Sunday, April 19, 2009


*
OUTRAGEOUSLY  HAPPY


INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Outrageously Happy.”

I picked up a book of Anthony De Mello’s mini-stories the other day entitled, More One Minute Nonsense. In it he tells the story of a religious Master or Teacher, whose wife recently gave birth to their first born son. He sat there constantly looking at his son – overwhelmed - amazed - at the beauty of this new born baby boy.

Someone asked him, “What do you want him to be when he grows up?”

And the Master said, “Outrageously happy.”

There’s a new answer to the old question, “What do you want to be when your grow up?”

Answer: “Outrageously happy.”

Isn’t that a great answer?

Question: what do we have to do to be outrageously happy?

TODAY’S READINGS: 3 SECRETS OF HAPPINESS

I was wondering what to preach about on this Second Sunday after Easter – also called “Divine Mercy Sunday” – also called “Doubting Thomas Sunday” ** – and we’re also supposed to say something about the environment and Earth Day – which comes up next Wednesday – April 22.

For some reason the theme that hit me to preach on today was happiness. Maybe it was because I picked up that book by De Mello and discovered that neat story about wanting to be “Outrageously Happy”. Or maybe it was because last Sunday we were saying “Happy Easter” Whatever! I’m not sure. A homily is supposed to flow from the readings of the day, so I’ll be working in reverse this Sunday. I'm starting with a story and using today’s readings to come up with 3 secrets of happiness.

FIRST SECRET: HAVE A CONSCIOUS AWARENESS OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN MY LIFE

A first secret would be to have a conscious awareness of the presence of God in my life. Walk with God each day. For the Christian, Jesus Christ certainly makes faith in God that much easier.

The disciples felt empty because Jesus had died.

Surprise: “Christ has died; Christ has risen…. Christ keeps coming again and again and again.”

The disciples – including Thomas – met the Risen Christ. We are called to meet him by faith. As Jesus said in today’s gospel of those who don’t have the Upper Room experience, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

In today’s gospel Jesus comes into the Upper Room. He doesn’t ask, “Is everybody happy?” Obviously, they are down in the Upper Room – filled with fear. All their plans for the future were changed with Jesus’ arrest and death on the cross. They were numb. They were dumb – not knowing what to do next.

The Risen Christ says two times, “Peace be with you!”

In today’s gospel Thomas wasn’t there when all this happened and as a result he couldn’t believe. He was out of the loop. I assume he wasn’t happy about it.

A week later Jesus comes back and this time Thomas is there and Jesus says to them once more, “Peace be with you.”

Then he has Thomas put his fingers into his cuts and wounds and says, “Stop your unbelief. Believe.”

Thomas did so and said, “My Lord and my God.”

I grew up with people whispering at Mass – right after the consecration – when the priest lifts the bread and wine up, “My Lord and my God.” It’s Thomas’ words from today’s gospel. Someone must have taught my mom and dad to say that when they went to Mass – because sitting next to my mom, I often heard her whisper after the consecration, “My Lord and my God.”

Obviously, believing Jesus is in the Bread – and in the Wine – and he wants to nourish and feed us with himself makes life that much easier.

Obviously, sensing, knowing, feeling God’s presence undergirding – underpinning – one’s life – makes life that much easier.

This doesn’t mean one doesn’t have doubts – like Thomas did – but resolving doubts can bring happiness. So we’re allowed to question, doubt, all that, but at different points we have to make a clear conscious decision to walk with God each day.

I love the old saying, “The secret of happiness is the ability to say three words 'Yes', 'No' and 'Wow.'” The secret of being unhappy is constantly saying, 2 words, “If" and 'Maybe.”

Smiley Blanton once said something like this: "After 25 years of counseling people with problems, I began to realize people who are messed up were saying out loud to me all those years two words – the same two words – over and over again. ‘If only!’" If only this didn’t happen or that didn’t happen, I’d be happy, Then he learned to try to teach people to say two new words, “Next time.”

So secret # 1 is to say “Yes there is a God! Yes I want to walk with you today!”

