This is my body (2024-07-28, Sunday-17)

__  Click here for Audio of Homily__  

__  Click here for Video of Mass __ 

● Homily – July 28, 2024  17^th Sunday (Year B)  ● 2 Kings 4:42-44   ●  Psalm 145  ●

● Ephesians 4:1-6 ● + John 6:1-15 ● Title: "This is my body"

 [__01__]     The words of our Catholic Eucharistic Prayer – “this is my body” are the central moment of the consecration by the priest at Mass – and by Jesus at the Last Supper.

          “This is my body” also applies to you and me outside of Mass.

 “This is my body” reflects, for example, the mutual care of spouses for each other in matrimony, demonstrating that our physical bodies are vessels with which we carry Christ’s love and sacrifice to each other.

We are called to take care of each other’s bodies. Have you ever taken care of – or are you taking care now – of a loved one in advanced age or infirmity?  Is it not possible that some of your respect is driven by your own understanding of mortality. Viewing the other person’s fragility, you might say: “this could be me, this could be my body.”

In the Church, the “last rites” or anointing of a dying person is 1 of the 7 sacraments, providing grace through the body.  "This is my body" is a profound declaration of faith and dedication to God's will, in both death and life.

[P_A_U_S_E]

 [__02__]   “This is my body” also applies to St. Paul in the letter to the Ephesians in the 2^nd reading today.

In Ephesians 4:1-6, St. Paul describes himself as a “prisoner for the Lord,” a statement rich in irony. It is ironic because Paul is not just exaggerating – by the use of the word “prisoner” that he is a really dedicated Gospel messenger.

          In fact, Paul was jailed and could not move about freely. He was under house arrest in Rome, tried and convicted by Roman authorities. “Ephesians” is one of Paul’s “prison epistles”

          Despite the confinement, Paul’s message spread like wildfire, demonstrating that his suffering and death did not extinguish his teachings but rather amplified them. Similarly, Jesus' message grew stronger through His Death and Resurrection, highlighting how true freedom and influence come from spiritual rather than physical liberation.  Paul ultimately gave up his life and was martyred.

          “This is my body” is not a limitation of incarceration but rather a liberation and invitation.

 

[__03__]    I refer to the phrase “this my body” and Paul’s imprisonment as  away to introduce the meaning of Holy Communion as illustrated in John 6:1-15.

“This is my body” applies to all of us, signifying our connection to God, emphasized in 3 solemn moments of our lives: (1) dying, (2) marrying, and (3) being baptized, as explained in a sermon by Father Ronald Knox of England.

(Ronald A. Knox, Pastoral and Occasional Sermons, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, pp. 283-234 (circa))

 

[__04(a)__]   1^st: Christian death and dying. This is my body.

I recall the extended illness and death of a family friend who died surrounded by his family and friends. He made a valiant fight for his life in the face of a serious illness.

It was no surprise that he was surrounded by the love of family and friends during his illness and dying.

His family and friends were reciprocating what he had given to them by his own virtue and sacrifice in his life.

What was ironic was that his body – at a young age of 41 - should be taken as he was such a healthy whole person, a competitive weightlifter, a martial arts practitioner, a law enforcement professional and all-around good guy.

There was a further “irony” in the intersection of his physical fitness and social concern for everyone around him.  If you bumped into him at RetroFitness or your local gym, he might talk your ear off so that neither of you would do any real exercise that day.

 

[__04(b)__]    I have a particular “this is my body” memory of him at the gym when I was younger and in in college.

At this particular fitness place / gym, there were many serious and somewhat intimidating weightlifter guys, real grown ups, who were known to be pretty tough guys who hung out there.

They frightened me a little bit with their attitude and concentration, but I recall my friend was there, and he was respected by them – and by extension – I felt safe and respected. He was “Homeland Security”.

 

[__04(c)__]    “This is my body” is the way we're called to live our lives in the way we can love and care about each other. Father Ronald Knox wrote this:

“We Christians offer our bodies as a reasonable living sacrifice.”

Father Ronald Knox, also admits, as we all could say physical and bodily concerns are not limited to Olympic athletes and weightlifters. We all some physically-based self esteem.

Father Ronald Knox Σ summarizes:

“This is my body in which I have taken such pride. This is my body in which I have devoted so much attention. This is my body in through which I have sinned.”

