Homecoming (2025.01.26 - Sunday - 03)

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 [__ver-04.new__]   Homily – Jan. 26, 2025 /  3^rd Sunday

● Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10 ● Psalm ● 19 Corinthians 12:12-3- ●  + Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21 ●

Title:    Coming Home

 [__01/02/03_]   In Luke chapter 4, Jesus returns to His hometown of Nazareth, a moment of homecoming. Similarly, I attended a family funeral near Chicago, where relatives from across the country gathered to honor a loved one. While it was bittersweet, coordinating accommodations proved challenging, as only a few still lived locally.

Some family members rented an Airbnb to stay together, but trouble arose when they violated house rules: they brought a pet, exceeded the guest limit, and parked improperly. The owner, alerted by cameras, threatened to evict them within an hour. With the funeral the next day, this caused great distress. Thankfully, after apologizing and pledging to comply, they were allowed to stay.

Homecomings, while meaningful, can also bring challenges.

[__04_]    Jesus, in the Gospel this Sunday, has come home to Nazareth, to his hometown synagogue and he has been appointed to read from God’s word, from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah – from which our Savior reads a prediction that God will save His people – save you and me – by the suffering and death of 1 virtuous servant, the anointed one, the Messiah.

          The Jewish people – in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth and everywhere – had been waiting for such a rescue, such redemption.

 

[__05_]      In the history of Israel, the people had experienced being conquered by neighboring countries, by Babylon and Persia, being on the losing end of these battles where their land was taken and they themselves were taken into exile and also they had seen their Temple destroyed about 600 years before Jesus was born.

          This Temple destruction and exile are the reasons Jesus is in a synagogue today and why there are still synagogues.

          Prior to the Temple/people going away, all worship centered in 1 place: Jerusalem and the Temple, a place of sacrifice to honor God, especially on Passover and other days of atonement (??? How to describe??)

          But, due to exile and conquest, the Temple was lost. Thus, synagogues – which is not a Hebrew word but a Greek word – meaning “gathering place.”

          A gathering place for a people no longer in 1 place, a people dispersed, for the Jewish people of the diaspora. A diaspora that exists to this day.

          And, there are still synagogues, in West Orange, in NJ and throughout the USA and world.

 

[__06_]    Jesus comes home to 1 of these synagogues in the town of Nazareth and proclaims himself to the Messiah, the suffering servant.

          It is true that some of his own people at that moment and in subsequent encounters struggled to understand his role as Suffering Servant.

          This was true for Jesus’ closest disciple: Peter denied the Suffering Servant 3 times.

          Sometimes, we may struggle to receive and recognize Him.

 

[__07_]     Jesus comes home to you and me, each day, by making Himself present through the Church, the priest, the sacraments to hear your – our – repentances in confession, to give us His Body and Blood in Communion.

          Of course, it is true that many of us as Catholics do not come home to God or to Sunday Mass / church. We may stay away. Or, we know someone who is staying away.

          I urge you to pray for this person or persons in your life, including prayers for those who died separate from or far from the practice of our faith.

[__08_]     Who is the largest religious group – numerically – in the United States?

          You might say, “Catholics”

          But, to more exact Catholics who are not practicing actually outnumber Catholics who are practicing.

          The largest religious group in the United States is non-practicing Catholics.

          Have you not spoken to seen, sat at table with a Catholic who is “lapsed” or not going to church?

          What do you say to them? What do they say to you? Some may behave sarcastically  regarding the practice of going to church, following the Commandments. Have you heard this self-description:  “I am a recovering Catholic”.  That’s my quote unquote favorite  because it really shows someone who is diminishing the value of faith and also trying to get under your skin, maybe to hurt your feelings.

          Do not take the bait in this trap.

          This is an opportunity to love your enemy and pray for the one persecuting you a bit…

          Do not get riled up with anger or disappointment. Been there. Done that. It does not work.

