Reopening for Mass. Communion. (2020-06-28, 13th Sunday)

2020-06-28 _ 13^th Sun (A)   ● 2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16a ● Psalm 89 ● Romans 6:3-4, 8-11  ●  + Matthew 10:37-42 ●

Title:    Re-opening for Mass. Communion.

[_01_]    Drive-thru Communion? Mass in the parking lot? Have you been to such a celebration?

          As the lockdown and stay-at-home order has dragged on and on, many of us have experienced the longest “Lenten fast” from going to Communion in our entire adult lives and seen various experimental ways that churches have reached out.

          When we say “last Sunday at church” or what happened last Sunday at church, we usually mean 7 days ago.  Our last Sunday Mass was on March 8 – that was 111 days ago.

          111 days from now will take us to October 17.  Maybe we should install a drive thru, just in case?

 

[_02_]    How do we stay connected? Do we rely on electronic means for this connection, for this presence, this presence of God in our lives.

[_03_]   I would like to contrast the choice between “Presence” and “Prejudice” in our lives.

          Prejudice we could say is a form of pride or arrogance.

          There is a famous novel with the word prejudice in it… Jane Austen’s book “Pride and Prejudice” and I just read that the original title of this classic novel was “First Impressions”.   And… isn’t prejudice a way of being guided by our first impressions…or sometimes it is a way of avoiding what is true and beautiful in our first impression.

          We live in a world chaotic right now and divided – but is it divided because our “first impressions” are always wrong … or is it because we are listening the first impressions of others.

          Prejudice is a form of pride and sometimes a form of false comfort. Prejudice may lead us to under-react or over-react in a particular situation.

 [_04_]    When I was at the end of summer after 4^th grade and before 5^th grade, I was informed by my mother that I would not be going back to the school with which I was familiar, but being moved to the Catholic grammar school.

          I had no ideological objection to Catholic education, nor did I have any appreciation for a Catholic education, an education at grammar school and high school level for which I am now sincerely grateful.

          But, at the time, I certainly did not want to change, to go into unknown. My first impression was negative.

          After 5 years – Kindergarten – 1^st – 2^nd – 3^rd – 4^th grade at one school, I was afraid of the disruption. I did not know what would come next.

          The fact that my brothers were also changing to the new Catholic school did not make feel any less alone in this. They were 3 years and 6 years younger – what did they know?

          I, on the other hand, was on the verge of the 5^th grade and would be able to ride my bicycle to school. I was consoled by the fact that I could also ride my bicycle to the new school.

          It was kind of like getting a driver’s license, having my own vehicle, et cetera.

 

[_05_]   In the Gospel, this Sunday, Jesus addresses his disciples and you and me about launching and making a new start as his disciples..

          This is chapter 10 of Matthew’s Gospel which includes the sending out of the first disciples.

          I wonder what some of their first impressions were? Their misgivings?

          I had no misgivings or objections to going to school itself or doing the work. I did wonder about – in fact I had some fear and trepidation – about the new classmates.

          Everything was new and unfamiliar.

         

[_06_]    When things are new and unfamiliar, we also tend to make them even more complicated than they already are.

          My first impression of the new school – simply because it was unknown- was negative.

          In the Book of Deuteronomy, we read this about our calling to LIFE – to GOODNESS – to COMMUNITY – it is not complicated, it is not “up in heaven nor is it beyond the sea….but it is very near to thee and in thy hearts …. Consider that I have set before thee this day life and good, and on the other hand death and evil ….”

(Deuteronomy 30: __selected verses….)

          Sometimes, this is how a prejudice can start. It starts based on what I think is up in heaven or beyond the sea.

 

          Deitrich von Hildebrand’s point is that “knowledge is the presupposition for communion.”

          Considering the “off-to-a-new-school-example”, I recall that shortly after my mother told me about the new school, we were taken to the store for the school uniform clothing. In this case, the physical wearing of the uniform was necessary, but did not automatically make more comfortable.  

          In this case of real community or communion, it is is not enough to be together physically. He cites the example that 2 drops of water can be merged, can be fused that that they are in no way formed into a communion because they have no knowledge of each other.

 [_07_]   So, what is “prejudice”?

