Homily: Saturday, 34th Week in Ordinary Time (Year 1)

Readings: Dn 7:15-27; Dn 3; Luke 21:34-36

Here I am, only a couple of years from 80, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a time when anxiety and fear have filled the hearts of so many.

COVID has had its effect on a lot of folks, and yes, many in my age group have succumbed to the virus, but in truth most have survived. And yet, so many are overcome by fear. And now the world is panicking over a new variant out of Africa.

To add to our anxieties, we have obvious inflation and a rising cost of living. Then, as we look at our nation and the world, we see far too much division and hatred and threats. Yes, it seems to be a time of very fragile peace, a time of real uncertainty. And yet Jesus tells us, again and again, not to be afraid, but so many seem to ignore Him.

About 35 years ago, back when I was a business consultant, I used to travel a lot. One Sunday afternoon, driving my rental car through the hills of Arkansas, I heard a radio preacher tell his audience that we were only a few years, perhaps just months, from the tribulations and the Second Coming. As I recall, he was the minister of a Free Will Baptist Church. Let me paraphrase what he said that day:

“Jesus is coming, brothers and sisters. But first He’s gonna let the earth be scoured by Satan and his minions. Don’t you be afraid of them. Put away all those fears and get ready for Jesus. He’s coming soon, real soon, and you’d better stop all that sinning. If you don’t call on the Lord and repent, you just won’t be strong enough.”

I have to admit, I loved it. Of course, Jesus hasn’t returned yet, so his timing was off, by how much nobody but God Himself knows. But the preacher’s message was actually pretty good and mirrors the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel passage from Luke. How did Jesus put it?

"Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life...Be vigilant... Pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations" [Lk 21:34,36].

I’ll admit, many years ago, the first time I thought about those words, I had a hard time picturing those first-century Jews out carousing. In truth, though, I suppose they weren’t much different from us. Even The Villages has its share of carousing and drunkenness, and certainly its share of anxiety.

But we’re all disciples of our Lord, Jesus Christ, so we must allow Him to take away our fears. After all, the Gospel is the Good News, the promise of an eternal life beyond anything we can imagine.

If the gospel message is good news, then why do so many oppose it with hostility and even violence? Jesus warns us that we’ll be confronted with persecution, evil, false teaching, and temptation. But how does He tell us to respond to all this? With love, with truth, with forgiveness.

Only His Way, His Way of peace, His way of love, can defeat bigotry, hatred, and envy, and all that would divide and tear us apart.

Only God’s truth, His revealed Word, can overcome the lies and confusion in the world.

And only God’s gift of life, eternal life, can carry us to the salvation He promises.

Only Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life can dissolve all those fears that plague so many today.

I don’t know if you and I will see those tribulations… probably not. But we are still called to proclaim the Gospel wherever God has placed us – called to be to be witnesses.

Did you know the Greek root of the word martyr means witness? The Book of Revelations calls Jesus “the faithful witness ...who freed us from our sins by his blood" [Rev 1:5]. 

St. Augustine spoke of this too: "The martyrs were bound, jailed, scourged, racked, burned, rent, butchered – and they multiplied!" Christians multiplied because the martyrs witnessed to the truth, to the joy and freedom of the Gospel; and they did so through the testimony of their lives.

So maybe, instead of fearing the world and its evils, we should just be joyful that we have heard the Good News, received the gift of faith, and are called to share it all with others. What brings others to Jesus Christ and His Church is seeing Christians loving their enemies; seeing us joyful in suffering, patient in adversity, forgiving of injuries, and showing comfort and compassion to the hopeless and the helpless.

This, brothers and sisters, is our calling.

A Pessimistic Optimist

Yep, that's me: a short-term pessimist, but a long-term optimist, or maybe I should say, a pessimist in the world, but an eternal optimist. What follows should explain this.

In just the past month or so I've been asked by four or five people if we are in the last days or the end times. Some have asked if I believe the Lord is returning soon, or if the antichrist is here, or if there will soon be a "Rapture." It's been a few years since anyone has asked these questions of me, so I would guess many Christians are concerned that the signs of the times point to Jesus' return. There also seems to be a trace of fear, or at least anxiety, behind some of these questions.

Let me say first that we are in the "last days", but not necessarily the "end times." I know, that's a bit confusing, but the Church has always taught that the last days began with the Incarnation. In fact, St. Peter taught this as he preached that remarkable sermon on the first Pentecost Sunday [Acts 2:14-41]. As for the end times, they might well be right around the corner, but we can only wait and watch in faith. As St. Peter reminds us, God's sense of timing is a bit different from ours, but it's all a sign of His enduring love:

"But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay His promise, as some regard 'delay,' but He is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" [2 Pt 3:8-9].

How loving and forgiving is our God, that He would wait in divine Hope that we all "come to repentance." Now there's something we should pray for daily. Indeed, that's exactly what we do after each decade of the Rosary when we pray, "...Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are in most need of your mercy."

