who have not received the faith; the Church doesn’t enter into a void or emptiness but goes out to meet a grace, a gift already planted by God. Grace is already at work in every human individual and group but it needs to be tended, protected, and built up.
Each one of us is called to a mission, to live among a people who hunger for faith, hope, and love even if they don’t quite know what it is they seek. It could be our place of work, our school, or even among the wild savages of the family that we are called to give a little taste of faith, hope, and love. But a little can grow into a lot especially when the Holy Spirit empowers our words and actions.

As we continue on with our Eucharist let us give thanks for this banquet – a little taste of bread and wine – transformed by the power of the Spirit into the Body and Blood of Christ. Let us give thanks that we have been called to share in Christ’s sacrifice that won for us our salvation.

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Homily – Deacon Dan Hann - Com. of All the Faithful Departed 11-2-08

An old friend of mine once asked me “Have you ever achieved any of your childhood hopes?” I answered him “Yes, I have; when Mom used to comb my hair, I often wished I didn’t have any.” Some hopes disappoint. The Church provides us with many celebrations during the year. Whether it’s Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, St. Patrick’s Day, the Assumption of Mary or today’s Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed – as widely different as they are – they are signs that point to our hope in the Lord who has done great things for us.
In one sense, today’s feast focuses on our prayers to God on behalf of all who have died. This prayer touches on our belief in what is called purgatory. Like another word/term, Trinity, the word purgatory won’t be found in the Scriptures but the underpinnings for this belief are certainly there.

Scripture often reminds us that nothing imperfect or unclean can enter into the presence of God. Now Christians are forgiven but are they perfect? Look around you – what do you think? Better yet, look inward, there you will find the answer.
So, if we Christians are forgiven but imperfect at the hour of death how can we enter into the glory of heaven? Perhaps, as a parent, a spouse, a friend or an enemy I have hurt someone through my carelessness or meanness. I may readily find forgiveness but I still have a mess to clean up. Part of the mess is me – I may not be far from the kingdom but the carelessness or meanness keeps me imperfect. Now, God could (in the twinkling of an eye) bring me to perfection without a response from me. But God, out of love, created us with freedom to respond or to reject him. God doesn’t take that freedom away. And so a polishing of a “diamond in the rough” begins that brings us to that brilliance of the diamond that we are meant to be. That polishing, cleansing, and purging is what we call purgatory.

So, why do we pray for the dead? I think it is a common experience that when we are cleaning up the mess we made, someone (even a whole community) comes to our aid to pick up the pieces or repair the damage. Our prayer, especially the Mass is that help – “More good has been wrought by prayer than anything else.” Our liturgy today provides us with many signs that teach about the wonder and goodness of God. In the Letter to the Romans, St. Paul teaches that peace is the result of a correct relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This relationship permits boasting – boasting in the hope of the glory of God that is the resurrection. Because of the promise of the resurrection, we can even boast of affliction (even rough polishing!) that produces endurance, character, and hope. This hope destines all of humanity for an eternity with God through Christ.
In modern usage, the word hope is a wish, a possibility that still might not happen. That definition doesn’t work for St. Paul. Paul’s idea of hope is the glory of God – a “hope (that) doe not disappoint.” Paul insists that God’s love (which builds up hope) has been proven by Christ’s death that achieved reconciliation between God and the world even when we were enemies.

As we continue with our Eucharist, let us give thanks for Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection which is the boast of the Christian. Let us pray for those who undergo polishing – which can sometimes be as gentle as a soft cloth on fine silver or as rough as a wire brush grinding off rust. Our hope is in Christ who shares with us his brilliance and glory and that is a hope that does not disappoint.

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Homily - October 25/26 - Fr. Sill - 30Sunday Ord. Time 08 An elderly couple complained to their doctor that they were getting more and more forgetful and wanted to know what they should do. The doctor told them to write things down to help them remember.

When they got home and were watching TV that evening the wife asked her husband to get her a bowl of ice cream. The husband started off for it when the wife asked, “Aren’t you going to write that down?” “That’s easy enough to remember, I don’t need to write it down,” he said. “But I want strawberries on it and whipped cream on top, don’t you think you better write it down?” “Naw,” he said, “I can remember that…”

So the husband went to the kitchen and was gone for about 20 minutes when he returned with a plate of bacon and eggs for his wife. To which she responded, “I told you that you should have written it down, you forgot the toast.”