          Prejudice would be to take for granted that just because I have lived next door to you or gone to the same school or been somehow seen with you that we are one.

          This same thing can be true in marriage or family, that just because we are physically close or adjacent or near that we are in communion.

          Communion requires not proximity or nearness but knowledge.

          I have said this before – I will say it again…it requires for example you to say to the person with whom you have endured the a crisis or a difficult day or a day when you were all in the same room or under the same roof and and just at the point that you think you know everything the other person is thinking you say, “and how was your day?”

          Tell me about yourself, when you think you already know.

          Communion is not just about 2, but about 3, about our communion in God, praying that we are in Communion this Sunday, next Sunday, wherever we are.  [_fin_]   

Created Equal (2020-06-21, Sunday-12 - Father's Day_

2020-06-21 _ 12^th Sunday (A) & Father’s Day ● Jeremiah  20:10-13  ● Psalm 69  ● 1 Romans 5:12-15  ●  + Matthew 10:26-33 ●

Title:    Created equal

 [_01_]   Are we all created equal?

You know the famous phrase of the 1776 Declaration of Independence:

“all men are created equal.” “AMACE”

          The historian Joseph Ellis observes that it is quite ironic that “AMACE” should have been written by Thomas Jefferson of all people that “that while he was the person who authored the most eloquent words about human freedom and equality in American history, perhaps in modern world history, he was also the owner at any one point in time, of about 200 slaves, over 600 slaves over his lifetime.”

          Was he secretly an abolitionist, trying to abolish slavery?

          According to Ellis, AMACE was quite acceptable to everyone because – first of all – the words were in the preamble – or preface to the Declaration of Independence. It’s like it was not that important to Jefferson, like the pre-game show of the Super  Bowl or the speech that introduces someone more famous to the stage. So, it was introductory.

          Also, it was accepted because the definition of “men” which was not a generic inclusive term for all of humanity.  Jefferson and others understood that equality applied to the male gender, white males,  and white males who owned land.

          If you were not a white male landowner, you did not count for “equality.”

          Are we all created equal? Yes, in Christ, in Christian terms. And, in terms of a true civil rights movement.  Thomas Jefferson was not trying to argue for civil rights in 1776.

 

[_02_]   In the era of 1776, the founders and rebellious colonists considered – but then significantly and intentionally postponed – any question of the abolition of slavery, the enslavement of black persons and the slave trade.

          They had to run the revolution.  Abolition of slavery would have torn the republic apart. So, they postponed not only the abolition but also the tearing apart of the country.

          Did black lives matter? Not so much.

 [_03_]   In 2013, the Black Lives Matter movement began with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin in February 2012. The movement became nationally recognized for street demonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two African Americans: Michael Brown—resulting in protests and unrest in Ferguson, a city near St. Louis—and Eric Garner in New York City.

          Is it true that historically in the United States that black lives did not matter? Yes, that’s true.

[_04_]   In our readings this Sunday, I’d like to touch on the words of the prophet Jeremiah  and Jesus.

          Both are speaking about the movement from terror to trust.

          Jeremiah laments that his life is in danger that there is “terror on every side” that others are out to get him, to denounce him. This is not a physical assault, but a verbal assault, denunciation. Sometimes, a word is mightier than a sword.

Jeremiah understood that verbal danger.

          Regarding “terror” and “fear” Jesus speaks to his disciples about the terror of rumors, of slander, the terror of keeping sinfulness secret.

          “Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.” (Matthew 10:26)

          Jeremiah and Jesus were aware of this terror…and they did not even have wi-fi or social media.

          All of us – both younger and older – may express a hope – and it is a false hope that once everything is expressed, once every angry word is said, that this will be the end of terror the end of fear.

          That’s the beginning, that’s not the end.

          One beautiful aspect of our Catholic sacraments and of the confession of our sins out loud  to God – through the priest – is that we believe our deepest darkest secrets and scandals can be brought up and also put to rest.

          If we do not put them to rest in repentance and confession, someone else may use them against us.

          There can be terror on every side, but there does not have to be.

[_05_]   Terror or some form of terrorism can be avoided if we accept and work toward both EQUALITY and AUTHORITY.

          We cannot have one without the other. Equality without authority is ANARCHY. It means that the mob is in charge, that it does not matter what is true, only what you feel is true.  My mother told me…”act do not react.”