 

[__09_]    why have they walked away? Do they have legitimate reasons?     Some have been hurt by someone in the church.

          Some may complain or feel disenchanted with the church because there are “too many rules”.

          Or, because they may want to re-write the rules.

          In such conversations with those who are not feeling at home in church, I just urge you to love them first, invite them first.

          One day you might particularly remind them of – and invite them to – is Ash Wednesday this year on Wednesday March 5^th

          Because Ash Wednesday puts a focus on something that even non-churchgoers can get on board with..

          Fasting – we are all called to sacrifice not be too materialistic.

          Charitable giving – we can call give something if only our time to those in need.

          And, this can help lead all of us to trust and prayer.

          And, all of us need time for reflection.

          Jesus our Savior invites all of us home to him, and stay in his house.

          It is true that you’ll never get anyone to stay in your house or be your friend if you lead or read with all the rules.

        Jesus, our Savior does have a plan for our lives, but he leads by first laying down his life, by loving us to the end, and letting us know we can can come home and are invited to do so as soon as possible. [__fin_]   

Getting Involved: Cana (2025-01-19, 2nd Sunday)

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[__ver-11__]   Homily – Jan. 19, 2025 /  2^nd Sunday  ● Isaiah 62:1-5 ● Psalm 96  ● 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 ●  + John 2:1-11 ●

Title:   Wedding at Cana: A Call to Involvement and Transformation

 Would You Get Involved?   

A TV production crew once conducted an experiment. They placed child actors, around 7 or 8 years old, on an urban busy city street. The children were “acting” and pretending to be lost. Safeguards were in place to protect these children, but the purpose was to observe how passersby – the average person - would react.

How would you react seeing a child lost? Would I stop to help a child who was lost? Statistically, very few people stopped. Of the hundreds and hundreds of people who walked by, 97% of people did not stop. Only about 3 out of every 100 stopped.

 The reasons varied—some thought the parents must be nearby, others assumed it wasn’t their responsibility, and some felt they lacked the capacity to help. 

 Would you get involved? The question is also: would you feel connected enough to be involved? Of course, if the child were your own or somehow known to you, you would get involved.

 Would you get involved regarding a natural disaster? Right now, we have witnessed the tragic burning of forest fires, wildfires in Los Angeles which invites us to get involved. There will be a 2^nd collection today at all the masses this Sunday for help to people in California.

Would you get involved? It's a constant question. When the Los Angeles wildfires first started, one of the things that predictably came up in the news was this: not the suffering, not the lost, not the homeless, but what caused these fires?

This “causality” is a question to revisit. But maybe we should focus more on the casualty and tragedy rather than the causality. Perhaps this question has been raised too soon. We have to take care of our own, take care of the suffering, the injured, the homeless, before we necessarily have to answer that other question of what caused this.

Is this the reason why people walked by the child on the street, not necessarily helping. Because we might also get caught up in causes and reasons before we try to do what we can to remediate the effects.

Jesus Gets Involved   

The Wedding at Cana reveals Jesus, the Son of God, who gets involved.

The miracle at Cana is about the Son of God getting involved and being invited to be involved. Do you and I invite Jesus to be involved ?

The wedding at Cana is a model of Jesus's ministry and mission, because he knows, and Mary, our Blessed Mother, knows, that we live in scarcity, scarcity in terms of not enough money, not enough good health, not enough time, not enough compassion for the needy, Not enough integrity in my heart or in your heart, whatever it is we're in need.

Regarding Cana and water and wine, do you ever wonder what the big deal is? We may tend to regard Cana as a minor miracle. After all, no one was healed from sickness to health. No one was rescued from famine or starvation, no blind person began to see. No one was raised from the dead. But Cana is a big deal in Jesus's mission, because it reminds us of His connection, his spousal connection, to all of us. Jesus enters as the bridegroom, and we are related to Jesus and related to each other by marriage.