[__06(a)__]     This is my body. This is my body. Applies to all of us and applies to us, and applies to us in the past and in the present.

It applies to us on the Day of baptism, on the day of christening.

So tenderly, so gently do the parents carefully present their daughters and their sons on the day of baptism. You've seen parents on the day of baptism holding their child so gently. It's beautiful.

They are holding the child with reverence, with care, with fidelity.

A mother or father can say truly of the child: “this is my body”, and therefore has made a vow to nurture, nourish, protect the life of the child from conception to natural death.

The infant girl or infant boy is also saying to God -- with the help of his godparents and parents – “this is my body”.

But the parents are also asserting of the child they are responsible for: “this is my body”.

[__06(b)__]      Father Ronald Knox writes that that one of the first judgments the child can make is the identification one’s own body.

And psychologically, this is also true. Around 6 months of age, a child starts to differentiate himself or herself from “mother”.

Once the baby boy does this, once the baby girl does this, he or she is on the way to knowing of their personal soul and spirit.  That their body is not all there is.

So it is by the pouring out of holy water that we definitely say in faith with the child and for the child, this is my body, that we help him to identify himself, individually, as a person, even from a very young age, so that the child can start to form a personal conscience, free will, so that the child can one day confess his sin and can receive God's mercy, so that he can, one day, get married, and even on the day of his death, say in complete faith and trust, this is my body given up for you, my Lord and Savior.

[__07__]  The irony of Paul being “a prisoner” is that he also discovering that his true freedom is not determined by what the government will or will not permit him to do  physically.

          At the end of the Gospel today,  we read that Jesus withdraws physically – escapes – because he senses the crowd is going to “capture him” and make him king.

          But, he also knows that they do not know – yet – what his kinship and rule are really about.

          Ironically – Jesus will become king –because he accepts a baptism in which is truly immersed in death to rise to new life, a marriage in which becomes the husband and bridegroom for the whole church, and a death in which he shows us that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that all who believe in him might not perish but might have eternal life.  (John 3:16)

          This is His body given up for you.

Sheep without a Shepherd (2024-07-21, 16th Sunday)

__  Click here for Audio of Homily__  

__  Click here for Video of Mass __

Homily – July 21, 2024   16^th Sunday (Year B)   ● Jeremiah 23:1-6 ●  Psalm 23  ●   ● Ephesians 2:13-18 ● + Mark 6:30-34 ●

[__01__]  Recently, one of my childhood friends and classmates shared with me 3 distinct memories of our grade school principal:

1^st. His mother always spoke of her love and respect for the principal – her name was Sister Teresa

2^nd. One day, he decided to bring a camera to school and he took a picture of her. He may have gotten in trouble for that one. He still has the picture.

3^rd. There was one time when were left alone in the classroom, because the teacher left the room.

          Or, to use a metaphor and phrase from the Gospel: we – the children – were like sheep without a shepherd.

          The “Law & Order” was restored suddenly to the classroom when Sister Teresa, our principal appeared. She was an authority figure, commanded respect.

          As a grown up, looking back, I now respect her even now more than I did “back in the day”. It’s difficult to be a school principal.

We, the children had gone wild for a while. There might have been children who were alone or scared or afraid in that situation. Children are sometimes in danger when they are completely unsupervised.

When we feel LONELY abandoned, we may act out selfishness, sinfulness, brokenness.

Reflecting on this incident, I would just like to remind myself –

1.    That even if someone I know respects and loves “Jesus”, this is no substitute for my personal relationship with our Savior.

2.    Jesus is not just a photograph or image from the past, but present to us here and now.

3.    He is already here …and he wants us to connect to Him. He comes to bring us healing and strength.

[__02__]    The Gospel, this Sunday, concludes with a statement and an observation by Jesus about the people whom he encounters that they are like sheep without a shepherd. Our Savior

Knows that they and we heed HEALING and STRENGTH that comes from knowledge of his mercy and this connects us to both God and neighbor.

 [__03__]     The Gospel then reminds us of the importance of connection and community.

          And, the lesson – from God’s Word – is that even we are “alone” … we are meant to recall how similar we are … and how much we need each other.