          Now, I believe that many who protest today do so with a plan of peaceful action and not simply reaction. Be careful – if you are at a protest at town hall, Times Square, on Facebook, or in your home of simply “reacting”. You are a person with dignity not a chemical agent thrown into an experiment for an explosion.

          We cannot have equality without authority. That’s anarchy.

[_06_]   On the other hand, AUTHORITY without EQUALITY is tyranny or slavery. Choose your poison. It means that those in charge can oppress or subdue.

          Jesus, however, gives us by his sacrificial death the example saying and doing, “I came not to be served but to serve.”

          And, so any form of authority is a form of sacrifice or service to others. To be an authority means not that you accept “power” as an instrument for good, AND that you renounce “power” it as a sledgehammer.

          In other words, authority and equality go together.

[_07_]   Here is an example. As you may imagine, Catholic priests do not always get along or agree on everything.

          When I came here to Our Lady of Lourdes, I was the assistant or parochial vicar to the pastor, Monsignor Joe Petrillo.    

          Upon meeting Monsignor for the very first time, I knew we were very different, and imagined we would not agree on everything.

          One time, many years ago, there was a conflict about a decision. I thought he was wrong, and told him the following: “Look, Joe, of course it’s going to be this way, you’re going to have it this way because you are the pastor.”

          I never saw him get visibly angry, but that made him angry and I really had to consider what was my view of his authority – and was I really NOT being treated as an equal. Just because we disagreed, was I being rejected?

          In the end, we still disagreed, but reconciled.

          In a sense, this was also a reconciliation and recognition that the covenant of priesthood was not my covenant with the pastor, with God and the people of God.

          It is a recognition also that we are all works in progress…

It is Father’s Day…and if there are any human beings who need to remember that they are truly works in progress, that they have miles to go before they sleep, that they are becoming who they are …it is fathers.

          This is not to say that women and mothers are not works in progress and a blessing to us.

          But, is it not true that a father must learn his fatherhood from others – from his own father, from father figures in his life, and from his wife and from the mother of his children.  (Source: William E. May, ”Marriage: A Common Endeavor” Section 3. “Man as Father”)
 

[_08_]   My own father is currently an active caregiver to my mother. Sometimes, people joke around with him and with me, amazed at how devoted and attentive he is, surprised that he has adopted this role.

          Those who say this …do not know him…nor did they know my grandparents through whom he learned both a work ethic, a nurturing spirit and a persistence borne not only of the Great Depression but also immigration to the United States.

          I also see in my grandparents and in my father an integrity and authority sense of humor that is based on true HUMILITY – GRATITUDE – COMPASSION.

          Just as my grandparents were always becoming who they were, my father is becoming who he is.

          I hope and pray that we as individuals, as a community and country will also become who we are truly called to be.  [_fin_]   

Presence. Amen (2020-06-14, Corpus Christi)

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2020-06-14 _ Corpus Christi ● Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a ● Psalm 147   ● 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 ●  + John 6:51-58 ●

Title:    Presence. Amen.

[_01_]  Michael Jordan - who played many seasons of successful basketball - was once neither very famous nor wealthy, nor did he have any social media.

          As a college basketball player at the University of North Carolina, Michael Jordan would

write letters to his family. But, he did not have much money and wanted to keep communicating, staying in touch.

So, in one letter, he begged – to his mother, mother, please send me stamps, please send me postage stamps so I can write you. Imagine, Michael Jordan MVP, All-Star, all that -- back in the day -- did not have enough money to buy a roll of FirstClass Forever postage stamp so that he could write his mother a letter.

 

[_02_]      What is that makes someone present to us? By what means do we stay connected. We have lots of ways of doing this – Instagram, e-mail, texting.

          But, sometimes, we are not always sure who we are communicating with.

          The other day, I received an email from someone whose address I recognized and this simple message:

          “check this out” and there was a link to click on.

          However, inside the email there was no salutation such as “Dear __name___” and it was not signed. I was suspicious. I called up the person to ask – is this really from you? Did you send this to me? Was your email hacked?

          So, we live – these days – often suspicious of communications. We wonder if it is real, if it is true.