In the words of St Paul (cf. Ephesians 5) husbands are called to love their wives as Christ loved the Church. St Paul writes about husbands and wives laying down their lives for each other. The spousal love is sacrificial and transformative. So for anyone discerning marriage, the question is not -- who will live for me – or who can I live with?

     This question also leads to the temptation and common practice today of a couples living together – cohabitating – before marriage. They want to know – rationally- can I live with this person? That's a good question.

It's good if you can live with each other. It's good if you can have a pet together. But that doesn't really determine the whether your marriage is going to endure. The question is not whether you can live with a person. The question is, am I willing to die for this person? Is he or she willing to die for me? So if you're raising a child for marriage or discerning marriage yourself, keep that question in mind, is my future spouse willing to die for me, not just willing to live for me?

 

 Mary’s Intercession and Our Response   

Mary’s role at Cana teaches us the power of intercession and being involved and praying.  She notices the need and brings it to Jesus, just as she intercedes for us today. Her words to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you,” remain a daily instruction for you and me.

 

The miracle is not simply about God getting the couple out of a catering jam and a supply chain catastrophe. Yes, there is a catering miracle, for which God is responsible. But, also, God is allowed to work a miracle in their marriage from the very beginning.

Do you and I let God in at the very beginning of our lives, or the very beginning of a problem?

Sometimes I have a tendency to do this à I'm try to figure it out on my own, and if I can't figure it out, I will then introduce God as my disaster recovery plan. We are called to turn to God from the very beginning.

    The wedding and uniting is not simply for the bride and groom, about but about Jesus laying down his life for you and for me.

Marriage symbolizes what God does for us and what he wants to do for us.

He also makes what is incomplete into what is complete.

Jesus takes water and turns it into wine. But it's notable that Jesus doesn't take spring water from the Napa Valley or Sonoma Valley and turn it into the best Northern California wine.

Jesus takes water used for ceremonial washings. The water might already be dirty water. Maybe somebody's feet may have been in that water, or somebody's hands were in that water.

This is degraded water, and our Savior turns it into the best, excellent vintage of wine. This is something Jesus can do for you and for me, when we allow ourselves to be transformed by him, he also takes water that's used for something superficial and makes it into something we can drink some we can consume something that can come into us.

God's prayer and God's word is not just for superficial things, but to heal the resentment in us, to heal the bitterness in us, to heal the inability to forgive that might be in us.

The wedding is a significant model for Jesus's ministry and a model for us living our vows to him, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, in good times and in bad Jesus gives us His love, which is a better wine than we could supply on our own.

Gifts and Epiphany (2024-01-05, Epiphany)

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 [v_06, Epiphany, January 5, 2025]   ●  ● ● ● Matthew 2:1-12 ● ●

Homily for the Solemnity of the Epiphany

 [__01__]     **Introduction: The Significance [TIMING/WHEN] of Epiphany**  

Today we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany, a solemnity in our Church's tradition. Originally placed on the calendar 12 days after December 25, it marked the conclusion of the Christmas season. This timing gives us the familiar carol, “The 12 Days of Christmas,” a gift-giving-count-down to January 6, the traditional calendar date of Epiphany.  

However, the Church has adjusted our observance to the 2^nd Sunday after Christmas, recognizing that more of us can gather for this important celebration on a Sunday rather than a weekday. Alongside Pentecost and Christmas and Easter, the Epiphany is 1 of the Church’s ancient and great solemn feasts.  

     So, today, we begin by asking the question: When is the Epiphany? But more importantly, what is the Epiphany, and why does it matter in the practice of of our faith?  

 [__02__]  **The What of Epiphany: The Manifestation of Christ**  

The word "Epiphany" means manifestation or revelation. This feast celebrates Jesus Christ being revealed to the entire world as the Messiah,

This truth is illustrated in the Gospel from Matthew (2:1-12). The magi, traditionally called the 3 kings or wise men, represent the Gentiles, the non-Jewish peoples of the world. They come from distant lands, following a star, to pay homage to the newborn King However, Jesus is not only anointed as King for Israel but for every nation, every people, and every person.  

