A Homily for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

 (First of all, I tested positive for COVID earlier this week, so I have been quarantined and not saying Mass publicly. I was suppose to have the 5:15 PM Vigil Mass on Saturday Evening, but since the second COVID test I took on Friday was still positive, they had to get coverage.

Second, this was "Deacon Preach" weekend, so I would not be preaching typically, even if I was healthy. However, Bishop O'Connell asked a group of priests to write a "model" homily for one weekend each month from last Corpus Christi until this year's Corpus Christi. The homilies are all on the Eucharist for the current Eucharistic Revival. I was one of the priests the Bishop asked, so last year I wrote the "model" homily for this weekend on the theme of the Eucharist and the Sacraments of Healing. Whether or not something on this topic was preach in the parishes throughout the Diocese I do not know, but below is the homily that I wrote.)

The 1950s was a time when Hollywood was more friendly to religious themes in movies; whether movies based on Scripture like “Sampson and Delilah” and the classic “The Ten Commandments,” or those set in the Biblical world like “Ben-Hur.” One of my favorites is “The Robe” starring Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, and Victor Mature.

Without giving away too many spoilers, the story centers on a Roman tribune named Marcellus who is given the mission to find the robe that Jesus wore on the way to the Cross, which is in possession of his runaway slave, Demetrius (who will be the star of a sequel, “Demetrius and the Gladiators”). In one series of scenes Marcellus, under the guise of a merchant, is in the village of Cana where he meets two interesting characters.

The first is Jonathan, the grandson of the local “bishop” of the Christians in the village. Jonathan was born lame, but during one of his visits, Jesus healed Jonathan’s leg so when we see him he is running with the other young boys of the village. Marcellus ends up giving Jonathan one of his donkeys in a effort to ingratiate himself to the villagers. The next day Marcellus sees Jonathan and another boy riding the donkey. Jonathan tells Marcellus that he has given the donkey to the other boy who is lame like he used to be. Marcellus is shocked by Jonathan’s generosity.

The other interesting character is Miriam, a beautiful young woman with a lovely singing voice. Miriam is paralyzed; unable to walk. When Marcellus meets her, she is so pleasant and friendly, however we learn that she was not always that way. When she was 12 years old she became sick, and the illness left her paralyzed. Her physical illness left her bitter and hateful, isolated from most of the people in Cana. One day there was a wedding feast in the village. Everyone was there except for Miriam. She was filled with envy, jealousy, and bitterness because no one would ever want to marry her, a cripple. 

Of course, this was the famous wedding in Cana that Jesus attends and turns the water into wine. Before going to the wedding, however, Jesus goes to see Miriam. We do not know what happened during that encounter, but afterwards Miriam is changed. She is still paralyzed, but all her bitterness, envy and jealousy is gone. She is at peace and friendly, which leads to her becoming a beloved member of the village. 

Marcellus asks her if this Jesus could heal, like he did for Jonathan, why didn’t he heal her. She tells him that she wondered about that too and came to realize that Jesus had healed her in her spirit while leaving her body paralyzed so that she could participate in his mission. It would have been natural for her to be happy, smiling and singing if Jesus had healed her paralysis, but now she witnessed that physical illness does not need to deprive a person of happiness in the Kingdom of God. As she says in the movie, “we have something better than power. We have hope.”

We have all experienced sickness in our lives. If we have been lucky, it has only been minor illnesses like a cold or the flu. Others of us have experienced more serious illnesses that may have required time in the hospital. Hopefully most of these illnesses have been temporary, but for some the effects are lasting.

Something else that all of us have experienced is sin. Sin is a type of spiritual illness. It is when we put our own desires before doing God’s will

.

Whether our illness is physical or spiritual, one effect is separation and isolation. We stay home and away from people because we don’t want them to catch our cold or the flu. If we are hospitalized, while family and friends might visit us, there is a lot of time separated from our loved ones. This can leave us feeling alone, maybe even frightened. Sin separates us not only from God, but from His mystical body, the Church.