Memory is so very important to us. And even if we are not as forgetful as this couple, we probably can be selective in our memory when it suits us. The Bible is a collection of very important memories lest we forget where we came from, who we are meant to be and how we are to live. Our first reading reminds the Israelites that they were once aliens and were mistreated. The Lord reminds them of this and that they have a very binding and serious responsibility to remember this and to be considerate of the aliens in their midst…as well as protect those who are most vulnerable. God also reminds them not to take advantage of those in need by loaning at great interest.

These scriptural reminders are timely as we approach election day. For example, State Issue 5 is an attempt to limit current “payday lending fees” that seem to exploit people in need. Take the time to read up and be informed about this issue before you vote.

To be considerate of those who are most vulnerable certainly includes doing what we can to put an end to, or at least limit, abortions. I read recently that, not only do the majority of our country think abortion is wrong, but that 60% of our youth do as well. Yes, we need to do all those things to help mothers choose life over death for their babies…like supporting the LifePointe Family Center here in London…but we also need to do all that we can to eliminate the easy choice of abortion.

Another political issue that our scriptures have something to say about concerns our borders and the influx of aliens. Do we view illegal immigrants solely as a threat to us? Or, do we view them as people in need? Maybe what we need to do is pressure our politicians to have our government do what we can to help the Mexican government establish better economic policies that will create better living conditions there so that the people won’t need to come here to find a better life.

As we consider these and other political issues, we are reminded by our scriptures that we are to do what we can for those who are vulnerable and in need. Certainly we can debate about which way is the best way to do this and this is important to the process of finding the best solution. A major influence that guides our debate is our memory of what scripture has to say about this…including first and foremost that of which Jesus reminds us today in our gospel: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” And, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

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Homily – September 28, 2008 - Deacon Dan Hann, 26th Sunday Ordinary Time

The story is told of a father from southern India who also was having trouble with his sons. He was a wealthy landowner and his sons were very quarrelsome, always jealous of one another and always arguing among themselves. On his deathbed he called them and divided his property among them.

Then he called for some sticks to be brought, tied into a bundle, and asked them one by one, beginning with the eldest, to break the bundle. So long as the were closely bound together, they could not break any of the sticks. “Now,” he said to the eldest “untie the bundle and try to break the sticks one by one.” This was not difficult, and soon each of the sticks, broken one by one, lay before them in pieces.

The father thus taught them about unity: united they stood; divided they fell.
The reading today from St. Paul to the Philippians probably sounds very familiar. We heard it two weeks ago on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. We hear it every Palm Sunday and for those of us who pray the Liturgy of the Hours it is read every Sunday for First Vespers. The Church turns often to this reading for inspiration and reflection.

One of the most prominent themes of Paul’s letter to the Christians at Philippi is unity within the Church. The means to unity within the Church is to place the interests and needs of others above our own. Paul likens this self-sacrifice to the example of Christ who is the supreme example of self-sacrifice. Although divine, Jesus himself did not pursue divinity, but rather “emptied himself” humbling himself by becoming human and undergoing the suffering and death of the cross.

Jesus was very different from the Greek leaders and Roman emperors of that day who encouraged if not demanded that their followers worship them as gods. Jesus did precisely the opposite – he did not over-reach but rather under-reached, accepting a status well beneath what was his. And because Jesus did this, “God greatly exalted him and bestowed upon him the name that is above every name”. St. Paul insists that if each one submits his or her own needs, interests, and desires to the well-being of the Church, of others, they too can expect to be exalted with Christ.

We humans have a tendency to drop out of the bundle where we can be easily broken. But God has given us many gifts. St. Paul writes of compassion, mercy, solace, the Spirit, humility and love in his letter today. How do we use those gifts for our community? Do we put them on display grasping for admiration and fishing for compliments? Or do we pour out of ourselves humbly for the sake of others?

In athletics, have some of us become the “ball-hog”? Sure, it’s great to be the hero but there is no “I” in team. Within the family, do members take advantage of each other? Do some hold on to ancient hurts and feuds to prove how right they really aren’t?