In the beginning … in the book of Genesis, we read that Adam, the first man, was created, and that he was alone. He was completely alone, with no other human being. Then Adam and Eve were created together, but they were still alone. Of course, they had each other. But, at first they had nothing to distract them --- no technology, no distractions, no other destinations to go, no messages from the world, no Wi-Fi, no entertainment, no other people.  Their only “calling plan” was to each other and to God who walked with them.

They were alone, unto themselves, but they also knew that they had been created by God and were in communion with God and with nature as well. They were similar to the innocent state of those people who completely live off the land.

 

[__04__]      Have you been one of these people – or known one of these people – who really tries to be in harmony with the environment and nature?

Have you ever been, or have you ever seen someone, who spends hours and hours caring for plants, trees, nature, water, wanting simply to be one with nature, wanting to be undisturbed and completely content to be alone, to be alone in the garden, to be in solitude? In this regard, Adam and Eve were living not in confinement, but in community.

As John Henry Newman wrote, Adam and Eve were put into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. For them, this was a mode of life, free from tumult, free from anxiety or excitement and … as it is [usually with those who are really into their gardens or into nature]. (John Henry Newman, “The State of Innocence”, Book V, Sermon 8, Parochial and Plain Sermons (1891), San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1997, p. 1025)

So, harmony with nature can also lead us to love of God and neighbor

[__05__]        When we come to church, even if we travel here on our own, sit on our own, and leave on our own, we come here both for the solitary nature of being here and for the solidarity of prayer with others. We are both alone and together at the same time. This togetherness also reminds us that we are all creatures of God, created by him out of love.

And, the natural world teaches us this.

There is in our world only one real source of intelligence, an intelligence that is not strictly human and certainly not artificial.

The intelligence and wisdom we have comes from God.

And, is this not demonstrated through natural phenomena?

God is the author of our life, of all life, and all lives.

The human being [was] … fashioned from God’s good earth … we are told that all human beings are earth. Despite every distinction that culture and history have brought about, it is still true that we are, in the last resort, the same: … Emperor and beggar, master and slave are all ultimately one and the same person, taken from the same earth and destined to return to the same earth. (Benedict XVI, “The Creation of the Human Being” In the Beginning (1986), Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdsman Publishing, 1995, p. 43)

“The rich and poor have this in common: The Lord made them both” (Proverbs 22:2)

[__06__]       Do you ever feel isolated, distressed, or disconnected? 

This happens to all of us. Sometimes we feel this even with someone sitting right next to us, or someone in the next room, or someone in our own house. Being married or being part of a family is not a guarantee that we will never feel alone.

The Church practices of prayer and fasting remind us to keep Jesus at the center of our lives and are designed to bring us HEALING in soul and body.

 [__07__]    Prayer is kind of like gardening or landscaping. In gardening and landscaping, it is a project in which we are not simply doing stuff and working the Earth, but also cooperating with God's creation and nature.

We are called to cooperate with God's creation and nature by our prayer for other people.

We are all in an  “ecosystem” and “environment“ with other people, some of whom do less than or the exact opposite of what we want.

What is true of the “garden or natural world” is also true of people – we often have to work with what and with whom God gives us. And, sometimes, the difficult person or experience can turn out to be a blessing. In all these things, I am called to pray God’s will would be done, not my will, but thy will.

This can help us to take a longer-term view of “nature” – human nature included!

This prayer also leads us to two other goals in the Christian life: fasting and sacrifice. While fasting and sacrifice may seem isolating, they also bring us into solidarity with others. For example, can we not go to bed a little bit hungry or leave the table not quite full, not only of for the “health” of losing weight, but also for the healing of the world and uniting ourselves in soul and in body to those who live in famine or in poverty or natural disaster? Fasting and sacrifice build community. They don't isolate; they build connections

Ultimately, the heart of Jesus’ message in Matthew 6 is that fasting is about humility. It leaves no room for bragging about how much we have given up for God, and it leaves no room for complaining about our sacrifice. Fasting calls us to humility within us and remind us what God has done on our behalf

          This prayer and fasting lead us back to Jesus, the King of Love my Shepherd is.

            Jesus reminds us that our connection to Him is because he loved your parents or gave them faith, but that he also loves you and invites you to faith.

Nor is love based only in an old photo or memory of the past. He is loving you now, pouring out his mercy on those who ask.