Jesus came to heal all of us and bring us back into a proper relationship with God and one another. We see an example of this in today’s Gospel reading. Imagine being the man with the unclean spirit. While being in the synagogue, he was probably isolated from the rest of the community. We are not told how the unclean spirit manifested itself in the man, but people probably were afraid of getting too close to him. 

Isolated, alone, and probably afraid himself, the possessed man suffered. Then Jesus heals him, setting him free from the unclean spirit, so that he would be welcomed and reconciled with the faith community there in the synagogue. We see this time and again in the Gospels, whether it is a physical illness such as paralysis, blindness or illness, or a spiritual illness like sin or possession by an evil spirit, Jesus heals the suffering person so that they might become part of the community again. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the Sacrament of Penance and the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick” (CCC #1421).

The waters of Baptism cleanse us of all sin, both Original Sin and personal sin. Sadly, after Baptism we do not always stay in that state of grace. We sin. We put our will before God’s will. “Sin is before all else an offense against God, a rupture of communion with him. At the same time, it damages communion with the Church. For this reason, conversion entails both God’s forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church, which are expressed and accomplished liturgically by the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation” (CCC #1440). 

While only God can forgive sin, He has chosen to work through the ministry of priests to offer forgiveness and reconciliation to the sinner who has expressed contrition for their sins. “‘The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God’s grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship.’ Reconciliation with God is thus the purpose and effect of this sacrament. For those who receive the sacrament of Penance with contrite heart and religious disposition, reconciliation ‘is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience with strong spiritual consolation’” (CCC #1468). 

The sacrament also reconciles us with the Church, re-establishing fraternal communion.“By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them. And indeed, she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the People of God by freely uniting themselves to the Passion and death of Christ” (CCC #1499). 

As we have mentioned, physical illness can leave us feeling isolated and frightened, but for the person who lives their illness in the presence of God, it can become an opportunity for deeper conversion. Our helplessness in face of illness can lead us to a greater dependence on God. 

“The first grace of this sacrament is one of strengthening, peace and courage to overcome the difficulties that go with the condition of serious illness or the frailty of old age” (CCC #1520). The sacrament also unites the sick person more closely to Jesus’ Passion on the Cross, so that they can draw strength from him. In doing so, the sick person contributes to the good of the People of God.

Both the Sacrament of Penance and the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick are about re-uniting people who have become separated from God and the Church. The ultimate sign of this unity that Christ wants for all of us is the Eucharist. St. Thomas Aquinas highlights this link between the sacraments of healing and the Eucharist in his Prayer Before Communion. St. Thomas says that we come sick to “the Physician of Life” begging him to heal our weakness and to enlighten our blindness. St. Thomas also begs to be intimately united to Jesus’ mystical body through the worthy reception of the Body and Blood of the Lord.

I encourage all of us to reflect on how sickness — whether physical or spiritual — has impacted or continues to impact our own lives. Have we allowed it to leave us isolated and afraid, or have we surrendered our sickness to Christ the Divine Physician so as to be united with him and his Church? If we still need healing we should seek out the remedies Christ offers through the Church: the Sacrament of Penance for the spiritual illness of sin, and the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick for physical illness. Then take time to pray and reflect on St. Thomas’ Prayer Before Communion (many missalettes have it in the back):

Almighty and Eternal God, behold I come to the sacrament of Your only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. As one sick I come to the Physician of life; unclean, to the Fountain of mercy; blind to the Light of eternal splendor; poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Therefore, I beg of You, through Your infinite mercy and generosity, heal my weakness, wash my uncleanness, give light to my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness. May I thus receive the Bread of Angels, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, with such reverence and humility, contrition and devotion, purity and faith, purpose and intention, as shall aid my soul’s salvation.

