Sunday, February 17, 2019

Memorial Day. M. M. (2019-02-17, Sunday-06)

 Feb. 17, 2019    [ 06 Sunday, ordinary time]     

 •  Jeremiah 17:5-8 • Psalm 1 • 1 Corinthians 15:12,16-20 • + Luke 6:17, 20-26  •

Title:   “Memorial Day. McCarrick. Mourning.”

“This is Part 1. Memorial Day”

[_01_]       On Saturday of Memorial Day weekend 2006, I was on the sidewalk outside the cathedral in Newark.  The ordination-Mass for priests would start in about one hour.   The ordination for my classmates and me.

            On the sidewalk, at the cathedral church door, I bumped into some of my parents’ friends who had been invited, made the trip, driven to the cathedral, enthusastically.  Or maybe not?    In this brief encounter, I overheard 1 person said to another … hey, Ray, I cannot believe you made it here, .you know this cathedral ordination-Mass is 3 hours long!

            To which he immediately started calling out to his wife and was very concerned that was not ready to be in church for 3 hours.. Yet, he stayed…all 3 hours.

            I am now certain that his wife read my invitation and hid it from him. Ordination as a priest is such a big deal that its time is measured – in hours – and this time is also concealed or made secret when necessary. 

            I also remember all of my family and friends dressing their absolute best …wearing suits and ties and formal attire – on Memorial Day … that really touched me too.

[_02_]       Nevertheless, to be ordained a priest is not just about what happens externally or how long it takes…to exercise ministry as a priest is not just about what happens externally. Also..in a sense, it is a lot longer than 3 hours…because I am still learning..!

            And, I recognize and give thanks for the priests through whom I have learned about the ministry, through all the priests of Lourdes that I have ever known and Deacon Ernest Abad and my classmates and brothers at the seminary.

[_03_] And, this education – to be a priest – started before the seminary and included the love of my mother and father, their sacrifices for me, their forgiveness of me, of each other, their teaching me about what it means to be honest, to pray, to protect and shelter another person, and to make a lifelong commitment … and to recognize that being in “authority” or “leadership” does not make you better than anyone else.  It could make your worse !

            I had an outstanding upbringing which was complemented by parish priests, by the religious Christian Brothers at my high school and the Sisters of Charity at my elementary school. All prepared me for ordination day and beyond.

            And…even prepared me – later – for times that I would need to learn – relearn and even be corrected in my understanding. I don’t know it all.

            And..all those people who came to a 3-hour Mass of Ordination and dressed up in suits and formal attire on Memorial Day Weekend, they did not dress their best for me … (“James Ferry“ / “Father James Ferry”), but for our Lord and Savior, the one true high priest. When you come to Communion, for example, you say Amen not to me but Jesus Christ, our true high priest.

“This is Part 2. McCarrick” [_04_]    At this time of the disclosure of scandal and the criminal, sinful abuse by priests of children in their care – and the coverup’s by many of their superiors, I remind you we are here also because of our one high priest, Jesus Christ.

            We are all related to the one priest Jesus Christ by whom you are baptized, to whom you confess your sins, from whom you receive the Body and Blood of Holy Communion and receive God’s word in countless ways.

            I express my sorrow for myself and on your behalf, I am sorry to the victims, to every mother or father whose child was harmed and hurt and whose complaint was spurned or ignored.

            I am not sorry that I am a priest.  I am sorry because I am a priest and share in this one mission of peace and consolation to you, the people of God.

[_05_]    It is, of course, devastating to victims to know that such abusive behavior was covered up or ignored and that a former archbishop of this archdiocese is not only implicated in such coverup’s but also judged guilty of the abuse himself.

Because – in reality – the Church already has the keys of justice, of the commandments, of God’s love that enables all of the bishops discipline their priests properly or to remove them from ministry when necessary.

            This is the problem now …

As journalist Kenneth Woodward wrote last year ….

 Yes, they [many Catholic bishops and leaders] sought to protect the church from scandal—only to produce a far greater scandal—and yes,  they sought to maintain the image of the priesthood, only to see it [the image associated with criminal acts]. But the real horror is that, unlike most human beings, too many bishops simply could not identify with the youthful victims of predatory priests, or with their outraged [mothers and fathers].”  (Kenneth L. Woodward, "Double Lives The Peril of Clerical Hypocrisy", Commonweal, October 26, 2018)

            Priesthood – and ministry is not something we do …it is who we are, it is who I am.