Any community, but especially the Christian community is built upon three pillars: unity, humility, and solicitude for others – which must be kept free of cracks. Everywhere and always, a mean spirit of competition, the underhanded disparaging of others in order to win the first place for oneself leads to factions, rivalries, which are damaging even when not always obvious. Eaten from the inside, the pillar will crumple one day and the whole structure will cave in to ruin. But, in the community where unity reigns and where all members desire to occupy the last place, there will be no room for self-preoccupation.

As we continue on with our prayer of thanksgiving, the Eucharist, let us give thanks for those in our midst who do not grasp at greatness but rather empty themselves in service to others. But most of all let us give thanks for the suffering, the death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, who did not pretend to be a human being but became one like us so that he may unite us into his own divine glory.

September 6/7, 2008, 23 Sunday Ordinary Time - Fr. Theodore K. Sill

Our sense of justice most readily includes some sense of fairness…that things are proportional and balanced. We want things to be fair…according to the rules (as we make them.) We speak of fair trade. We want fair and balanced reporting. Some politicians speak of wanting “rich” individuals and corporations to pay their fair share of taxes. I know a priest who responds to just about everything with the line, “Whatever’s fair!”

Most of us probably believe that fairness is hard to make happen everywhere and all the time. However, most of us deep down would rather the scales of justice/fairness dip in our favor if they must go unbalanced. “I know the world isn’t fair, but why isn’t it ever unfair in my favor?” as a Calvin and Hobbs cartoon once put it. We begrudge as “unfair” whenever the circumstances of life favor someone else over us.

So much in life does seem unfair. Not all people who are careful about their health live longer than those who do not take care of their health. Children die before their parents. A spouse who wants to work on a marriage ends up getting dumped by a spouse who doesn’t want to work on it and instead opts for an affair. A husband and wife who desire greatly to have children can’t conceive while there are those who abort the child they conceive and don’t desire.

And when it comes to justice, we expect the punishment to be fair. People who have hurt us should pay a pound of flesh before we might feel like forgiving them. “It’s all only fair and just,” we say or think.

Certainly we have a right to expect God to be fair, we reason. As we hear and see in our scriptures today, God’s way of being fair and just is very different from our understanding of it. Isaiah reminds us of this when he speaks for God: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.” God’s way is marked by a generosity and mercy we don’t always understand or appreciate.

God’s sense of fairness marked by generosity and mercy is hard to take as presented by Jesus in our gospel parable. Surely those who worked the whole day deserve to be paid more than the ones who worked less. But to understand the parable in this way is to miss the point. The point is that all are called to work in the vineyard… that is, to be a part of God’s kingdom and to share in the fruit of the kingdom: eternal life. The invitation is offered repeatedly. None of us deserve this invitation…we can do nothing to earn this invitation…God generously and mercifully invites all to be a part of his vineyard.

Whether we respond to the invitation early in life, later in life, or on our deathbed, the reward is the same: eternal life. The one advantage to those who respond earlier in life is that we have the opportunity to enjoy this eternal life even now…we don’t have to wait to begin enjoying the fruits of our labors in the vineyard. These fruits include peace and joy as we look forward to enjoying the fullness of eternal life when we die. As we labor now in the vineyard, instead of waiting till later in life or on our deathbed, we share in God’s gifts even now.

In the end, however, it is more important to respond to the invitation even if that is later instead of sooner. As a priest I have had numerous occasions to be with people who have had “deathbed” repentances. You know, those people who live as they please…live selfishly…who haven’t been to Church in years…who seem to break every commandment…who don’t seem to care about anyone but themselves…

Even though there may be a certain sadness over what these kind of people missed out on by their not working in the vineyard all their lifelong, there is a greater joy that they finally responded to the invitation to be a part of the eternal kingdom of God. That, because late in life or at the last minute they repented of their wayward life and threw themselves at the feet of Jesus trusting in generous divine mercy, they will actually get to heaven is cause for our rejoicing. That may seem unfair to some, but I believe we are all in good company when thanking God for being so unfair.