          The word "Gentile" often is used to refers to those who are not of the Jewish religion. But more broadly, it signifies all the peoples of the world. This universality is emphasized in Isaiah's prophecy (60:1-6) in our 1^st reading and in Psalm 72, which speak of nations streaming toward the light of God and kings bringing gifts to His anointed one.  

 

[__03__]   **The Why of Epiphany: God’s Gift to Us**  

Why does the Church celebrate the Epiphany? Because it proclaims the Good News that God’s salvation is for everyone. It reminds us that Jesus’ mission is universal. He comes not just for one group or nation but for all who seek Him, for all who are willing to follow His light.  

 The magi’s gifts—gold, frankincense, and myrrh—symbolize who Jesus is and what He brings to the world. Gold recognizes His kingship; frankincense acknowledges His divinity; myrrh foreshadows His suffering and death for our salvation. These gifts point to the ultimate gift God has given us in Jesus Christ.  

 **Reflecting on Gift-Giving: A Christian Perspective**  

At this point in the Christmas season, we often feel the need to separate the spiritual meaning of gift-giving from its commercialized reality. However, I suggest that gift-giving, when done thoughtfully, can align with the true spirit of Christmas.  

 

[__04__]  I’d like to give an example of gift giving:  

Do you not strive to respect and revere your loved ones in purchasing – not just any old gift being advertised online, on TV or in in the store, but in a gift will connect to the recipient?

 

Would you not want to build up and improve the life of the person to whom your gift is sent?

     Don’t you wish to give and give of yourself something meaningful in the process?

     For example, if you were to buy a book or an article of clothing for another person, would you not have made observations about the person’s taste in reading or taste in clothing, color or style? Would you not ask someone close to the person what size to buy? And, even if you do enclose a gift receipt, you want to get as close as possible to the right match.

 [__05__]   Will we not go, at times, to great lengths shopping online or in person to find the perfect gift, the ideal present?

Would we not want the other person to know the efforts we went to, to find this gift….?

 [__06__]   Our Lord and Savior, incarnate as the 2nd person of the Trinity and the Son of God the Father, has also been conducting research into the gifts you and I really need.

 

__ Acts 20:35 “In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

          And, He wants us to know how hard he has been searching to give you the gift of his life and love.

You and I really need to know that we are loved. Despite the fact that our family life or interpersonal relationships may be “faulty” or broken, he loves us and brings us into a relationship with him.

[__07__]    Jesus our Lord knows that even if we have failed, or if we feel we are not successful, or not productive, or too tired, he still has the GIFT of his calling, of his work for us to do in prayer, fasting and charitable giving, both in our homes , in our neighborhood, on our street, in school, in church.

          None of us can do everything. Everyone of us can do something.

          It is better to give than to receive.

          Not just on the 12 days of Christmas but every day.

 Jesus is not using artificial intelligence but divine intelligence to give us the gifts of his love and mercy each day.

You and I are called into a relationship with Jesus each day.

 The greatest gifts we can give to each other is based on recognizing first that we are sinners in need of God’s mercy and to forgive those who trespass against us, thus we go out to all the world in our own neighborhood, home, school and work to bring the Good News of the Epiphany and Jesus Christ to all.

[]Mercy is often an ongoing project of gift-giving.

Forgive and forget is not always possible. Not because you plan to harbor a grudge; but simply because you cannot forget certain scars or woundedess. To forgive the acts that caused them has to be an ongoing choice.

At any point in time, it is very easy indeed to turn around and begin to harbor a grudge. It is easy to blame the person who caused your pain. It is easy to hate — far easier than it is to forgive again. And even though choosing to forgive can be more painful, it is far more rewarding. When you utter the choice, then, that “I forgive you,” it isn’t over once and done. You say “forgive” because you keep on doing it.