Doing this we will begin to see God more and more in our life – and we’ll say “Wow!” not just when seeing tiny children at church, but also seeing kidsd in a shopping cart as we come around the corner in Giant. We’ll stop to look at the night sky and the spring flowers and we’ll say, “Wow!” We’ll find ourselves talking to God while taking a shower and thank him for water and then bread and coffee and cereal while eating breakfast.

SECOND SECRET: FORGIVENESS AND MERCY

A second secret is the ability to forgive and to accept forgiveness.

Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you shall forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Wow is that correct. It’s not just priests who have the power to forgive sins. It’s not just in confession where forgiveness needs to take place. Everyone of us has the ability to forgive or to hold onto sins or mistakes or cuts or hurts. Carrying hurts hurt us.

We have all made mistakes and we’ve all been hurt.

That same parent who gloated over us – or that same kid whom we took a thousand pictures of us – can also have hurt us – or we perceive hurt us – by something they said or did to us.

Forgiveness sometimes is letting another see our hurt – communication - and the other’s eyes are opened. They might even say, “My Lord and my God I didn’t know that hurt you so much. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

And we can say in response, “Yes” or “No!” or “Wow! You finally see what I have been thinking or feeling all these years. Thank you!”

Human beings – friends, husbands and wives – brothers and sisters need to sit down in upper rooms and let each other into each others upper rooms - each other’s minds – each others cuts and bruises – and bloody messes - and say to each other after being in communion with another’s hurt, “Peace be with you.”

One of the names for this Sunday is "Divine Mercy Sunday". We are called to accept and receive the Divine Mercy of God and this should make us outrageously happy.

Anthony De Mello has another little story in his book More One Minute Nonsense. This story is a lot more subtle than my opening story about the Master who kept looking at his new born son. A preacher says to the Master. “Allow me to explain the Good News my religion proclaims. The Master was all attention. 'God is love. And he loves and rewards us forever if we observe His commandments.' 'IF?' said the Master. Then the news isn’t all that good, is it?”

Commandments are important as mentioned in today’s second reading, but mercy is all about forgiveness – and to hear Jesus say from the cross, “Father forgive him or her because she didn’t know what she or he was doing.”

God’s forgiveness, God’s Divine Mercy, is unconditional.

Isn’t that true? Divine Mercy – the outrageous mercy – the outrageous forgiveness of Jesus can make us outrageously happy – because Jesus taught we can be forgiven 70 x 7 times. We can come into the garden at the last hour. We can even leap into paradise from the thief’s cross. Prodigal Sons and Daughters are always welcome home and a banquet will there for us – even if older brothers and sisters are furious about returning sinners and outrageously happy fathers embracing them.

THIRD SECRET: LETTING GO! EVERYTHING IS EVERYBODY’S


In today’s first reading, we have the famous text, “The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common.”

Happiness is the ability to let go - and to give to others. Unhappiness is trying to have it all.

Happiness is to know the whole world is our's – stress on "our's". Stress comes when I think it’s all mine – every conversation – every truth – everything.

This whole earth is ours. Let’s share with one another. This whole earth is ours, let’s work together to make it beautiful – and not abuse it.

Want to know the secret of unhappiness? It's wanting and expecting everyone and every day to go my way. The prayer of the unhappy person is, "My will be done on earth and in heaven. Do you hear that God?" Want to know the secret of happiness. It's laughing because most of the time, life doesn't go my way. So the prayer of the happy person is, "Thy will be done!" "Thy" being God and the person who doesn't use their blinker.

Looking at today’s first reading about everything being held in common, talk about communism. Christian groups down through the centuries have tried to live this vision. They based their communal experiment on Acts 4:32-35. Rarely has it worked.

I remember talking to a young man who had joined a very strict religious community that practiced communal everything. You threw all your clothes into a common laundry and just picked out what you needed from the common pile after everything came out of the dryer. I want my own jockey shorts. Communal underwear would be a tough one.

But down deep there is a secret of happiness here somewhere. Possessions can possess us. Other’s possessions can drive us crazy. Two major sins - jealousy and envy - lurk around stuff.

People often mix up these two sins. Jealousy has to do with stuff I have and I don’t want anyone to take my stuff – or my people. Envy has to do with other people’s stuff that I want.

Knowing we die naked as we came into this world – can bring us peace and happiness.