          Michael Jordan’s mother, receiving a letter in the 1980’s from her son, did not wonder whether the communication had been hacked or hijacked.

 

[_03_]     If there is any benefit or blessing to the current pandemic, it is that we are often immersed, thrown together and all together physically present to each other.

          While we might wonder what day it is, we are wondering what day it is together!

          That’s presence.

          That’s truth. It builds trust. It’s good news.

 

 

[_04_]    This is Corpus Christi Sunday, the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

         

 

[_05_]   Last summer – in August 2019 – a research study was published by Pew Research Center –  that only about 30% of Catholics believe in what we call the “Real Presence”. In other words, only about 30% believe that the bread and wine are really transformed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

The findings clearly touched a nerve as commentators jumped to analyze the data, questioning the language that Pew had used in its survey questions.

Mark Gray from the Center for the Applied Research in the Apostolate wrote in a blog post that replacing the word “actually” with “really” might have led to different results. In previous surveys on the Real Presence, CARA used “Jesus is really present in the bread and wine of the Eucharist” vs. “Bread and wine are symbols of Jesus, but Jesus is not really present.”

          Others found the results an affirmation of their belief that catechesis in the church is in a sorry state.

Bishop Robert Barron wrote “It represents a massive failure — and I include myself in this, we’re all guilty — a massive failure on the part of Catholics – including priests … he is including himself…”

I include myself …

 

[_06_]     I am not here to point fingers – the only finger is being pointed at me. I am also here to express my gratitude to you, for it is through you, the people of God of Our Lady of Lourdes, that I have also seen the Body of Christ really present.

          I am also grateful to our catechists and volunteers and our religious education teachers who with such dedication teach our young people about Jesus’ presence to them in Holy Communion, about genuflecting and bowing before Jesus in the Tabernacle, and about the fact that our beautiful altar rail is also an extension of the altar to you. They are same surface and purpose, to remind us of Jesus the altar rail was something more than a divider from the sanctuary, but that it is actually an extension of the altar—the people’s altar. It is the place where we bring our own sacrifices as we wait to be united in communion with Our Lord and with each other, the Church.

          So we show respect to Jesus not only at the altar and tabernacle about also at the altar rail.

 

[_05_]   Many years ago, there was a death in our parish family, and it was a trauma and tragedy for one of our families as the person who died was very young.

          It all happened very suddenly.

          What I remember distinctly about that day was not only the sadness, the outpouring of grief but how everyone was present to each other in the house. No social distancing that day.

          When I returned to the rectory that evening, I myself was pretty wound up.

          And, I was very grateful for a text I received from Father Jim Chern, Father Jim had also been there that day in the house, with the grieving family. So, in a way, his text read my mind, that I was up and might need to talk.

 

[_06_]  We often experience “real presence” then by someone reaching out to us, whether in person – with a written letter – on the phone.

          The Eucharist, in this regard, it is not a symbol. It is a word, it is a vow.

          On the day of wedding – matrimony – between the bride and groom – there are many visual symbols present.         

          But, what we can and do say is that the vows – the promise of “I do” are not symbolic.

          A word is not a symbol. A word is about presence.

          The word that Jesus leaves us is the promise of his love, his presence among us. The Body of Christ. Amen.

Nature, Trinity, Progress (2020-06-07, Triniy Sunday)

2020-06-07 _ Trinity  ●Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9  ● Psalm (Daniel 3)  ● 2 Corinthians 13:11-13  ●  + John 3:16-18 ●

Title:    Nature

[_01_]    In 2003, in Minneapolis-St. Paul, the Catholic archbishop published a letter about what it means to resist or reject the idea of being made in God’s image – writing on the subject of racism.

          Here I  quoting his letter (Archbishop Harry Flynn, St.Paul-Minneapolis, 1995-2008)

          “Racism is a form of xenophobia, a fear or dislike of those who are different from us. Each of us has some element of this fear within our hearts. In my own experience, I remember an incident on my sixth birthday. My mother said I could invite the members of my grade school class, and I replied that I would like to, but one of the girls in my class was African American, and I said that I didn’t think I wanted to invite her. Fine, said my mother, you don’t have to invite her, but if you don’t, then you won’t have a birthday party.

