ANGELS ASCENDING AND DESCENDING

Homily for January 5th, 2019: John 1:43-51.

“We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets,” Philip tells his friend Nathanael, “Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” Nathanael responds with skepticism: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Nazareth was then an insignificant village, unmentioned in the Old Testament.

          Despite this skepticism Nathanael is willing to accept his friend Philip’s invitation to “Come and see.” This attitude of openness is what causes Jesus to call Nathanael “a true child of Israel,” with no duplicity in him.” Many of Jesus’ own people lacked this openness. We see this in their many demands that Jesus produce some dramatic “sign” which would compel belief; and in their refusal to heed the signs Jesus did offer: his miracles.

          Philip was telling Nathanael, in effect, that he had found the one so long foretold by the Jewish scriptures: the Lord’s anointed servant, the Messiah. Nathanael responds to Jesus’ identification of him as “a true child of Israel” without duplicity by an explicit acknowledgment of what Philip has just told him: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”

          Acknowledging the faith expressed in Nathanael’s words, Jesus tells him that further blessings await him: “You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” The words are the climax of this brief reading, and the most important. They tell us that Jesus is the contact person between earth and heaven, between humanity and God.  

We contact God by offering prayers to our heavenly Father through his Son Jesus, in and through the Holy Spirit, who inspires us to pray and supports us as we do so. The ascending angels are carrying our prayers heavenward. And the descending angels are bringing us the Father’s blessings in answer to our prayers. If we were on that ladder, we’d grow tired of going up and down. God’s angels are never weary. They are active always – on our behalf.

WHO WERE THE WISE MEN?

Homily for January 6th, 2018: Epiphany: Matthew 2:1-12

AIM:  To present the wise men’s search as a model for us.

          Who were these “magi from the east,” who set out to follow a star and found instead “the child [Jesus] with Mary his mother”? We know the magi from other translations as “the Wise Men.” To their contemporaries they were not wise. They were crackpots who were not playing with a full deck. Who were they in reality?

1.       The Wise Men were searchers.

In his book about the infancy narratives in the gospels of Luke and

Matthew, Pope Benedict XVI says that the Wise Men “represent the inner dynamic of religion toward self-transcendence, which involves a search for truth, a search for the true God and hence ‘philosophy’ in the original sense of the word.” (p. 95) They were not content with routine, with life as they found it. They wanted more. Yet the Wise Men were not idle daydreamers. They were willing to abandon routine, to set out on what seemed to everyone but themselves a madcap journey, following a star.

          People are searching today – searching for answers to life’s mysteries. If this is God’s world, people ask, why does he permit so much pain, injustice, and suffering? Must we always live under the threat of international terrorism? How can we master the dark forces within ourselves that threaten to drag us down from the highest and best that deep in our hearts we want, and to destroy our inner peace: dark forces like envy, hatred, lust, resentments, sloth, and the self-centeredness of conceit and pride? Is death simply the end, like the snuffing out of a candle? Or is there life beyond death?   

          Those are just some of the questions that perplex us today. There are many more. Sometimes it seems there is no end to life’s questions, problems, and mysteries. When we are tempted to fear that there are no real answers to our questions, because life at bottom is meaningless, the Wise Men can help us. Like us, they were searchers. But they were more.

2.       The Wise Men were discoverers.

          They continued their search despite its seeming futility, despite all discouragements and setbacks. In the end they were rewarded. They found the One they were looking for. Matthew tells us that when the Wise Men finally arrived at the end of their long journey, “they were overjoyed.”

          The One whom they encountered as a baby would speak often about this joy three decades later. He would tell of the shepherd’s joy at finding his lost sheep; of the woman’s joy at finding her lost coin; the joy of the dealer in precious stones finding one day in the bazaar a pearl so large and flawless that it made all he had seen and owned up to then seem cheap baubles by comparison; the joy of the day laborer at discovering in his employer’s field an unsuspected treasure that would change his life. 

          For all these people the joy of discovery was purchased at the price of lengthy searching. Even the laborer accidentally finding the treasure buried in the field he was plowing had behind him years of grinding toil, when the very idea that he could ever rise above the subsistence level seemed ludicrous. The Wise Men’s joy was purchased at the price of perseverance in the face of many defeats and the scorn of those who thought them mad.

          Our own search for answers to life’s mysteries is – whether we know it or not – a search for the One whom the Wise men found. It is a search for God. The search is not in vain. God can be found. God wants to be found.

          We think the search is all ours. In reality, God is already searching for us.  The One who led the Wise Men by the shining of a star leads us onward by the powerful attraction of his love, shining in the face of his Son, Jesus Christ. For us, as for the Wise Men at the end of their search, great joy awaits: the overwhelming joy of knowing that we have been found by the One who, all along, was searching for us, though we never realized it at the time. 