The Guru I mentioned at the opening of this sermon sat and studied his newborn baby son and wanted him to be outrageously happy. Saints have also studied the dead. You’ve all see statues of saints with skulls at their feet. And they learned to be outrageously happy because they learned we can’t take anything with us.

CONCLUSION

Are you outrageously happy? If not my homily gave three thoughts for this week.

1) Walk with God each day. Make acts of faith in his presence in your upper room, your mind each day.

2) Forgive and be forgiven. Is there a hurt against me or something I’ve done to hurt another that’s weighing me down?

3) Let go of everything. Am I stuffed with stuff, possessed by possessions? Am I unhappy because of what I don’t have? Do I ever say “Wow” about what I have, especially this great big beautiful planet I’m living on?


O O O O O O O

* Photo on top - at one of my niece's weddings with two of my favorite nieces: Claire on my left and Jeanne on my right.

** This Sunday after Easter has also been called "Low Sunday" comparing it to the "High Sunday" the week before: "Easter Sunday." I hope in the next 100 years, someone will write a doctoral dissertation on why Divine Mercy Sunday became such a "Big Sunday" - seemingly to become for some bigger than Easter. We just finished Lent - with a stress on Penance and the Sacrament of Reconciliation - and surprise a whole group of people appear who want the Sacrament of Reconciliation again. I have questions. Is it because the so called revelations of Saint Faustina were written down before the Liturgical Renewal in the Catholic Church? I am aware that many liturgical renewal pioneers were around during the life time of St. Faustina [1905-1938] - and I assume they are turning in their graves with the placement of this feast of Divine Mercy at this time - the Sunday after Easter. [Cf. Diary of Saint Maria Fausina Kowalska, Marian Press, Stockbridge MA, 01263 - The 2008 Edition, # 49, page 24.] I also wonder at times if the Divine Mercy painting by Adolf Hyla - based on images of Jesus that Faustina said she saw - as well as his imagination - became widespread as the image of Jesus when the image of Jesus as the Sacred Heart lessened. I don't know if this is true, hence my hope for a Doctoral Dissertation as well as studies on this phenomenon. Type into Google, "St. Faustina" and/ or "Divine Mercy Painting" and see where that will take you. Her Diary was on the Index of Forbidden Books in 1959 and remained there for 20 years. It was taken off after advocates of her writings said the Vatican based their decision on a faulty Italian translation of Sister Faustina's Diary. Others say there are still serious theological questions that need to be considered. My position - not a studied position - is that if we have had many, many, many studies on our Scripture texts - and very little on this Diary, then I will not make a big deal of this diary. The Catholic Church often takes the so called "Gamaliel Principle" on these matters - that is, the principle of "Wait and see" or "Give this time" to see where truth lies. [Cf. Acts 5:34-39.] There are many "revelations" out there - and they seem to "grab" some folks. One of my wonderings is: if the last pope wasn't from Poland - would we have in our missallettes for this Sunday, the words, "Divine Mercy Sunday"? It would certainly help to have an advocate who was familar with Sister Faustina's story. And to add to the list of names for this Sunday, this Sunday was also called "Pascha clausum" the close of the Easter Octave. It was also called "Quasimodo Sunday". The Introit - the old entrance rite prayers for this Sunday began, "Quasi modo geniti infantes...." It was referring to the newly baptized at Easter - as well as our human renewal and restoration at Easter because of the Risen Christ. Those familiar with Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, would know this was the day "Quasimodo" was left abandoned at Notre Dame - hence his name. Let me end this long, long, long footnote, by saying that if I mentioned from the pulpit all these scattered comments, I would expect "uproar" or "ho hum" or "What in the world is this priest talking about?" I keep quiet when I experience people whom I think are really "off on" Divine Mercy Sunday - because I have many questions about private revelations. I don't have enough time for my regular ongoing study of the Bible which I have been studying for the last 50 plus years, so I'm not going to take that much time on so called, "private revelations". Why this title of "Divine Mercy Sunday" made it into our liturgy - I don't understand - hence my call for many studies on Saint Faustina's Diary - and this phenomenon called, "Divine Mercy Sunday."

Friday, April 17, 2009


VERBOSE

Lord, my prayers
are fat with words.

