The title of my thoughts for today is, “Two New Testament
Characters Named Philip.”
Today is the feast day of the first one - Philip the
Apostle - and the second is Philip in the Acts of the Apostles - called,
“Philip the Evangelist.”
I going to talk about both of them because both of them
brought people to Jesus. I’m skipping James - the other person in today’s feast
day. There are supposedly 3 James in the Early Church mix of characters.
I would like to stress that that’s our call: to bring
people to Jesus.
THE PHILIP IN
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
Philip the Apostle gets some unique recognition in the
Gospel of John.
In Chapter One of John he’s is called by Jesus - meets
him - follows Jesus. His first step is to head for Nathaniel and bring him to
Jesus.
The Philip-Nathanael situation goes a bit like Andrew
meeting Jesus and then bringing his brother Peter to Jesus.
This Philip is from the same town as Peter and Andrew and
their stories begin with the moment they meet Jesus.
It seems in John - when someone meets Jesus they want to
tell others about Jesus. They want to introduce other people to Jesus.
Then in Chapter 14 of the Gospel of John, it’s Philip who is approached by some Greeks
who want to meet Jesus. Then Philip does the introduction. And notice in this
Chapter 14 story about Philip - which is today’s gospel - Andrew’s name shows
up in the mix and the meeting as well.
And notice Philip asks Jesus to show him the Father -
which is a major theme in the Gospel of John.
If you want good stuff for prayer, it’s right there -
wanting to meet Jesus and wanting to know what the Father is like and who He
is.
Ask for that in prayer.
PHILIP IN THE
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
And in the Acts of the Apostles we have the so called,
“Philip the Evangelist.”
He does the same thing that Philip the Apostle does -
this bringing someone to Jesus.
This Philip runs into an Ethiopian - a eunuch and an
officer in the court of the Queen of Ethiopia.
He’s the chief treasurer. He’s in
a chariot. He’s on his way home. And he’s reading the prophet Isaiah.
And Philip gets the inspiration to run over to the
chariot and ask the occupant if he knows what he’s reading. “Do you
understand?”
And the Ethiopian gives the great answer, “How can I
understand, unless I have someone to guide me?”
That scene becomes the name of a good book on Bible
reading: Unless Some Man Show Me [1962]. It’s by Alexander Jones.
The Ethiopian invites Philip to get into the chariot and
Philip introduces this man to Jesus and surprise he baptizes him right then and
there when they go by some water - along the road.
I wonder if that quick baptism enters into some Early
Church discussions about when to baptize.
I love the line, “And the eunuch never saw him again but
went away rejoicing.”
THOUGHTS
We’re called to introduce people to Jesus.
Think about the people who got you to visit Jesus in the
Eucharistic Adoration Chapel or any church - or the people who ran Bible study
programs - say on Isaiah - and introduced you to Jesus.
I think of all the places I preached - where I preached to a lot of people I never
saw again. I also think of all the people
who gave me Jesus.
CLOSING EXAMPLE
This is getting too long, so let me close with a quick
example.
I was about to take a 3 hour car ride, so I looked for
something for the car tape system. This was before CD’s.
I grabbed a cassette I had not listened to in 25
years. Surprise. As I’m listening to it
- I hear this great example - that I used in a sermon - but I thought it was my
idea - that I was original.
Surprise I stole it without knowing it.
I just noticed in yesterday’s news that Marine La Pen in France is being accused of plagiarizing parts of a speech by Francois Fillon.
Having discovered I borrowed something from someone else,
without realizing it, I have sympathy.Let’s plagiarize the Word of God, the word made flesh, Jesus Christ. Then
let us bring Jesus to others. Amen.
Today is the feast of
Saint Athanasius - so a few words about him on his feast day - May 2nd.
His dates are 295 to May
2, 373 - 78 years of life. Nice....