September 6/7, 2008, 23 Sunday Ordinary Time - Fr. Theodore K. Sill

You may have caught wind of the story about House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who claimed (falsely) that the Church has only recently (“like maybe 50 yrs.”) maintained that human life begins at conception. She misrepresented the discussion about ensoulment and seems to have confused St. Augustine with St. Thomas Aquinas. She wrongly claimed that the Church has been debating this for centuries without coming to any conclusion, equating the discussion of ensoulment with abortion, which are two separate issues even if they are related. Her own confusion about Church teaching she presented as argument for the primacy of conscience…a primacy that doesn’t take into account what the Church (truthfully) teaches about abortion.

Archbishop Chaput, whose responsibility entails the diocese of Denver, spoke out to correctly teach what the Church has always taught about abortion. So did Washington Archbishop Wuerl. Both reiterated what the Catholic Catechism says about the Church’s constant teaching on abortion (Nos. 2270-2271): that the Church from the first century has always condemned abortion from conception to birth. Because of this, they pointed out that the ensoulment debate is irrelevant. Besides, modern science has shown irrefutably that conception marks the beginning of a human life. (See me for the finer points of this discussion.)

Both bishops, acting as the kind of “watchmen” described by Ezekial in our first reading, tried to warn Speaker Pelosi, and others who take her position, of the danger of those erroneous views. How often have we heard someone say something that just isn’t true about what the Church teaches, or is doing something that is sinful according to Church teaching, and we don’t say anything? We hold our tongue and leave it to others to say or do something about it.

I’ve had people who will tell me about a friend who is having an adulterous affair; or a child who is living with someone outside of or before marriage; or a spouse who is doing something terribly sinful, and want me to do talk to them about it. My first question is, “Have you spoken to them about it?” This is what our gospel tells us to do first, before others are brought into the problem. “I’m afraid I’ll cause too much trouble or lose my friend” is often the response.

There is an Aesop’s fable about 2 men traveling through a forest when suddenly an angry bear comes crashing at them. One of them, thinking only of his own safety, climbs a tree. The other, unable to fight the bear alone, drops to the ground and plays dead. The bear sniffs around the man’s head and then ambles away. The man in the tree climbs down and says, “It looked like that bear whispered something in your ear. What did he say?” To which the other man replied, “The bear said it is not wise to keep company with a fellow who would desert his friend in a time of danger.”

Who can we trust to not desert us when we are about to enter the danger of serious sin or are already in the danger of serious sin? Who can we count on to be a good friend to us when we are doing something dangerously sinful by trying to persuade us come to our senses? Who can we count on to set us straight with the truth about how we are headed down the path of destruction? Who cares enough for us to remind us of the importance of keeping the commandments as St. Paul does today? [cite Paul’s passage.]

All of us are called to be watchmen and watchwomen for one another. The responsibility comes with our baptism when we were anointed prophets. The responsibility that God placed on the prophet Ezekiel in our first reading is our responsibility as well.

The responsibility to love our neighbor is the one thing that St. Paul tells us we owe to each other. It is the one on-going debt that we should always owe. As Paul says, “Love does no evil to the neighbor…” Scripture clearly teaches today that not speaking out in love against what is evil, is itself doing an evil to our neighbor and a breaking of the commandment to love. We owe it to one another to support and encourage one another in keeping the commandments and the teachings of the Church.

May we always keep company with friends who will not desert us in those times when we are in danger of sin but who instead will speak the truth to us. And may we be watchful friends ready to speak kindly the truth of Christ to those in danger of sin or error.

August 30/31 - 22nd Sunday Ordinary Time - Fr. Theodore K. Sill

School started this week. The first graders filed out of mass in a single line following their teacher. Much of the younger class movement happens that way…single file line-up following where the teacher leads. Sometimes you even hear the start-up phrase that goes something like: “Line up behind me and follow in single file.” Students who get out of line are likely to be scolded.

In our gospel passage Jesus scolds Peter for getting out of line. This happened when Peter heard Jesus say He was going to Jerusalem to carry out God’s plan of salvation. Jesus and the disciples knew that going there would be trouble. Jesus even tells them how much trouble: death.

Peter doesn’t like this plan and tells Jesus so…and gets scolded by Jesus. Jesus calls him “Satan” because Peter says what Satan had already said to tempt Jesus into avoiding any suffering. Jesus also tells Peter to get behind me…not unlike a teacher would tell a student to get in line and follow. Peter is to get behind Jesus and follow him to Jerusalem. The suffering and death of Jesus is inevitable…and following Jesus is not going to be easy.