Lord, my prayers
lack listening.

Lord, my prayers
need trimming.

Lord, my prayers
need to be like You,
The Silent One.


© Andy Costello, Prayers, 2009
BROKEN DISH

I said nonchalantly,
“Hey, Hon I’ll do the dishes
for you tonight.”

“Noooooooooo!”
I realized
before the words hit her ears
I said the wrong thing again.

She said grindingly,
“For me, Hon?
Doing the dishes for me?
Didn’t you eat tonight?
Was I the only one
at the table?
Didn’t I do the shopping?
Didn’t I do the salad?
Didn’t I do the cooking?”

Slowly, very slowly,
I cleaned the kitchen,
putting things away.
As I quietly
put the dishes
in the dishwasher,
I could hear her
watching Jeopardy
without me.



© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2009
WHAT HAVE YOU CAUGHT?


INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “What Have You Caught?”

In today’s gospel, Jesus asks the 7 who were out fishing, “Have you caught anything to eat?” [Cf. John 21:1-14]

And they answer that they have caught nothing.

And Jesus tells them where to cast their net – over to the right side of their boat – and they will find something.

And they pull in 153 fish. Amazing.

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

A thought for the day.... Looking at your life, what have you caught?

Hopefully, our answer will be something like this, “What have I caught? Friends and memories, love and laughter. Okay there were some hurts and there were some tears, but looking at my life, I have made some great catches. Do you want to see my pictures?”

What have you caught?

Haven’t we all seen a picture of someone standing proudly on a dock – next to a boat – and hanging there is a gigantic fish – or they are holding in hand a big fish they have caught.

Take some time today to picture yourself standing there on the shore of your life – standing tall, standing proudly – with your life catches.

ALBERT CAMUS

Albert Camus, the French Algerian Existentialist writer said something that scares me. It also challenges me, “Alas, after a certain age every one is responsible for his or her face.”

He also said, “Ah, mon cher, for anyone who is alone, without God and without a master, the weight of days is dreadful.”

He also said, “All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning. Great works are often born on a street corner or in a restaurant's revolving door.”

JESUS

Jesus stands at the shore of our every morning. He’s also at our street corners. He’s also in a restaurant’s revolving door.

The Gospel announces to those alone - "Here is Jesus God and Master!"

Prayer is connecting – listening to this Risen Jesus – and doing what he calls us to do from the shore – and we will catch a net full of life each day.

And it will show up on our face.


CONCLUSION

That’s a thought for today coming out of today’s gospel.

Smile. You're on Candid Camera!
*
WHERE DOES IT HURT?


INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Where Does It Hurt?”

When we were little kids and we were crying our mom or dad would ask, “Where does it hurt?”

When we go to the doctor – because we need a doctor – not just for a regular checkup, the doctor might ask, “Where does it hurt?”

When someone goes to a therapist, after the ice breaking stuff, after the background information, a good therapist might ask, “Where does it hurt?”

TODAY’S GOSPEL [LUKE 24:35-48]

It’s the thought that hit me when I read today’s gospel when Jesus says to his disciples, “Look at my hands and my feet. It is really I.”
It's the thought that hit me when I read in yesterday's gospel that the Messiah had to suffer. [Cf. the whole Road to Emmaus Story in Luke 24:1-35] - and then that message is repeated again in today's gospel [Luke 24:47]

Luke in today’s gospel reading says the disciples in the Upper Room were feeling panic and fright. They were disturbed.

Jesus appears in their midst with the message that we all need to hear, “Peace.”
But we also need to figure things out.

So Jesus opens their minds to the understanding of the Jewish scriptures. He does for them what he has just done for the disciples on the way to Emmaus – yesterday’s gospel.

WHERE DOES IT HURT?

Can we take it for granted that every person on the planet, if asked that question, would have an answer?

It might be a death or a rejection or a dead marriage or a misunderstanding or an ongoing slight. It might be a personal failure. It might be a major “Unfair!” scream. Or we bit off more than we can chew and we feel a big, “Uh oh! Now what?”. Or we’re in money trouble or health trouble or what have you.

Where does it hurt?

While praying, if Jesus asked us that question, what would we answer?