          The Wise Men’s search, and their joy in discovering the One they sought, encourage us. But the Wise Men were not only searchers and discoverers –

3.       The Wise Men were worshippers.

          Matthew tells us that in the joy of discovery, “they prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh” – the most precious, and the most costly thing that each possessed.

          The end of the search, then, is neither the discovery nor the joy. When at last you have found the One who, all along, has been searching for you, everything is transformed. The only fitting response is worship.

          To worship means to forget ourselves. It means entrusting ourselves to the One who is greater than our greatest thought and higher than our most lofty imagining; and yet who is present in the humblest and smallest and weakest of his creatures, as he was present in the infant at Bethlehem. Worship is the highest form of prayer there is. The late Bishop Fulton Sheen wrote:

          “The person who thinks only of himself says prayers of petition. The person who thinks of his neighbor says prayers of intercession. The person who thinks only of loving and serving God says prayers of abandonment to God’s will. And that is the prayer of the saints.”  

So who were the Wise Men? They are our fellow travelers on life’s pilgrimage. Matthew leaves them nameless. Hence they can bear our names. Wise is every Anne and John and Mary and David who is not content with life as it is; who is willing to break with routine in order to search for answers to life’s mysteries; who refuses to admit that life is meaningless, but continues to search for answers and meaning despite all difficulties and discouragements. Yes, wise are all those who persevere in this search until it ends in joy – and joy gives way to worship.

          Who, then, are the Wise Men? The Wise Men are ourselves, in God’s plan and according to God’s will. One thing alone can prevent the accomplishment of God’s plan and God’s will for your life: your own deliberate and final No. 

          “And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,” we heard at the end of the gospel, “they departed for their country by another way.” The Fathers of the Church say, ‘But of course’: no one comes to Jesus and goes back the same way he came. The encounter with the Lord changes us. We go home from Mass changed, because here we have been brought into the bright circle of God’s love – not just to give us a warm feeling inside, but so that we may share that love with others: Jesus’ sisters and brothers – and ours too. 

"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?"

Homily for January 4^th, 2019: John 1:35-42.

 

           “What are you looking for?” Jesus asks the two disciples of John the Baptist who have just heard him say, pointing to Jesus: “Behold the Lamb of God.” The two respond with a typically Jewish counter question: “Where are you staying?” To which Jesus responds with an invitation: “Come and see.” They do so -- and their lives are changed. They become Jesus’ friends, then his disciples, and finally apostles: his messengers to others.   

Jesus is asking us this question, right now: What are you looking for? Why have you come out in the dark and cold? What are you looking for in your life? Is it “the good life” advertised in glorious technicolor on our TV screens? Have you found the pursuit of that life satisfying, and fulfilling? Or is there still an emptiness inside that you cannot fill, and longings that remain unsatisfied, try as you may?

          So what are you looking for? You may not know it, but at bottom you are looking for love. You want a love that will not let you go, that will not let you down. You yearn for a love that will not cheat or deceive or frustrate you; a love that will fulfill the deepest longings of your heart, your mind, your soul. That is what you are looking for. That is what I am looking for – and what every one of us is looking for.

          Perhaps you have grown weary with looking and think the search is hopeless. You are wrong. There is someone who can satisfy your deepest longings. His name is Jesus Christ. Now, in this hour, he is challenging you with the same invitation he extended to Andrew and his friend: to come and stay with him. Accepting that invitation is the first step in becoming Jesus’ disciple – his follower and his friend.  

That is wonderful – and beautiful. But it is only the beginning. Jesus Christ wants you to become his friend, his disciple, his follower, so that he can make you his apostle: his messenger to carry the all-consuming love which he offers you here to those to whom he sends you: his sisters and brothers – yes, and yours too.

THE HOLY NAME OF JESUS

Homily for January 3^rd, 2019: The Holy Name of Jesus.

          We celebrate today the Holy Name of Jesus, a word which means “God saves.” The Catechism says: “To pray ‘Jesus’ is to invoke him and to call him within us.” The Catechism adds that the repetition of this name, as a prayer, is possible at all times, “because it is not one occupation among others, but the only occupation: that of loving God, which animates and transfigures every action in Christ Jesus.” (Nos. 2666 & 2668).

Soon after I entered seminary, 70 years ago, I resolved to pray the holy name of Jesus every time I went up or downstairs. I say “Jesus” at every step. This is my way of fulfilling St. Paul’s command to “pray always” (1 Thess. 5:17). It reminds me that I am always in the presence of God. The blessings which this brings are beautifully described in some hymn verses, written over 200 years ago in England.

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds / in a believer’s ear!

It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds / and drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole / And calms the troubled breast;

’Tis manna to the hungry soul / And to the weary rest.       