Peter asked, if my bother  sins against me, how often must I forgive as as many as 7 times?

Jesus said 77 times, meaning don’t keep count.

There are some people in our lives who may not be fully aware of the harm or hurt they caused.

You may be caring for a very young person or older person who is not fully aware of his or her actions.

Forgiveness – like gold frankincense and myrrh – comes from God. It calls us – like “royalty” to take the high road.

It calls us like the incense to allow our prayers to rise up to God and put it in God’s hands.

It calls us like the myrrh or anointing of Jesus’ crucified body that Jesus first died for our sin.

[_08__]    Today, as we reflect on the magi’s journey, let us ask ourselves: How can we, too, offer our gifts to Christ? How can we manifest His love to those around us? The Epiphany is not just a story from the past; it is a call to live out the Gospel in the present. May we, like the magi, follow the light of Christ and bring the treasure of His love to the world. Amen.  

 

[__end__]

Acceleration. New Year's Day 2025

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 [v_04, Solemnity Mary Mother of God, January 1, 2025]  

●  ● ● ● ● Luke 2:16-21●

[__01__]   Regarding Luke 2:16-21 and New Year’s Day 2025.

It is a cliche and common saying to talk about the passing of time as being rapid. We say that time not only flies, but even accelerates, speeds up as though God or some pilot is pushing the pedal to the metal as we go down the runway for takeoff.

In this regard, the intention and the invention of the New Year's Eve, New York City Times Square folks, is to show the coming of a new year by the dropping of a ball at midnight,

I wonder if the New York City Times Square ball drop could be improved, made to be a bit more accurate and in line with our passing of time, because in New York City Times Square, the ball drops at a constant speed, mechanically controlled.

It does not drop at 9.8 m/sec² [squared] = 32 ft/sec². It's mechanically controlled. The ball does not drop according to the laws of gravity and physics.

The way you and I experience time accelerating, and the longer we live, the faster things seem to go. We naturally have a longing to slow down the passage of time, to reverse the passage of time, to be time travelers, to turn back the clock.

 

[__02__]  Over Christmas, , at home with my siblings, perhaps over the holidays, at home with your siblings and family, we told stories from the past, stories we have told before, stories we insist on repeating year after year, if not more frequently.

And if there is even just 1 person in the room who has not heard every single detail of it before, it is a joy to retell the entire story.

          Telling a story is one way we hold back time we time travel.

Recently, we also found a video tape, a VHS video tape, and fortunately, we even had a VHS video tape and DVD hooked up to the TV so we could play this VHS tape from 30+ years ago. It was my father's 50^th birthday surprise party.

Few of us had seen the tape. I had never seen the tape myself. Watching it was a way to freeze frame some of the moments in time, and to say, Dad, I can't believe you made all these people sit through the opening of your gifts. He couldn't believe it either.

 

[__03__]  In our Catholic Church calendar and observation of time, every 25th year is regarded as a Jubilee of Mercy.

Paste from USCCB website:  “The practice of a jubilee year has ancient roots in the Jewish tradition and evidence for it can be found in the Old Testament (for example, see Leviticus 25).  The jubilee year was called every 50  years and was a time for forgiveness.  It stood as a reminder of God's providence and mercy.  The dedication of a year for this emphasis provided the community with a time to come back into right relationship with one another and with God.  As the practice of the jubilee year was adopted into the Catholic Church, these themes of mercy, forgiveness, and solidarity continued [and are done every 25 years]”  (source: https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/new-evangelization/jubilee-of-mercy/frequently-asked-questions-about-the-jubilee-of-mercy#:~:text=The%20jubilee%20year%20was%20called,one%20another%20and%20with%20God.)

[__04__]  I'd like to reflect on the message of the gospel that Mary kept things told to her, reflecting on them in her heart. Prayer is a way to hold back time.

There was a way in which time seemed to get away from the Holy Family. It seemed to get away from Mary and Joseph, just as Jesus got away from them in her life.