Where does it hurt?

HOPE



I find these readings after Easter wonderful for the message of hope.

Today’s first reading contains the end of the story we heard yesterday about the lame man who was healed by Peter calling on the power of Jesus.

Peter tells folks that we do things out of ignorance.

Wow is that true.

Part of forgiveness and healing is to see how stupid we can be at times.

Then in today’s first reading there is a great hope, “that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment.” [Acts 3:20]

Where does it hurt?

If you need healing of memory, the first step is to name the hurt. Be specific. The second step is to allow Jesus to heal us.

I’m a firm believer that the story of our lives is an unwritten Sacred Scriptures. There is the Bible and there is Our Bible – our story.

I believe it’s very important to read, break apart like bread our story. We need explanations, understandings, go figurings.

I have a Genesis – an Exodus or many Exits – Laws (personal rules and regulations I go by). I have teachings, wisdom sayings, my Good News, Letters, Dreams, etc.

In spiritual direction, I urge people to read autobiographies and biographies as a way of reading our own biography, my autobiography – whether it’s written or still in the talking to ourselves stage.

I urge people to write their own autobiography – not for it to become a best seller – but it become a best read story by ourselves – and family – but not everything. There are secrets we all take to the grave. There are parts only for ourselves and our God.

Know oneself – knowing oneself – can lead to great understanding.

After we tell Jesus where we hurt, hopefully we hear the word, “Peace” – Shalom – as we heard Jesus in today’s gospel, and the healing process can begin.

Coming to Mass, receiving communion, is a sit down meal – a sitting down to eat with Jesus. I’m glad the fish dropped out of the process.

The beauty of this process of understanding our own story – reading our own scriptures – which I think is a gift for those over 60 – is it can lead to great understanding and peace with others. Surprise!

CONCLUSION

Where does it hurt?

* Cartoon on top by William Steig [1907-2003], American Cartoonist. Type his name into the Google Box and add "cartoonist" and surprise!

Monday, April 13, 2009


EASTER QUESTION

It’s early Easter morning. I see
clear drops of water on tulips.
I still see winter’s dried dead leaves
caught in hedges. I hear slight sounds
of birds. I get a scent of Spring.
Lent is over. Holy Thursday’s
betrayal kiss has been covered
by blood and wiped off by
back of hand and cloth on Friday.
Saturday’s Upper Room silence is
every family’s sound after a death.
It’s early Easter morning. I hear
Jesus saying to me, “Mary of Magdala
asked me if I was a gardener and
then called me ‘Rabbuni’ and held me.
John saw the empty tomb and believed.
Peter was much slower –
but like Thomas he believed.
Peter told me he loved me three times.
Ok, I sort of forced it out of him.
Now, you? This is your Easter.
Whom do you say I am now?"




© Andy Costello, Easter 2009

Sunday, April 12, 2009

*
FAITH
ON THE FIRST DAY
OF THE WEEK
INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Faith On the First Day of the Week.”

Today’s gospel from John for this Easter Sunday begins this way, “On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb.”

Not only had Jesus died, was buried, but now the stone that closed his tomb was rolled back.

Imagine going through a family death – going through the whole process – the death bed moment when a loved one dies – getting an undertaker – the phone calls, the planning, the wake, the funeral, the graveyard, the luncheon afterwards – the saying good bye to close friends – coming back to the house with family – the difficult sleep that night – and getting up very early the next morning and driving to the cemetery. You’re all alone. You walk to the grave site. You stop. There is a big empty hole in the ground. You saw the back hoes off to the side the day before. You figured the grave was filled with dirt. No! Down below the casket is open and there is no body. You panic. There is nobody around. You drive back to the house and you grab two other members from your family and you say, “I just went to the cemetery. Something’s wrong! There’s just a hole in the ground. The casket is empty.” And the three of you quickly get in a car and head to the cemetery. Sure enough, there is a hole in the ground. The casket is open. There is no body.

What would that be like?

The Gospels have various accounts of that first Easter. It went something like that with regards the stone and the tomb and the missing body. Then the gospels present some rather powerful scenes when Jesus comes back in his resurrected body.