More about this issue of end timing later.

Let me turn now to the question about the what many of our Protestant brothers and sisters call the Rapture. The Rapture is a common belief among Christians that the elect, both living and dead, will join Jesus when He returns and be "caught up" with Him. The belief is based on an interpretation of several verses in Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians:

"For the Lord Himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord" [1 Thes 4:16-17].

Until the 19th century virtually all Christians believed this event would occur with Christ's Second Coming, after the great tribulation. This remains the teaching of the Catholic Church, although the term "Rapture" has never been used by the Church. 

But then, in the 1800s, certain Protestant Fundamentalists and some Evangelicals claimed that the Rapture, the raising of the dead and living Christian elect, would occur either before or during the tribulation. Some have even expanded this to claim that there may well be a series of Raptures occurring at various times with respect to the tribulation.

Any version other than the long-held, pre-tribulation belief does not respect either Scripture or Apostolic Tradition. Mark, Matthew, Luke, and Paul all describe the Second Coming as occurring after the tribulation. Here's how St. Mark quotes Jesus:

"But in those days after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds' with great power and glory, and He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky" [Mk 13:24-27].

We find much the same in the Gospels according to Matthew [Mt 24:29-31] and Luke [Lk 21:20-28]. St. Paul, too, assures us that Jesus's Second Coming will follow the tribulations [2 Thes 2:1-12]. 

I suppose it's comforting for some folks to believe they will be raised up with Jesus before the world undergoes tribulation, but it's not what Jesus and His Church have taught from the very beginning. Here's link that offers a brief overview of the Catholic teaching: Rapture

The Church's teaching on tribulation and Christ's Second Coming is clearly described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 675-677.

Now, as for all the other questions about the Second Coming, about all I can say is, "I don't know." I take Jesus at His Word when He tells us:

"But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be Watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, on in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch!'" [Mk 13:32-37]

If you want to get a better sense of the tribulations that will occur before Our Lord's return, just turn to the Gospels: Mt 24; Mk 13; Lk 21. And, yes, the world will experience severe tribulations for Jesus doesn't pull any punches as He describes them.

As for how we should respond to persecution, I've always relied on St. Peter who echoes what Jesus has already revealed:

"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out" [2 Pt 3:10].

But Peter continues, offering us a comforting explanation and encouraging us to ready ourselves spiritually for the Lord's coming:

"But according to His promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before Him, at peace...since you are forewarned, be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled and to fall from your own stability. But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and to the day of eternity" [2 Pt 3:13-14, 17-18].

St. Peter has much more to say about the Lord's Coming and especially how we should respond to the persecutions we will face. Take some time to read and meditate on his words in the First Letter of Peter, Chapter 4 [1 Pt 4].

Jesus, too, prepares us for the persecutions Christians will suffer throughout these last days, persecutions that began soon enough with the Apostles themselves. Jesus prepared them for this in His last discourse by making clear their position as disciples of Jesus:

"If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you" [Jn 15:18-19].

He tells them so much more in these last discourses [Jn 14-17], words we should all read and pray about on a regular basis, if only to strengthen ourselves for what we might be called on to face.

Some people find these truths shared by Jesus disconcerting and try to ignore them or explain them away. But we must always remember that the world will place us Christians on the wrong side of history, where we will remain until the Lord's return. 

J.R.R. Tolkien said it well when he described the task of Christians on their journey of faith as, "We fight the long defeat." And it may appear to be a defeat as we witness evil winning what seems to be victory after victory in our world. But those "victories" will disappear instantly when the Son of God returns in His great, eternal triumph.

As the great G. K. Chesterton, in his wonderful novel, The Ball and the Cross, wrote, "The Cross cannot be defeated because it is Defeat." Yes, indeed, Jesus turns all that the world believes on its head. He asks only that we accept His gift of faith, live that faith, and trust always in Him. This is what our loving God has been telling us for thousands of years:

"Do not fear: I am with you; do not be anxious: I am your God. I with strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand" [Is 41:10].

Do not fear, brothers and sisters. Wars and pandemics and persecution are nothing to fear for those who are faithful.

Video & Text -- Homily: 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

I have embedded below a video of my homily for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Tme, Year C (11 August 2019). The text follows the video.

Readings: Wis 18:6-9; Ps 33; Heb 11:1-2, 8-19; Lk 12:32-48

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Today's Gospel reading reminds me of the old story of the apparition on the corner of Main and Market in a busy city.

It was Saturday morning when Fr. O'Brien heard a knock on the rectory door and an extremely excited parishioner said, "The Lord has appeared on the corner of Main and Market." As Father was trying to decide from what kind of mental illness she was suffering, a second person ran up to the door, "Father, Father, the Lord has appeared on the corner of Main and Market."

"When?" Fr. O'Brien asked. "He's there right now," they both answered. So Fr. O'Brien went down the block where a large crowd had formed, and sure enough, he saw Jesus. After a few moments Jesus looked intently at the priest and then disappeared.