Our Blessed Mother received many messages told to her reflecting on them in our heart. But most of these messages were not texts from school telling her how good Jesus's grades were.

They were messages predictive and prophetic about the danger for her son and his mission, and one of them was in the Gospel this past Sunday, Holy Family.

Jesus was apparently lost. He was not actually lost in the temple, but Mary and Joseph have to go and find him. He's separated from Mary and Joseph, and they were searching with great anxiety.

If you had misplaced the Savior of the world, would you not also be anxious distressed?

Mary and Joseph had to endure the separation and distance from their 12 year old son.

Jesus’ escape to and endeavor at the temple was not just a way for Jesus to show off to or to show the scribes and leaders how smart he was.

Rather, it was a way for Jesus to experience being on trial and being questioned.

Mary would have been distressed by this, having been told earlier that her son would be a sign of contradiction and of her own heart, a sword would pierce.

Yet, despite being told all this, Mary was a model of hope and reflection on God's Word in her heart and in prayer, she holds back time.

 

[__05__]   On this January 1, I suggest that one of the ways we can hold back time is by our reflection on God's mercy and forgiveness in our lives.

 

In biblical history, it's Traditional for the Jewish people to celebrate a Jubilee of Mercy, a jubilee of forgiveness every 50 years, every half a century.

In the Catholic Church, we celebrate a Jubilee of Mercy every 25 years, 2025.

It’s always a good time to reflect on God's mercy, but this is a year of mercy, a jubilee year of hope, as the Pope Francis proclaimed

 

[__06__]   Do you I need to be more aware of God's mercy, of our need to repent, to seek forgiveness for transgressions, for what might trouble our consciences, and also to reflect on those we might be called to forgive in our lives? 

We are told, in the Gospel, “Your faith has saved you”. Yet when it comes to sin and forgiveness, we are called to do more than simply believe.

We read in the Gospel, “repent and believe in the gospel” 

And, the Our Father says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”

So I suggest taking this time of the new year, not only as a time of entertainment. There's many entertaining things between December 31 and January 1, but also a time of examination of our lives.

Believing and belonging to the church are good New Year's resolutions, and they are ways in which we come to change our lives to good, to commit to coming to church every Sunday, every holy day of obligation.

Choosing what is the right way is not always obvious. And sometimes come to us, comes to us through a spirit, an experience of trial and error, of failure and feedback for what happens.

 

I’d like to reflect on this from the writings of John Henry Newman.

 

There are examples of this in Jesus’ encounter with those coming to faith in Christ in his own day. They also did not simply “believers” but they were also “perceivers” of the need to change.

 

One such example is Zacchaeus the Tax Collector. He was a wealthy man who had profited much by cheating his own neighbors. Yet, he also was experiencing a change of heart and heard that Jesus was coming into town. It was a sign of faith that Zacchaeus climbed the tree to see Jesus better and sign of faith that he talked to Jesus and was personally identified by Jesus. But there was more, Zacchaeus also repented, promising to pay back 4 times more than what he had taken dishonestly.

 

John Henry Newman describes this as Zacchaeus “trying to turn back time” (John Henry Newman:  “he would fain [gladly] undo the past”)  (Source: https://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume4/sermon7.html)

 

[__07__]  Of course, it is true that Zacchaeus cannot actually turn back time or undo the past. You and I cannot undo the past on our own.

 

(However, I must also admit I really benefit from computer-based commands of the escape key, undo, and “cancel” to back out of my errors. In these trivial examples, I can control what is “saved”).

 

But, on the more serious subject of my being saved or you being saved - for eternal life - we are called to turn to Jesus as our Savior.

Turning to him with our sins, in confession regularly - at least once a year, but I recommend at least once a month - we can slow down the clock, slow down the calendar and thus by both repenting and believing in the Gospel, we can make a resolution to listen to God’s word more clearly as our Blessed Mother does to reflect on all these things in her heart.