DEATH DEMANDS FAITH

When it comes to whether there is life after death – resurrection – faith is necessary. If you’ve hit 50 and you haven’t thought about whether there is life after this life or not, then you aren’t thinking. By 50 you should have had doubts – wonderings – questions – and felt the need for faith.

After 50: death, doubts, fears, faith, and lots more. After 60 it’s having to get up to go to the bathroom in the night – and sometimes you can’t back to sleep – and after 70 questions can keep us awake.

The title of my homily is, “Faith On The First Day of the Week.”

Notice I added to the opening words of today’s gospel, the word “faith”: “Faith on the First day of the Week” – because I want to get into the issue of faith in this homily – because that’s why we’re here today – this Sunday – this first day of the week – this first day of Jesus’ New Life after his death.

Christians believe only one person came back from the dead for sure: Jesus Christ. **
This is a primary faith issue.

In this homily I’d like to present four things about faith:
1. Faith is a Relationship
2. Faith Takes Time,
3. Faith Is A Gift
4. Faith Needs Witnesses

1) FAITH IS A RELATIONSHIP

Faith is a relationship. Faith is a relationship with God – the invisible God. For the Christian, it’s faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - all three – and all three as one.

When you pray, when you take time to be in relationship with God, do you pray, “Father” or “Jesus” or “Spirit”.

Like any lover, what’s that inner name you have for the one you love?

2) FAITH TAKES TIME

Faith takes time.

Notice in today’s gospel that the faithful disciple – many think it’s John – is the first to believe – and Peter doesn’t get it at first.

Faith takes time – as in any relationship.

John sees the cloths – and without even putting together all that the scriptures has said – he believes.

Peter is not as quick – in running or believing.

Mary of Magdala waits outside – and in the next section of the gospel of John we find out she meets Jesus – thinks he’s the gardener – and then realizes – this is Jesus – Rabbi, Teacher, Master, The One Who Loved her when various others didn’t – and labeled her as one of life’s losers.

Faith takes time.

Thomas will have doubts – as we’ll hear in next Sunday’s gospel – called for centuries, “Doubting Thomas Sunday” – and we thank Thomas for teaching Jesus’ followers, it’s okay to have doubts.

But don’t forget Thomas prayer: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.”

This Easter as reported in the Baltimore Sun last Sunday, this Easter the Archdiocese of Baltimore has the largest class of converts in the past decade. 984 local adults prepared this eight months in R.C.I.A. programs to become Catholics last night. This was a third more than joined the church locally in 2008. We had 39 in this parish. I looked at them last night – a wonderful mix of folks – the majority of them looked like plus 25 young middle aged adults.

Last Sunday’s article in the Baltimore Sun by Matthew Hay Brown began this way, “A police officer assigned to watch over a church nursery during Mass overhears the homily and becomes intrigued. A retail manager struggling with the loss of hours at work is inspired by the faith of his fiancée. A married mother of two looks for answers after two siblings are stricken with cancer.” **
Faith takes time. Some are born Catholic Christians. Some become Catholics in God’s good time. Not everyone enters the vineyard at the same hour. Some leave and come back from time to time.

What time period of your faith are you in now?

I discovered something very interesting in talking with couples getting married. They take a long questionnaire. One section is entitled “Religion and Philosophy”. There are some questions on church attendance. The hope is to get folks talking about the state of their faith – because it will be part of the state of their union.

I discovered that some people went to Mass because their parents made them go – and then dropped out. Then when talking about going to church, couples would say, “We see ourselves going to go to Mass when we have kids to give them good example.”

After about ten times it dawned on me to say: “Imagine going to church to please one’s parents for years and then imagine going to church to give good example to one’s kids, but never going to church because I want to go to church?”

Then sometimes I compare a relationship with God with their relationship with each other. Both take faith. Every relationship has its ups and downs – doubts and wonderings – did I make the right choice? Then sometimes I add, “Here is where covenant comes in. By getting married in church you are asking God to come into the picture – into your relationship.” Hopefully, a couple are not getting married in church just to make parents happy.

Adult faith takes time. It’s a process. I always remember reading an article by a religious brother years ago. The title and theme was: “The reasons why I entered are different from the reasons I’m staying.”

God, is that true of being a priest, being married, being a Christian!