Grant, I beg of You, that I may receive not only the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord, but also its full grace and power. Give me the grace, most merciful God, to receive the Body of your only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, in such a manner that I may deserve to be intimately united with His mystical Body and to be numbered among His members. Most loving Father, grant that I may behold for all eternity face to face Your beloved Son, whom now, on my pilgrimage, I am about to receive under the sacramental veil, who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

Memorial of St. Marianne Cope

 (I was supposed to be celebrating the 8 AM Mass at St. John the Baptist Church today, however I was diagnosed with COVID yesterday. Here is the homily I planned to share).

Although better known for his novels, such as “Treasure Island,” and “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” Robert Lewis Stevenson also penned:

To see the infinite pity of this place,

The mangled limb, the devastated face,

The innocent sufferer smiling at the rod—

A fool were tempted to deny his God.

He sees, he shrinks. But if he gaze again,

Lo, beauty springing from the breast of pain!

He marks the sisters on the mournful shores;

And even a fool is silent and adores.

Today we celebrate the woman for whom Steveson wrote those words after visiting Moloka, Hawaii. 

On January 23, 1838, a daughter was born to Peter and Barbara Cope of Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany. The girl was named after her mother. Two years later the Cope family emigrated to the United States and settled in Utica, New York. Young Barbara worked in a factory until August 1862, when she went to the Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis in Syracuse, New York. After profession in November of the next year, she began teaching at Assumption parish school.

Marianne held the post of superior in several places and was twice the novice mistress of her congregation. A natural leader, three different times she was superior of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse, where she learned much that would be useful during her years in Hawaii.

Elected provincial in 1877, Mother Marianne was unanimously re-elected in 1881. Two years later the Hawaiian government was searching for someone to run the Kakaako Receiving Station for people suspected of having leprosy. More than 50 religious communities in the United States and Canada were asked. When the request was put to the Syracuse sisters, 35 of them volunteered immediately. On October 22, 1883, Mother Marianne and six other sisters left for Hawaii where they took charge of the Kakaako Receiving Station outside Honolulu; on the island of Maui they also opened a hospital and a school for girls.

In 1888, Mother Marianne and two sisters went to Molokai to open a home for “unprotected women and girls” there. The Hawaiian government was quite hesitant to send women for this difficult assignment; they need not have worried about Mother Marianne! On Molokai she took charge of the home that Saint Damien de Veuster had established for men and boys. Mother Marianne changed life on Molokai by introducing cleanliness, pride, and fun to the colony. Bright scarves and pretty dresses for the women were part of her approach.

Mother Marianne died on August 9, 1918, was beatified in 2005, and canonized seven years later

Mother Marianne’s generosity and courage were celebrated at her May 14, 2005, beatification in Rome. She was a woman who spoke “the language of truth and love” to the world, said Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes. Cardinal Martins, who presided at the beatification Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, called her life “a wonderful work of divine grace.” Speaking of her special love for persons suffering from leprosy, he said, “She saw in them the suffering face of Jesus. Like the Good Samaritan, she became their mother.”

Homily for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B-2024)

    One of the many amazing things about Christianity is where it starts. There are many religions in the world, and most of them express mankind's search for God. But Christianity is all about God's search for mankind: it starts with God, not with us.

    That's what happens in today's First Reading, for example. The people of Nineveh, a metropolis in the ancient Middle East, are living sinful lives: lives full of pleasures and noise, and maybe even full of popularity and great achievements, but empty of meaning and lasting happiness. That’s what always happens when people rebel against God’s plans and the moral law that he built into human nature.

    God's heart is moved with pity for those sinful people. So he sends a prophet, Jonah, to wake them up, to put them back on the path of God's plan for human happiness - the only plan that will truly work. Through Jonah, God went in search of the Ninevites, because he cared so deeply about their happiness.