Dear name, the rock on which I build / My shield and hiding-place,

My never-failing treasure filled / with boundless stores of grace.

Jesus, my Shepherd, Guardian, Friend, / My Prophet, Priest, and King,

My Lord, My Life, my Way, My End / Accept the praise I bring.

Weak is the effort of my heart / And cold my warmest thought;

But when I see thee as thou art, / I’ll praise thee as I ought.

Till then I would thy love proclaim / with every fleeting breath;

And may the music of thy name / Refresh my soul in death.

J.Newton, 1725-1807

 

"I AM THE VOICE."

 

Homily for January 2^nd, 2019: John 1:19-28.

          The preaching of John the Baptist, accompanied by mass baptisms, created a sensation. Great numbers went out into the desert, where John lived, to hear him and to be baptized by him. (Cf. Matt. 3:5) The Jewish Scriptures, which we call the Old Testament, speak in several places of the Lord taking away sins by the pouring of water. It is understandable, therefore, that the religious authorities in Jerusalem send messengers to John to ask what was going on, and what was his authority. 

          John’s response to their questions is simple: “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’” These words hark back to a passage in the prophet Isaiah: “A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be laid low.” (Is. 40:3f) Isaiah’s words were directed to his people in exile in Babylon. The angels, Isaiah told his people, were preparing a way for them to return from captivity to their homeland in Palestine.

“Like a modern bulldozer, the angels would level hills and fill in valleys, and thus prepare a superhighway. John the Baptist’s role was to prepare a road, not for God’s people to return to the promised land [as in Isaiah’s day], but for God to come to his people. John’s baptizing and preaching in the desert was opening up people’s hearts, leveling their pride, filling their emptiness, and thus preparing them for God’s intervention.” (Cited from Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel according to John, p.50)

John, as we saw before Christmas, was a voice for the One who is the Word: God’s personal communication to us, to show us, who cannot see God, what God is like. John’s message is still preparing people’s hearts and minds to encounter God’s Son and Word. He does so in what were perhaps the greatest of the Baptist’s words: “He must increase. I must decrease.” (John 3:30) Take those words with you into the year that is just one day old today. Let them be your guide during the remaining 364 days of this year of 2017. They will keep you close to the One who alone can make this a happy year for you.

“He must increase. I must decrease.”    

"THE WORD BECAME FLESH."

Homily for December 31^st, 2018: John 1:1-18.

          If you came to Mass on Christmas morning, you probably heard this gospel. You may have thought it strange. Where are the shepherds, the manger, Mary and Joseph? Where is their child? Instead of these familiar Christmas figures we have heard about abstractions: light and darkness, the Word becoming flesh.

Let=s start with another word: Aincarnation.@  It means Ataking on flesh, embodiment.@ This building is the incarnation of an idea in the mind of the architect who designed it, and of the sacrifices that made its construction possible. Children are the incarnation of their parents= love. And Jesus is the incarnation of God. 

We cannot see God. Jesus shows us what God is like. That is why this Christmas gospel calls Jesus God=s Word. A word is used to communicate. Jesus is God=s word because he is God=s communication to us: not a lifeless, abstract statement, but God=s living and breathing utterance and self-disclosure.    

When we listen to Jesus, we hear God speaking to us. When we look at Jesus, we see what God is like. What do we see when we look at Jesus? We see that he preferred simple, ordinary people. He came to the world in a provincial village where nothing interesting or important ever happened. Jesus moved not among wealthy or sophisticated people, or among scholars and intellectuals, but among ordinary people. They were the ones who welcomed him most warmly.  The rich and powerful and learned had difficulties with Jesus. Many were hostile to him – then, and still today.

In his youth Jesus worked with his hands in the carpenter=s shop. His teaching was full of references to simple things: the birds of the air, the wind and the waves, the lilies of the field, the vine, the lost sheep, the woman searching for her one lost coin, leavening dough with yeast, the thief breaking in at night. Those were images that everyone could understand. Jesus also told stories: so simple that they capture the interest of children; yet so profound that learned scholars are still studying them today.

In preferring simple people and simple things, Jesus was showing us what God is like. He who is God=s utterance and word, God=s personal communication to us, is saying through all the circumstances of his life that God loves humble people. God is especially close to those who feel that they are not in control of their lives; that they are the victims of circumstances; that their lives are a tangle of loose ends and broken resolutions.

It is because God gave us his Son at Christmas that we give gifts to one another. The greatest gift we can give cannot be bought in any store. It is the gift God gave us at Christmas: the gift of himself. Look at Mary=s child: helpless, vulnerable, and weak, as all babies are. He is God=s way of saying: >This is how much the Lord God, creator of heaven and earth, loves you; enough to be become tiny, insignificant, vulnerable.= Jesus, the personal utterance and word of God, is God=s gift to each one of us. He wants us to share this gift with others.