Hopefully we grow and develop. Faith takes time. There’s a lot more for this second point – there are plenty more Sundays.

3) FAITH IS A GIFT

Having done tons of high school retreats and this and that with kids, faith as a gift is often not seen that way. Having listened to lots and lots of adults in the second half of life, let me tell you that something happens along the way that gets folks to see faith is a gift.

And gifts can be lost.

Before the horrible priest scandal in the Catholic Church, the worst thing I experienced was seeing priests who lost the gift of faith. Some left the priesthood. Some left the faith. I was ordained in the 60’s – 1965 – and a lot of things happened in the late 60s and early 70’s. I could see a priest leaving to get married and have a family, but to see a priest lose his faith. Tough stuff.

Faith is a gift and gifts can be lost.

Faith as a gift came home to me one morning – standing at my brother’s grave with his best buddy – who was Jewish. Marty believes in God, but he told me standing there that he doesn’t believe in an afterlife. Talk about a roadside bomb. Boom. I told him some Jews believe in a resurrection.

I remember asking my brother when he heard he had 18 months to live, “How are you going to deal with this?” He paused and said, “I’ll let you know.” And he let me know just before he died – when he said, “Thank God for mom and dad giving us the gift of faith.”

4) FAITH NEEDS WITNESSES
Faith needs moms and dads, brothers and sisters, who are living the Christian faith.

I remember a man named Willie Lukianski – who wanted to talk about God. He had never been baptized or gone to church. We met over a period of months. This was before the R.C.I.A. program. He couldn’t believe in God. Nothing convinced him – but eventually he made an act of faith – not in God – but in the people of God. All these people going to church every Sunday can’t be wrong. So with that he was baptized – and he died of brain cancer about three years later.

Faith needs witnesses. We give witness to each other every time we come to church – and every time we live the Christian faith.

Faith needs people at work who give a full day’s work, who don’t cheat – who give quality work.

I’m not talking about “mouthy” faith – I’m talking about action – witness – living the gospel.

Don’t you love the quote that is attributed to St. Francis, “Preach the gospel. Sometimes use words.”

In today's second reading, from Paul's First Letter to the Corinthinans, he's telling us that we are called to be yeast that leavens all the dough - the whole loaf of Bread, the whole Body of Christ, the whole Community. Yeast has no mouth - just growing action.

I became a priest because we had a fun family life – prayed and played cards and listened to the radio together. I became a priest because I grew up in a great parish. I saw good nuns and Redemptorist priests and brothers in our parish when growing up. I stayed a priest because I saw wonderful Catholics – some of whom were priests – who were real, authentic, joyful, human beings – and doing life this way made sense.

CONCLUSION


The title of my homily was: Faith On the First Day of the Week.

For starters faith expressed by coming to church each Sunday with family - with a Christian community helps increases our faith – and then helps us live it during the week.

Faith on the first day of the week helps us bring Christ and his love, insights, challenges to the other 6 days of the week – helping us make each day sweeter and better for each other.



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* Painting on top: St. Mary Magdalene at the Sepulchre, by Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo, c. 1530-1539, at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California

** Monday morning quarterbacking .... Second thoughts .... There is an old saying for preaching, "You're allowed one heresy in every sermon." Obviously, I don't want to preach heresy - in fact, I try to avoid "bumps" in a sermon or in writing. By "bumps" I mean something that hits the listener or reader and they get out of sync at that point. While driving to my niece's for Easter Dinner yesterday, after preaching at two Easter Sunday morning Masses, I found myself a tiny bit out of sync. I was wondering about a comment in this homily, "Christians believe only one person came back from the dead for sure: Jesus Christ." What about the Catholic teaching about Mary in the Dogma of the Assumption? What about the Saints? What about the Communion of All Saints? What about everyone who dies and is lifted into God - invited into the Eternal Banquet? What about the 15th Chapter of First Corinthians? These are thoughts for another day - as well as my hope for reality in eternity in the Trinity. How's that for a way to avoid heresy and the Great Unknown - the Great Question - the Great Hope - Life after death?

*** Matthew Hay Brown, "Surge In Converts to Catholicism," Baltimore Sun, April 5, 2009, pages 1, 14