Life is not easy and following Jesus is not going to make it any easier. It is a great mistake to think that we can make life easy for ourselves or for our children. We may be able to make life comfortable, but we cannot make it possible to go through life without enduring any pain. If we are truly following the teaching…the way of Jesus, we will have some pain to endure.

Life is not easy is not the whole message, however. Jesus doesn’t promise us a pain-free life if we put our faith in Him. What Jesus does promise us is that if we follow Him, He will lead us through them to new life. We are not to be swallowed up by our pain and hardships but transformed by them…transformed through them.

Following Jesus entails having a willingness to live sacrificially…to live for others…to live for God…to offer ourselves in the words of St. Paul “…as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God…”
[5:00 p mass--This is what it means to be baptized into Jesus Christ…something we will witness shortly as Scott Haddock is baptized. As we witness his baptism, may we be encouraged to renew our own promise to live sacrificially for others and to follow Jesus as he leads us through the pain of this life to everlasting glory.]

[Sun. a.m. masses—As we receive the food of courage that is Jesus Christ in this Eucharist, may we be strengthened to live sacrificially for others and to follow Jesus as He leads us through the pain of this life to everlasting glory.]

August 16/17, 2008, 20th Sunday Ordinary Time

Someone sent me some Christian One Liners that included the following: “Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisers.” “Quit griping about your church; if it was perfect, you couldn’t belong.” “Some minds are like concrete, thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.”

Today’s gospel is addressed to those who may have minds that are thoroughly mixed up and in danger of being permanently set. And the gospel writer addresses this problem with several one-liners that hit home hard. Jesus cuts with the first one-liner in response to the Canaanite woman (non-Jew) who comes asking for a miracle to save her daughter from a demon: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Jesus was mouthing what many believed at the time: that only the chosen people of God could be shown mercy by God. Jesus is really setting up his followers for a reversal of their mixed-up thinking since the Jewish leaders, and hence most of the people, believed that the Messiah would only come to save them.

The concrete thinking of the time was that Gentiles…non-Jews… would not be shown any sympathy by God. The Gentile woman persists in asking for sympathy for her daughter. Jesus only cuts deeper with his one-liner answer: “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” Ouch!

The woman does not give up; instead she comes back with a great one-liner of her own: “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Jesus caves in with sympathy at that point and the woman’s daughter is healed.

In that short exchange of one-liners Jesus attempts to overcome some thoroughly mixed up, but hopefully not permanently set, thinking. He fulfils the prophesy that had been part of the Old Testament and is expressed by Isaiah in our first reading where the house of the Lord “shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” All people can rightly call on the Lord for salvation…for mercy.

All peoples can call on Jesus for salvation…for mercy. This is what St. Paul acknowledges and celebrates in our second reading where he reminds us that God wants all to experience His merciful salvation as shown through faith in Jesus Christ. This is what the Canaanite women experiences when, in faith, she calls out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!” Her plea became a one-liner prayer for the early Christians. That one-liner prayer seeking mercy is our plea as well. Here in this Eucharist we seek the food of God’s children…a food that keeps us strong in our faith so that we never grow tired of crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David!”

August 3, 2008 - 18th Sunday Ordinary Time Year A08

Jesus is faced with a big problem in our gospel today: feeding a multitude of people. Matthew says about 5 thousand not counting women and children. Say if each man had a wife and one child conservatively, that would mean there were at least 15 thousand hungry people. Jesus had pity on them, so he doesn’t take the disciples advice and tell the hungry crowd to go find food for themselves. Sending them into the villages might have caused a stampeding riot!

Neither does Jesus form a committee to talk about the problem and come up with some ideas and options that they can throw back into his lap. He didn’t take the easier way out and miraculously turn the stones into bread as Satan once tempted him after his 40 days of fasting in the desert. As God is more inclined to do, Jesus involves humans in solving the problem. “Grace builds on nature,” as the saying goes. This is what Jesus does. If all you have is 5 loaves and 2 fish, you take what you have to work with and you go for broke. No pun intended, because this is exactly what He did: “…he said the blessing, broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.”

We then hear that all had enough to eat and that there were even leftovers! Jesus takes what little He has to work with from us and is able to multiply it and perform miracles. Notice he expects us to do our part and give in faith, trusting that he can multiply what we give.