    The same thing happens in today's Gospel passage. In this passage, St. Mark shows Jesus doing what he came to earth to do: calling people into a personal relationship with God. That’s really the core of what Christianity is all about. Notice how he calls his first Apostles by name - Peter, Andrew, James, John… He had met all these men before, as we read in John's Gospel, but now he calls them to follow him more closely. He calls them, because he wants to give them more meaning, purpose, and, ultimately, happiness. He wants to bring them into his Kingdom.

    This is what the God of Christianity, the one true God, is all about: he comes in search of every human heart, calling us into everlasting friendship with him.

    Jesus always has something to say to us. Jesus is the “Word of God,” and God is love, and love never tires of speaking with the beloved. In a sense, the entire history of the Church can be understood as an ongoing conversation between God and his children – people like you and me – who either listen and respond to God’s voice, or ignore it.

    Alfred Bessette is a good example. He was one of ten children born to a working class family in Quebec, Canada, in the mid 1800s. He was orphaned at nine years old, and went to live with relatives. In spite of poor health, he had to work from a very young age in order to help pay for his upkeep.

    At the age of 25 he joined the religious Congregation of the Holy Cross. For the next 40 years he spent his days in prayer and work, uncomplainingly washing floors and windows, cleaning lamps, carrying firewood, and serving as a porter and messenger. 

    Eventually, he found a more or less permanent assignment as doorkeeper of the college. As doorkeeper, he had contact with many visitors to the Congregation – poor people, sick people, people coming for council and for prayers. Little by little, people began to notice that when Brother Andre (as he was called in religious life) prayed for them, miracles would often happen. Soon he became known as the “Saint of Mount Royale” or the “Miracle Worker of Montreal.”

    His most lasting contribution, however, was the magnificent Oratory of St. Joseph, the largest church in Canada, and the largest church building in the world dedicated to St. Joseph. It stands today on the highest point in the city of Montreal and receives more than 2 million pilgrims every year.

    But it started out simple and small. St. Andre had always had a strong devotion to St. Joseph, the patron saint of Canada. As a young man he had a dream in which he saw a church building in an unfamiliar setting. The dream was so vivid and insistent that he become convinced he was being called by God to build a chapel to St. Joseph on the top of Mount Royale. So he did.

    The amount of pilgrims who streamed to the little chapel to implore the intercession of St. Joseph (Canada’s patron saint), flooded the little building. So he arranged for its expansion. A few years later he had to expand it yet again. Today’s structure took almost forty years to build. 

    St. Andre was a humble but faith-filled follower of Jesus Christ, who responded to God’s call in his life, just like the first Apostles, and as a result, literally millions and millions of people have been given hope, meaning, and a deeper relationship with God.

    God is always calling out to each one of us, because he loves us and wants to lead us to a more fulfilling life, both here on earth, and also for all eternity in heaven. But we are not always listening. Our lives are filled with so much noise, that God's call often gets lost - we don't hear it, and so we can't respond to it.

    One way to help solve this problem and to create space in our lives to hear God’s voice is to go on a media fast. Mass media are not evil in themselves. In fact, the Church has consistently encouraged Catholics to make intelligent use of these wonderful tools, especially to help spread Christ’s Kingdom.

    However, we all know that the spread of new media is happening so fast that we are constantly flooded by mind-boggling amounts of information, images, and entertainment. Statistics in this area are staggering. The average American adult spends more than ten hours a day consuming mass media! This is the environment in which we live – a very noisy culture!

    If we want to be able to listen to God’s voice calling us to following him more closely, day by day, we have to control our own use of media, not be controlled by it. A great way to do this is to fast from media consumption on a regular basis: fast from radio during the first fifteen minutes of your commute; fast from keeping the TV on while your doing your household chores; fast from using the computer after 8pm for a week… Forcing ourselves to go “offline” on a regular basis can only improve the chances of our hearing God’s call in our hearts – and what is more important than that?

    As we continue with this Mass, let’s tune in to God’s voice once again, let’s mean what we say as we pray, and let’s really listen to what God means to say through the beautiful words and gestures of this sacred celebration.