51^st psalm: a humble contrite heart O God you will not spurn.

Jesus does not leave us alone or in anxiety but wishes us to draw closer to him, to cultivate our own gifts and gardens where He is Lord of both Heaven and Earth.

The Lord is my Shepherd. There is nothing I shall want.  [__end__]

Trajectory of Repentance. Coming Home (2024-07-14, 15th Sunday)

__  Click here for Audio of Homily__  

__  Click here for Video of Mass __  

 Homily – July 14, 2024    15^th Sunday (Year B)  ● Amos 7:12-15 ●  Psalm 85  ●  ● Ephesians 1:3-14 ● + Mark 6:7-13 ●

Title:  Trajectory of Repentance. Coming Home

FYI / Reference: https://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2015/5/29/8683385/home-run-trajectories-and-pitchers

[__01__] We are in the season of baseball. Baseball has a baseball diamond with 4 bases, a pitcher and a batter. The goal in baseball is to score runs by coming back home. Yes, the batter is swinging a bat so as to run to 1^st base and beyond, but the ultimate goal is to come back to home plate. The best possible result is a “home run”. And the best way to connect with the ball and score with a home run is to launch the ball very high in the air, so the ball will travel far, 400 feet or more, beyond the outfield fence.

And in baseball games, have you noticed there are calculations that are made, mathematical calculations, geometric calculations, angle of the ball off the bat into the air, because the higher the ball travels, the easier it is to come home, to get back home.

This is the trajectory.

 

[__02__]     I bring this up because the gospel of Mark Jesus is sending his disciples out --- on  a trajectory -- but he's also sending them out so that they can get home, so that they can come back home. He's sending us out so that we will also come home, come home to Him. Jesus is calling His disciples to get off the ground first, to make some changes. He's sending them out on a mission to preach and to teach. The disciples are given instructions about simplicity, about material things, preparing them to aim higher. And sometimes we have to make changes in order to aim higher.

To … make sacrifices. Maybe we make sacrifices by cutting calories, cutting spending, or cutting out pleasures.

Maybe we have to cut calories or cut spending, reduce spending or cut back on some pleasures we're enjoying. These are ways in which we can follow Jesus by making sacrifices to love God and love our neighbor. But the trajectory, the way to come home to God and Jesus is also talking about, is repentance, repenting of our sins.

[__03__] ### Raising the Bar Through Repentance

Now, you and I might think that repentance is a way to keep the ball really low or the bar low, but I'm suggesting repentance is a way to raise the bar. Repentance is a positive trajectory, a way to help us be raised up. Repentance is a salutary reminder that we're all sinners in need of God's mercy.

[__04__] ### The Sense of Sin

In 1984, Pope John Paul II wrote: “The restoration of a proper sense of sin is the first way of facing the grave spiritual crisis looming over man today. But the sense of sin can only be restored through a clear reminder of the unchangeable principles of reason and faith which the moral teaching of the Church has always upheld.”

(Pope John Paul II, Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, 1984, n. 18)

[__05__] ### 3 Types of Repentance

I'd like to touch on the fact that there are three trajectories – or “directions” of repentance, each one can get us off the ground, get a home run, and draw us closer to Jesus. But depending on the curveball you're facing in your sinfulness, or the curveball I'm facing in my sinfulness, we may need a different swing, a different type of repentance to get the ball in the air and to come home.

[__06__] ### Repentance Right Away

A classic example: the thief on the cross who comes home.  As soon as he is aware of the holiness of Jesus, Christ crucified with him, he repents of his sins. He doesn't demand or expect forgiveness. He just repents. He does it immediately, right away.

Sometimes we can do this too when we realize the error of our ways quickly, perhaps due to the personal holiness or virtuous example of someone around us.  If we really desire someone's friendship, or love, we often repent right away.

Such repentance is a home run and leads us home to Jesus, getting the ball in the air.

[__07__] ### Repentance Readily, Rapidly

Classic example: the Prodigal Son who come home.  The prodigal son didn't repent right away. It took a little while, but he did repent readily when he arrived at his father’s house. He makes repentance a priority.