He’s born in Alexandria,
Egypt - which had a lot of Christians in his time. It had a great catechetical
school - and it was a central educational center. Numbers of Christians back
then in that city - I’m not that scholarly. Right now
Egypt has 92 million people - 10% who are Christian. 270,000 are Catholics - and the pope went to
see them a week ago or so. I was trying to find out if he went to Alexandria -
where there was a bombing of a Coptic Church about 10 years ago. It looks like
he just went to Cairo. I assume security was tough, tough stuff.
So Athanasius was Egyptian
for starters - but he was part of the Egyptian culture of the 300’s.
In the Church - it was the
time of trying to pull together the great teachings about Christ - and the Trinity.
Cardinal Newman - said that
Athanasius was key in conveying further along the way, “the sacred truths of Christianity.”
The Christ born of Mary -
the Christ who walked our roads - breathed our air - healed and helped people -
the Christ crucified on the Cross - the Risen Christ of Easter - was and always was, God and will always be
God. So too the 3rd person in God - the Holy Spirit.
So our religion is all
about hearing about, meeting God in person - in the 3 persons in the Holy
Trinity.
Our religion has doctrines
and creeds - but the key experience is to enter into a relationship with the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
SUGGESTION - THEOLOGY AT OUR FINGER TIPS
I’m sure you’ve heard in a
dozen homilies the Orthodox as well as Eastern Catholic way of
making the sign of the cross. These 3 fingers are brought together at their
tips: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Then the pinky and 4th finger are
bent over - and the tips of those two fingers touch the palm of our hands. These 2
fingers symbolize the humanity and divinity of Christ.
So there it is at our
finger tips as we make the sign of the cross - in the name of the Father, Son
and Holy Spirit. Cross my heart and hope
to die.
Suggestion: that would be a good
way to sit down in a quiet chair in our home or here at church - and enter into
the Holy Trinity.
AA
The main nemesis of
Athanasius’ life was a priest name Arius - who almost destroyed Christianity.
Arius dates are 256-336. He was from Libya - but settled in Alexandria for a
while. Arius said that Jesus as God was not equal to God the Father - but born in time.
St. Athanasius stood up to
Arius and anyone who did not see the 3 persons in the Trinity as equal and
forever.
God is a Trinity - 3
persons, 1 God.
All 3 persons have always
been - God.
All 3 persons are infinite
All 3 persons are equal - but distinct.
It is difficult - to get
this - in fact we won’t - we are not God. Yet St. Athanasius said, “The Son of
God became man so that we might become God.”
EXILE
St. Athanasius was not
killed - he was not a martyr - like Stephen in today's first reading from Acts 7: 51-8:1. Yet he was persecuted and hunted. He went into exile 5 times because of
his beliefs - and his standing up to those who denied the divinity of Jesus
Christ.
As I was reading about
this last night, I found out that one motive for Arius and others - was to
simplify the idea of who Christ was. Son
means son - and sons come along in time. Well, Christ was son - the Son of God
- but always being begotten by the Father.
That’s mystery - and we don’t get it. But we have all eternity - now and for all eternity to enter into God and get deeper and deeper into God. CONCLUSION So that's a few ideas about Athanasius. Type his name into Google and see where that takes you.
May 2, 2017
CALL-AND-RESPONSE
Call-and-response - is the key
to religious services. God calls….
Do I respond? Do I raise my hand
and say, “I am
here - willing and able?”
Call-and-response - is the key
to relationships. The other calls….
Do I respond? Do I
raise my hand
and say, “I am here - willing and able?”
Call-and-response - is the key
to having a pet. I call "Sascha"
or "Snuggles" and they come running
and I say, “Here’s your bacon treat!”
Call-and-response - is the key
to life. The needy need. They call ….
Do I respond? Do I come running
The title of my homily is, “Opening the Scriptures for
You….”
Today’s gospel - the story of the 2 disciples who were
walking the 7 mile trip from Jerusalem to Emmaus - is a favorite gospel story
for many. [Cf. Luke 24: 13-35]
The two were
followers of Jesus - but Jesus was arrested and killed - and it looked like
their dream was over. They were walking
along talking and debating about Jesus - and without recognizing who he was - a stranger on the road Jesus comes along and
starts walking and talking along with them. He asks them what they were talking
about - and they say, “Are you the only one who was in Jerusalem these past few
days - and you don’t know what happened there?”