I can think of several examples of how that happens right here in St. Patrick Parish. Most recently during the BAA…during a time when many are wondering what the future will bring…besides rising prices on just about everything…and whether jobs will be secure… many parishioners have pledged to support our future activities/recreation center. Their faith in God to provide has enabled them to pledge a record amount of nearly $118,000… with new pledges and donations continuing to come in. When each gives what they can…no matter how small they might think it is…God can multiply it to accomplish great things.

Another example is found in our parishioners who give of their time to help with some of the many opportunities that arise in our parish and community. Sometimes they have to fight the tendency to be embarrassed that they have only a little time to give to something. When that time is added to all the others giving a little time to volunteer, it can add up to a lot of time given and a lot of things being accomplished. You no doubt have encountered those who can offer a lot of ideas, but seem to have not even a little time to accomplish any of them. We never lack ideas around here. What we need most are volunteers to give a little time with others to get these ideas done!

Many of you know that we are doing what Bishop Campbell has asked every parish to do: a self-study. This study is already highlighting some things we need to do as a parish. We will only be able to do as much as we have people who are willing to give some of their time, talents, and treasure to accomplish these ideas. Consider letting God multiply whatever you have to offer so that some miracles can happen here in London.

The last example I offer today of how God multiplies what we offer and works miracles happens next. Today’s gospel miracle is meant to be a preview of the Eucharist where we believe that the grace of Jesus builds on human nature. Here the priest, through the grace of God is able to take the bread we offer, bless, break and give it so that our hunger will be satisfied. Here Jesus feeds us with the eternal life that is Him. The miracle of multiplication and feeding continues even now.

July 20, 2008 - 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Father Ted Sill)

The Gospel parables today attempt to answer a basic human question: How can God allow evil to coexist with good? Why doesn’t God just wipe out all evil people and end the evil that is being done? This was a question that often confronted the chosen people of God on many levels. For, if they were truly chosen, how was it that it didn’t seem like that much of the time…it didn’t seem like they were God’s favored? They had been conquered and occupied many times, presently by the Romans. How could Jesus, a good person, hang out with sinners; people who were known for their participation in evil? How could bad things be allowed to happen to good people if God really loves us?

Jesus answers in today’s parables. All three examples present symbols of corruption/evil: weeds that threaten the wheat; mustard seed, which is a weed that is particularly noxious, large and overpowering; and yeast, which grows and infects in dark, damp places. All three represent the unholy, the profane, that which is ordinary. The kingdom of God can exist in the most unlikely of places. And God gives everyone a chance while they are living to be even that example where good triumphs over evil in the end. Everyone has that chance, though, only while they are living. Eventually there will be judgment day.

Jesus’ practice of hanging out with outcasts, sinners, the dregs of society, is God’s attempt to reach out to everyone. The kingdom of God is to be found in the most unexpected places. Everyone has at the core of their being enough freedom to chose to be a part of that kingdom…or not. As long as one is living, no matter how much evil they have done, the kingdom of God has a chance to break into one’s life in the form of loving mercy and forgiveness.

Fr. Thomas Keating, in his book The Kingdom of God is Like… tells a story to drive home this point. An acquaintance of his, a mother of an only child, had her son shot to death by a sociopath…a man who killed for the sheer pleasure of exercising power over an innocent and helpless victim. The man is convicted and sent to prison for life. Many of us might feel that the murderer should be put to death.

The mother was devastated by this senseless murder of her son and plagued by many questions: “Why couldn’t God have done something to prevent it? Why my son? Is this punishment for my sins? Does God really love me?” For her, the tragedy was pure evil…monumental corruption. Where can God be found in all of it?

After time and prayer she decided to write her son’s murderer and tell him that she forgave him. For a year she heard no response. Then a letter came with a matter-of-fact acknowledgment, but no remorse.

She wrote back asking if he would see her. Again, the wait of about a year and finally a note comes saying “yes.” She went with a social worker and met the murderer of her son. He spent the entire time talking, deadpan, of his lousy childhood…of the great physical abuse he endured…that he was unwanted. It was easy to explain his antisocial, narcissistic behavior. At one point he confessed, “You cannot imagine the immense joy I felt when I stood over your son and realized that I had killed him.” It was the first time he had felt any power in his life.