            I, am, not the whole Church or even the whole of Our Lady of Lourdes. Together, we are the Body of Christ and the Church.

“This is Part 3. Mourning”

[_06_]  This Sunday, we read from the Beatitudes.

When we think of someone in mourning, we may reflexively think of someone moving slowly, like a funeral procession.

            But, if you have been to a funeral, you know that the person in mourning is often poised, trying to multi-task and multi-thread faster than your 64-bit laptop and also is very much in the moment. Mourning is not simply about the past or a previous history.

            If we acknowledge, for example, that we are in mourning, we are often better equipped to face the day and face the consequences and face the future then if we log off in some self-centered way.

            For example, I may experience - all of us may experience - mourning about the price or cost of some act of sinfulness or selfishness.

We may experience this mourning - or sorrow - if we have been hurt by someone else. But, once we admit we are in mourning, I believe we are also on the way to healing.

            B16 writes about this as the 2 types of mourning contrasting - after Good Friday - the mourning of Judas Iscariot who is in complete despair and ends his life that way. O.T.O.H (“on the other hand”),  there is Peter  who denies/betrays (3x over!), also in mourning, but is able to persevere and reconnect with our Savior. (Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism-Transfiguration, New York: Image Publishing, 2007, p. 86)

[_07 MOURNING / WHAT TO SAY.

            Here is another thing about MOURNING, GRIEF, SORROW. We often do not know what to say. Or we may be astounded at the foolish or disconnected statements of others.

            I do not have all the answers for you about the Archdiocese of Newark, the Archbishop of Newark for whom a great earthly day of reckoning and Law & Order  - Special Victims Unit episode is being experienced.

            The Archdiocese must now use their keys to unlock files and show everything to the New Jersey Attorney General to ensure there are no cover-up's.

            We also mourn and are called to pray for the victims. We may not know what to say, we may be at a loss for words. Yet we are called to

pray for intercession of our Blessed Mother to console and heal the victims and, we  hope, connect them to Jesus our Savior and her son.

            “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.”

            We do need each other at this time even if we do not know what to say.

 [_08_] In 2011, my uncle passed away after an extended illness. He and my aunt were married for 45 years and were very close. My aunt missed her husband very much.

          She was in mourning. We all knew she was grieving – within the family – we knew but we also knew she would continue to socialize and do things on her own.    It’s not easy to enter social situations after your spouse has died. 

          One night, about 6 months after my uncle passed away she went to a church parish function at her church… As the night wore on, she began to think more and more, and was overcome with tears and emotions, standing on the steps and someone came up to her and asked if she was OK.

          She responded, “Well you know, I lost my husband…”

          And, the person, confused – not knowing what to say turned back toward the party … and said… “you mean  …just know… in there?”

          It’s not easy to mourn in public, to let others know, to let others, but it does open us to God’s blessings in our lives. I know this sounds like a very sad story, but my aunt, my family and I were able to see the both the beauty and humor – and we laughed about it – later.

          Jesus is our key, our key to love and to renewal.  Our key to the kingdom. I appreciate your prayers, your collaboration in the mission of our church to protect this key to God’s mercy and justice. [_fin_]

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Nothing But Net. (Our Lady of Lourdes) (2017-02-10, Sunday 05)

Feb. 10, 2019   [ 05 Sunday & Parish Feast ]   
•  Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8 • Psalm 138 • 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 • + Luke 5:1-11  •

Title:     Nothing But Net


[_01_]   The title of this homily is NOTHING BUT NET, “nothing but a net”. Peter has nothing but a net, to drop into the water. He drops his net, lowers his net and pulls up a miraculous catch of fish.
          Last week, remember it was the Super Bowl.
          This is what happens when many of us watch the Super Bowl NFL football championship on TV.
Everyone wants to turn the volume up during the commercials.  We leave the room when the game is being played but return when the commercials come on. And the commercials are very expensive from Amazon, Pepsi, Verizon.
          Super Bowl ads are expected to be extraordinary, so much so that we are not really interested in what Tom Brady is doing on the last day of the season and more likely to turn the volume up and pay more attention to the screen during a time-out and commercial.
          I recommend Amazon’s Alexa ad with Harrison Ford and a smart canine / dog barking into the Alexa  smart-speaker to order her own dinner.
          In any case, what is ordinary becomes extraordinary.
[_02_ Now, all of us like success, right.
          We are drawn to the Super Bowl not only as an example of who is going to succeed and thrive on the field but also who is going to thrive and succeed by getting their message out there and who is doing so in the most creative way possible.
           But some Super Bowl ads / commercials almost do not make it, they almost get canceled or canceled out.
          I use this as an example because – in the Gospel - Peter feels like he is not going to make it.
          An example of such a near cancellation – of being cancelled and excluded was in 1984, the most legendary of all Super Bowl advertisements was from 1984 when Apple Computer was advertising the original Macintosh computer.
            Ironically, when Apple Computer Company managers / executives saw the advertisement, they disliked it very much  and insisted that the ad NEVER  be shown on television.
            Eventually, Apple/Macintosh managers board agreed but it was quite a fight, internally at Apple, to get that ad ..which has later been regarded as one of the best ads of all time. And, it almost never made it to TV.
            The message almost never got out…