I still have a vivid memory of that birthday party and of my mother warmly greeting the young African American girl as she came up the sidewalk to attend the party. That single act made a very deep impression on me. In an instant, my mother dissolved some of the xenophobia that had been in my heart.”

[_02_]     Racism is a fear or dislike of those who are different from us, and a fear or dislike because they are different.

It is certainly a temptation and perhaps an easy path to go down, to dislike or even to disown the other.

[_03_]    Our community – the township of West Orange – and the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes is made of people of every race, income level, socioeconomic background and education level.

          Our goal is NOT to be “color blind” … We would not want to be blind to differences or diversity. That is, we recognize differences between women and men. We are not blind to such differences.

          Our goal is not to tolerate the differences or overcompensate for the differences between any 2 individuals, but rather to lose the fear and hatred that may be associated with the differences.

          It is Trinity Sunday and on Trinity Sunday we celebrate and acknowledge God as 3 persons with 1 divine nature.

          In a parallel fashion, we recognize that we are the Body of Christ – the Church – sharing not only in that one divine nature through grace, but also through a shared humanity, a shared human nature.

          There are so many things that divide us and distinguish us.

          Of course, it is true that I have a nature or personality unto myself and you do as well.

 

[_04_]    The death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis has sparked deep outrage across the country.

          And, we might say, it also shows that in the police officers who were sworn to protect the public, to protect George Floyd himself there was a rejection of this sense of a shared nature.

          The reason all of us believe in human dignity is not simply to uphold the law or to avoid punishment or even to provide comfort. Those are the effects or results of human dignity. The cause of human dignity is a recognition that we have a shared nature.

          That’s why that mother of taught her son, in teaching him to invite all his classmates to his birthday party.

 

[_05_]   In 2015, Anthony Ray Hinton was released from an Alabama state prison, released from death after a complete exoneration and recognition of a wrongful conviction.

          Read his book called The Sun Does Shine. It is a beautiful autobiography of his perseverance, his dignity, and his triumph.

          While Anthony did not die at the hands of the police, we could certainly say that after 28 years on death row for a crime he did not commit and a justice system and prosecutor refused to accept evidence and really disowned him because he is African American. They told him so.

          Anthony, however, chooses not to live as a victim. He is a free man today, not just because the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously 9-0 ruled in his favor, and because he is no longer behind bars, Anthony is a free man because he has embraced mercy as part of the journey toward justice.

          Now, you and I often think of MERCY and JUSTICE as 2 different and opposing realities.

          But, in God, MERCY and JUSTICE can be one and the same.

And, in fact, when we are children, when we live the simplicity of childlike attitude to God, we can see MERCY and JUSTICE as the same.

          Here is an example – consider a small child in your care does something willful and disobedient. Children are capable of this from a very young age, right?

          But, parents – loving parents – are also capable of intervening to teach the child simultaneously both that something is wrong and and that that wrong can be forgiven.

          That’s mercy and justice simultaneously, in real time.

          That’s what I suggest we pray for right now, in the United States, in Minneapolis, everywhere. Justice + Mercy.

[_06_]    When he was on death row, he met a fellow prisoner: Henry. Henry had also received a death sentence for homicide, not just any homicide. Henry was a Ku Klux Klan member and had taken the life of a young black man. Henry had been raised in a KKK family. But in prison, Henry changes. Henry repents and tells this to Anthony, admitting that he realizes everything he learned about superiority and inequality was a lie.    

In prison and on death row together, Henry and Anthony became true friends. One day, Henry’s parents were visiting and Henry introduces his friend - Anthony  - to his mother and father. One of them smiled faintly. The other refused to shake his hand. It was not a perfect moment.

          When someone asked Anthony what happened..what was that all about, Anthony simply said: PROGRESS.       

          In 1997, Henry was put to death, executed. It was the first time in 85 years that a white man had been executed for the killing of a black man and Henry’s death was a significant moment outside the prison walls, in the outside world. But in Anthony’s world, it was just the death of a friend.

        Friendship is progress.  Justice is progress.  Mercy is progress.

          Knowing that we all share one nature – human nature – that we are all made in the image of the Trinity of God is progress, + in the name of the + Father, and & of the Son, & of the Holy Spirit  Amen.  [_fin_]