And Jesus says, “What sort of things?”
They blurted out to him, “The things that happened to
Jesus the Nazarene….” And they told the stranger - Jesus - the whole story - how they hoped Jesus would
redeem Israel.”
Then they tell this stranger about the rumors that there
were reports that Jesus was alive - making appearances.
Susan R. Garrett
Then Jesus said to them, “Oh how foolish you are!”
Then Jesus told them all that was in the scriptures about
himself.
Michael Torevell
They reached their destination and Jesus gave the impression
he was continuing on the journey - but they urged Jesus, “Stay with us, for it
is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
They sat down at a table and Jesus took bread, said the
blessing, broke it and gave it to them.
“With that,” the scriptures says, “their eyes were opened
and they recognized him….”
Significant!
Significant!
It was then that Jesus vanished from their sight.
Then they said, “Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures for us.”
OPENING THE
SCRIPTURES FOR US
In all your years of coming to church, who have been the
preachers who really opened up the
scriptures for you? Who were the
preachers who opened up your tear ducts for you - when you were here at Mass? Who have been the preachers who helped you to see Jesus walking along with
you in your life?
Wow, would I love to do that kind of preaching. I hope
every preacher does.
Sorry.
Let me practice what I'm preaching. Sometimes - maybe 3 times since I’ve been here - something in a homily -
something in the scriptures - hits me and there are tears. I don’t know if it
hits anybody else. And I have also looked out
- from up here - at times - and it looks like something is hitting someone -
and it looks like they are crying.
Church stuff - Jesus stuff - God stuff - hits all of us -
hopefully down deep - inside - like that place we see in movies at times -
behind and underneath a waterfall. Back
there…. In there …. underneath there.
And we preachers know - it’s not what we said, but it’s
what the listener is talking to herself or himself about - or what they are going through in
their life at the time.
There was one priest in Brooklyn, who had a column in the
Brooklyn Tablet, the Catholic newspaper, who wrote great columns on spirituality
and the gospel. They would often get me thinking.
John Shea did that for me at times. He liked to retell the scriptures
for the day in a modern story or retelling of the gospel for that day. I like
to try that at times. [1]
I mention all this - because something like that hit
these two disciples that evening - on their sad seven mile journey from
Jerusalem to Emmaus.
MORE - IS THERE
A SECRET FOR OPENING UP THE BIBLE?
There is a statement from the documents of the Second
Vatican Council on the Liturgy that every priest and deacon has heard at least
10 times, “The treasures of the Bible are to be opened up more lavishly, so
that richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God’s Word.” Then it continues, “In this way a more
representative portion of the holy Scriptures will be read to the people over a
set cycle of years.” [2]
That was stated in 1963 - and we have seen - better we
have heard - much more of the Scriptures in the last 50 plus years.
I hope the homilies
- and the sermons - have been better.
And the document on the Scriptures from that same Vatican
Council - in 1965 - quotes St. Jerome,
“For ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.” [3] His dates are 347-420, so he would have said
that around 400 or so.
I hope - because of opening up of more of the Bible for
us - has given all of us more knowledge of Jesus Christ.
I know I don’t preach enough on the first and second
readings.
I also know Catholics certainly have opened up their
Bibles and know the Bible a lot more because of the opening of new life for
Catholics after the Second Vatican Council.
Before I was stationed here in St. Mary’s I worked out in
Ohio - Pennsylvania - down South a bit - etc. etc. etc. preaching many, many
parish missions and I noticed in many, many parishes, Bible study groups - like
the one that takes place here. Thank you
Chris Cable and all those who do that. And I noticed that when Father Joe
Krastel gave his talks on St. Paul - people showed up and sang his praises.
The founder of the Redemptorists, St. Alphonsus de
Liguori, said, “The whole of our religion can be summed up in the practice of
the love of Jesus Christ.”