The mother stood her ground and reaffirmed her forgiveness of him. The social worker was flabbergasted at the mother’s calm forgiveness to the one who had caused her great pain. This social worker later wrote the mother saying, “This man has started to change. He shows a little more courtesy and consideration for the other inmates.”

The mother wrote the prisoner, offering to visit again. His response was immediate: “Please don’t come again. I’m afraid, if you keep coming, I’ll have to face the unbearable pain of my childhood.” She went anyway and embraced him at the end of the visit…during which she saw a tiny tear in the corner of his eye.

Fr. Keating asks, “Was God’s kingdom active in the monumental corruption involved in this event?” He answers, “Perhaps the movement of one person form total inhumanity to the capacity to shed a single tear is a greater act of God than the sanctification of a saint? Who can judge?” Jesus had meals and hung out with outcast whom everyone had already given up on. Surely the kingdom of God was active in that and it is at work everywhere.

These parables seem to show that the kingdom may be at its greatest work in the events that are infected with pure evil. As Fr. Keating writes, “To draw a single tear, to us almost imperceptible, from a heart of stone must cause all creation to vibrate with joy and wonder at the power of the kingdom and of God’s love.”

July 6, 2008 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Joe was in love with a very tall woman. Every time he took her out he longed to kiss her. One night he summoned the courage: “May I kiss you?” She was agreeable. Since Joe was much shorter, they looked around for something he could stand on. They found an abandoned smithy with an anvil in it that gave just the height Joe needed.

After they had walked a mile or so Joe said, “May I have another kiss, darling?” “No,” she said. “I’ve given you one and that’s enough for tonight.” To which Joe responded, “Then why didn’t you stop me from carrying around this darned anvil?” The moral is: Love bears a burden and yet feels no burden!

We seem to encounter much in life that feels like a burden. Even when we try to make life more comfortable, it seems to get more burdensome. We can get a car with all the gadgets, and when something goes wrong, it becomes burdensome to get it repaired… Some get large houses thinking they will be more comfortable…but they can be a burden to clean.

Much of the Church’s teaching is viewed by the world as a burden: sexual morality, work place ethics, celibacy…Those who have more than a couple of children are often looked at by the worldly as crazy. Why would anyone want the burden of so many children? This is certainly often the mindset that justifies abortion or contraception.

Yet for those who are generous with their love…who love like Christ…who love Christ…love bears a burden, yet feels no burden…or maybe just a little burden sometimes! How can the burden be minimal? Jesus tells us today: by being yoked to him. The yoke is used to focus the oxen’s power and keep them pulling in the same direction. It sets the course. Two oxen can do more than one and with less burden.

In the OT the yoke referred to the Law of Moses. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law. The Way of Jesus is our yoke. We feel the burden of life when we try to go our own independent way. Those yoked to Jesus follow the way of love that sets our course in the right direction.

The self-righteous and proud have no need for being yoked to Jesus. The humble and simple…the little ones…the childlike delight in being yoked to Jesus. In doing so, we accept His way as the sure way to God and find life a lot less burdensome. This childlike approach to accepting the yoke of Jesus is key. The image of a child is tied to the word humility which comes from 2 Latin words: humilis = low; and humus = earth. A child is one who is literally low to the earth. Children know that and rely on big people to help.

My story of “pyoops” is earliest memory of my childhood…fell into a hole with “pyoops”-spiders! I could have climbed out on my own but would have taken too long. I called for my Dad…not my mom or older sister…Dad got there quick and lifted me out before the hairy tarantula got me.

Our psalmist tells us that God is just like that: “…lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down…” or threatened by pyoops! But we must have the confidence of a child trusting that God is like a father always ready to lift us up. Too many of us rely on ourselves for way too long to get out of the holes we fall or jump into. We turn to God only as a last resort.

Maybe if we were yoked to Jesus in the first place, we might not have gotten off course and fallen. Those willing to be yoked to Jesus become humble enough to learn from His Church. Mother Margaret Mary: “If you disagree with the Church’s teaching, then you are wrong…it’s that simple.” Being yoked to Jesus will challenge us. If we are humble enough to learn we will find the rest and peace that Jesus promises. By being yoked to Jesus we will bear a burden and yet feel little burden.