          Is repentance a priority for me? For you?  In the Gospel, Jesus says that if you or I were to come to pray at the altar and there recall that a brother or sister has something against us, we should go first to our brother or sister, then come and offer our gift and prayer. (Matthew 5:23-24)

Another example of this would be not letting the sun set on your anger or sinfulness. (Ephesians 4:26)

We are called to repent readily, which might mean putting off something else in order to repent. Maybe we put off finishing a project at work, watching TV, going out to dinner, or some other pleasure, because repentance is the priority. This kind of repentance is a home run. It gets the ball in the air and brings us home.

[__08__] ### Repent Repeatedly

Classic example: King David. Though also a great king, David has multiple sins and coverup’s of his sins This has to do with his affair with Bathsheba, the taking of the life of Bathsheba’s husband and more!

          And, David does all of this in his own home! David repents when gets caught!

Let's face it, each of us might face sins that are very vexing, repeatable in our lives, and troublesome. We may need to repent more than once and ask God to help us amend our lives, even if it takes a while. Just as we might have to forgive 77 times, we may have to repent 77 times. Repenting 70 x 7 is a home run.

[__09__] ### Prayer, Fasting, and Charity

Jesus is asking us each day to pray, to fast/sacrifice, and to give charitably not only for our own salvation but also for that of our loved ones. And, actually, not only for those we love and know but also those we do not love and do not know, those we do not like. Jesus said to his disciples:

“For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:46-48).

Jesus reminds us that we are called to love our enemies and to pray for those who might persecute us or cause us difficulty. But, because there are so many problems in the world, we might resist doing this.

[__10__] ### Reflecting on Destruction and Peace (09)

Father Ronald Knox, reflecting on life in England and the European Continent after World War II in the 1940-1950s, wrote about physical destruction. We have also witnessed physical destruction such as 9/11 in NYC and now much more recent violence affecting people in the Holy Land, in Ukraine, and now an assassination attempt on a presidential candidate and former U.S. President.

“We are sad at the disappearance of old landmarks, uneasy at the changes in our familiar habits of life. Travel is more difficult and more wearisome; we find it hard to make contact with old friends, even when we are little divided from them by distance. All that sets up a restlessness in our minds which perhaps is good for us in a way; it may save us from falling too much into a rut and taking life too easily. But it does not make the business of our souls a more encouraging task. For that, we need tranquility, recollection; how are we to think about God or eternity, with daily needs and worldly preoccupations and public cares so weighing on our minds? The thought of God seems to get crowded out; our own sins get overlooked – they are so petty, compared with the needs of a distracted world, the perils of an uncertain future.”

(Ronald Knox, “Peace in Ourselves”, Pastoral and Occasional Sermons, Part VII. The Eucharist, p. 281)

[__11__] ### Understanding the Eucharist

What is the Eucharist – what is Holy Communion? How are we to understand the effect of the Blessed Sacrament in our lives and our call to fast and pray for others?

I invite you to check the websites of Relevant Radio.com, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, and other media to watch and listen. You are also invited here to pray, especially Wednesday and Thursday from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm, and confessions will be heard.

The Holy Eucharist and Holy Communion remind us that the world is saved by the Precious Body and Blood of our Savior who proclaimed from the Cross, “Forgive them Father, they know not what they do.”

[__12__] ### The Goodness of the Holy Spirit

The goodness of the Holy Spirit is poured out for me, for you, for us to see the good in ourselves and also to see the goodness in others.

 

In a little while, we will bring forth up the center aisle the gifts of Bread and Wine which are blessed and consecrated in the sacrament and Eucharistic prayer. These gifts of Bread and Wine also signify you and me, in a way that we are also called to be transformed:

“There is something to be done on our side. The wheat must be ground into bread, the wine must be pressed out of the grape, before we can give our Lord the opportunity to work his miracle of transubstantiation. The offertory first, man stretching out his hands to God; then the consecration, God accepting and transforming man's gift. We must come to meet him early in the morning, when sleep has smoothed away the memories of yesterday, and no cares have yet assailed us to disturb the equilibrium of our lives. We must hand over the direction of our lives to him if we are to know what it means to live an ordered life, “heart-whole” and “mind-whole” in a world like ours. Then, we can go to Communion.”

(Ronald Knox, “Peace in Ourselves”, Pastoral and Occasional Sermons, Part VII. The Eucharist, p. 282)May this remind us of our upward angle, our true trajectory, our journey à HOME.