THE SECRET
In My Fair Lady,
there is a song line, “By George, I think
she got it.” It's a great movie - showing us how far a person can come till she finally gets it.
Life is growth - and we grow by glimpses.
I think I got a glimpse of how to open up the scriptures
- so we all can get to know Jesus Christ better. I want to do what Jesus did
for these 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus.
For starters, the disciples recognized Jesus in the
Breaking of the Bread.
At Mass we break bread.
At Mass we break words.
It’s called a meal. We have 3 of them a day: breakfast,
lunch and supper.
Okay it varies.
Jesus chose a meal, a supper, his last supper with his
disciples, and during that meal, he did two things. He broke bread and he broke words.
When we sit down to eat, we break bread and we break
words.
How was your day.
Can you pass me the bread. Can you pour me some wine.
If we don’t eat with each other, we will not have
communion with each other.
If we can’t stand each other, we will not talk and listen
to each other. We won’t be able to
stomach each other. We will not get strength from each other.
We will avoid eating with each other.
When teenagers start breaking away from the family, they
stop eating with the family. When families start falling apart, they stop
eating with each other. They are no longer called a Mass - the Mass of people
called the Smithtonian Family. People have to eat, but when they eat on the
run, in fast food places, or when they are in communion with a TV or someone 15
or 150 miles away on a phone with them,
they have dropped out of the little church called the Jonestonian Family. So too we see how people drop out of church. They start dropping out of the Meal called the Mass.
For starters that’s how to read and understand the
Scriptures and get Christ and be in communion with him.
THREE MORE AND
THEN CONCLUDE
Let me give 3 more ways to understand the scriptures.
First, the book of Genesis. That’s the creation account and where we come
from. Every human being has a creation account - where we started. Start
talking to each other - inter generationally - where we come from and who the
characters are - where the geography is, etc. Then look at Genesis the first
book of the Bible. It tells about Roots. Read the Acts of the Apostles - our first reading for
today. It tells us a good bit about how our church began.
Second, the books of the Prophets, who are our prophets.
Who challenges us. Last night at Distinguished Alumni celebration of St. Mary’s High School,
4 people were honored. It was wonderful. All 4 told of their mentors, people
who challenged them - to get them where they got to so far. Who are your
mentors. Who has challenged you to get you to where you have gotten to. Then
read the prophets.
Thirdly, Letters. what have been the letters of your
life? This might be disappearing with
e-mail. But what have been the letters of your life. I love the story about my
father writing love letters for 10 years from New York to Boston telling my mom he loved her
and will you marry me. Finally the last letter worked with its message, "If you don’t marry me, I
will become an Irish Christian Brother." She wrote back, "Yes." Thank God, otherwise
I would not be standing here right now. What have been the significant letters that put you in your skin and
your seat here today? Get that and
you’ll get a bit of the letters in the Bible - especially why they saved the letters from St. Paul.
Enough.
***********************
NOTES:
* Painting on top: Daniel Bonnell, Road to Emmaus
[1] John Shea, An Experience Named Spirit, The Thomas More Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1983
John Shea, Elijah at the Wedding Feast and Other Tales, Stories of the Human Spirit, Acta Publications, Chicago, Illionois, 1999
John Shea, Starlight, Beholding the Christmas Miracle All Year Long, Crossroad, New York, 1992
John Shea, The Spirit Master, The Thomas More Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1987
John Shea, Stories of God, Thomas More, A Division of Tabor, Allen, Texas, 1978, 1996
John Shea, Finding God Again, Spirituality for Adults, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Lanham, Boulder, New York, Toronto, Oxford, 2005
John Shea, Stories, Acta Publications, 2008
[2] Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium), page 155 in The Documents of Vatican II, Walter M. Abbott, S.J., Herder and Herder, Association Press, 1966.
[3] Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, (Dei Verbi), page 127 in The Documents of Vatican II, Walter M. Abbott, S.J., Herder and Herder, Association Press, 1966.