[*** pause ***]
[_03_]  Peter the Apostle is a fisherman. But, Jesus believes he is – can be and will be – a fisherman with a message, with the message of the Good News of the Gospel and that people will tune and listen to Peter.
          Peter disagrees. At least not right now. Peter believes he is not ready for prime time, telling our Lord to whom he spoke in the Gospel today. Peter has great respect for Jesus’ teaching for his holiness and we might say the “technology” of his miracles.   
          Jesus can even find fish without a video screen or GPS.
          But, Jesus also recognized something in Peter of value. Jesus recognizes also that he himself – Jesus of Nazareth – was forming this group of disciples – just as he continues to form us … to be his presence here – on Eagle Rock Avenue, at the Mississippi Avenue bus loop, in the parking lot, on the way home, at school … it is a 24 hour Good News Cycle of the Gospel.
          Peter, however, is feeling scared – nervous – about what is to come next. We may resemble Peter… in real life.
          Pope Benedict XVI wrote that …. “And at some point on the journey, we may have had the same experience as Peter after the miraculous catch; in other words, we may have been frightened by its size, by the size of the task and by the inadequacy of our own poor selves, so that we wanted to turn back. "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5: 8).” (Chrism Mass, St. Peter's Basilica Benedict XVI,  Holy Thursday, 13 April 2006)
          For Peter, the task also seems to be too costly, too expensive.
          He is ordinary, can he really be the speaker and “broadcaster” of such a message?
[_04_]   We might say that Peter is a person who is NOTHING BUT NET.
          Now, in the sport of basketball where there is backboard, rim, and white cord ‘basket’ 10 feet above the floor as the place to score points, “nothing but net” is good news.
          It means your shot went in perfectly.
          But, now we are talking about fishing.  Nothing but net is also a reason for Jesus to select Peter, to call Peter. He knows how to use a net.
          It is Peter’s skill with a net that is going to enable to continue – in the future – perhaps when the net is empty.
          Because, of course, Peter is not going to be successful and applauded everywhere he goes.
          At times, the net may be empty. Peter has nothing but net.
          But, the Gospel miracle teaches Peter – and you and me – that Jesus is going to guide us to where the quote-unquote “fish” are, to where our mission is… we just need to bring the net.
          The fish symbolize something, what we need to find or discover in our lives –
repentance the admission of our own wrongdoing we need to do.

forgiveness – the mercy we need to extend to someone.

goodness – the goodness we are called to find in another person.
          Jesus will help us to find it.
          We just need to bring our regular skills, God will do the rest.
          And, it’s not simply about DOING, but about our presence, our IDENTITY and God’s presence in our lives.

[_05_]   This is the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, day for us to pray for healing for ourselves, for others and to recall that God is love and the image of God is alive in others, even if they are not “doing” or “acting” as we expect.
          We just need to bring our nets, ourselves, our presence.
          This example was meaningful to me, from several years ago.
          A few years ago, my friend’s mother was suffering from cognitive memory loss, and Alzheimer’s.
          No longer did she recognize her son (my friend) or her daughters by name. She really did not know her own name.
          Nevertheless, my friend came to believe – this was his profession of faith – that he would go to visit his mother not because “my mom knows who I am” but because “I know who my mom is.”
          Bring your net. Bring what you have, bring who you are. This is the constant, together with God’s love in our lives.
          A constant that invites us to love our own mothers and fathers not only for what they do – day to to day – but for who they are.
          A constant that invites grown-up’s and parents and teachers to love our children not only for what they “know” or “do” but because of what we know they can do, because we know who they are.
          A constant that invited Jesus Himself to lay down His life for our sins and to give us also our Blessed Mother as intercessor, a guardian and help to us to show mercy and love for others.
Notre Dame de Lourdes, priez pour nous    
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.    [_fin_]