Fr. O'Brien didn't know what to do, and called a wise monsignor friend of his, who told him to call the bishop. So he called the bishop and, after relating what had happened, asked, "What should I do if Jesus comes back?" 

After a moment the bishop said, "Look, Father, let me think about it and get back to you." The bishop then called Rome, and, since he was an important bishop, he was put through to the pope. 

"Holy Father," he said, "One of my priests, Fr. O'Brien, reports that the Lord has appeared on the corner of Main and Market in his parish. He wants to know what to do if the Lord returns."

After a brief moment the pope replied, "Tell Fr. O'Brien to look busy."

Yes, look busy, for the Lord is returning. But, of course, as the pope actually knows, it's not enough just to look busy is it? We have to be busy as well. And there's a lot to keep us busy. 

People all around us are lost, seeking meaning in their broken lives. And we Christians, we Catholics, have been given the answer. Wrapped up in our faith is our recognition of the reason for existence. 

We humans love to complicate things, while God always simplifies. And the answer to all questions is simple: the answer to all questions is Jesus Christ. It's an answer we can offer to others simply by our attitude toward life itself, and by how we live that life, by how we place God first in every aspect of our lives - out there in the world, here among us, and here within each of us. This complicated world of ours really becomes very simple when we make it clear to ourselves that by God's presence we are enriched beyond measure. 

Brothers and sisters, as we each come to a deeper understanding of Jesus' presence in our lives, He is like that pearl of great price the merchant in the Gospel parable sacrificed everything to obtain. When every aspect of our lives is centered on our relationship with God, we will reject those things that distract us from the His Divine Presence. 

For example, we don't avoid immorality just because the Church says something is bad. We avoid immorality because by doing so we refuse to allow immorality to cloud the Presence of the Lord within us, or even to steal Jesus from us. Isn't it interesting that virtually all sinful things are habitual, almost addictive, things, that they take over our lives leaving no room for God.

Yes, holding on to Jesus will definitely keep us busy - busy fighting against our imperfections and weaknesses, busy fighting against temptations. And if we truly live our faith in the world, we'll also be kept busy dealing with those who mock us for our Christianity, for living our Catholic Faith. These attacks can overwhelm; it's not easy to defend God in a world that's turned against Him. 

If you're blessed with children (and grandchildren) you struggle to keep them close to God, to help them reject the things of the world. It takes a real effort to help them develop into faithful Christians, all the while realizing that at some point they must make their own decisions. All we can do is provide love and direction and help them accept God's gift of faith. When we do this work, when we provide this love, when children experience Jesus Christ in their homes, God will work wonders in their lives.

Yes, being busy for God keeps you busy. It means doing all the important things in your home: praying together as a family, every day; reading the Bible together, every day. It means letting our children know, and reminding ourselves, that God is there waiting for us to come to Him in prayer. Regardless of your occupation, you can do no greater work than opening your children to their spiritual potential. And, yes, it will keep you busy. Our parental responsibility doesn't disappear just because our children have grown. Oh, it changes, it changes radically, but it doesn't disappear.

Standing up for the Lord also keeps us busy. This applies to us all, married or single. Each of us must treasure the Divine Presence within us. If you're single: your lives should reflect your active Christianity. The Church depends on you, our committed singles, to be generous with your time.

For those of you who are married: a successful marriage takes work, hard work - but it's the work of the Lord when it involves His sacrificial Love. It is not easy to express love as the Lord created Love, as an act of giving, especially when we live in a culture that says love is a way of taking satisfaction from someone else. 

Yes, our culture has degraded marriage to the point that its success is measured in proportion to the satisfaction generated by all sorts of things from pharmaceuticals to who knows what...Married Christians can withstand this exploitation of their sacrament by seeking ever new ways to give themselves to their spouses in loving, selfless care and concern. 

Once again, you have to be busy to make a marriage a Christian marriage. Of course, in this parish most of us have been married for many years, and our children have long since left the nest. Alleluia, Alleluia. 

But As Christians we're still called to make the love of Christ real in other people. We must still reach out with the love of Jesus Christ - to our neighbors, to our friends, even to those we meet in the check-out line at Publix - helping them realize they are loved, not just by you, but also by a God whose love knows no bounds.

How did Jesus put it in today's Gospel passage? Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival...And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Yes, brothers and sisters, the Lord is here, so it's not enough just to look busy. We have to be busy, living our Catholic Faith in the world...and we will be blessed.
But let's not forget, too, that the Lord also said:

"Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more" [Lk 12:48].

As Christians, we have been given a great deal - much of it on trust. Our gift of faith is a treasure for heaven, but we don't always cherish it as one. Indeed, our lives, our gifts, our families -- are all treasures; but, again, we don't always give them the respect and love they deserve. 

One day, we'll be called to account for how we have used God's gifts to help others. This can be a frightening prospect, for who among us can be confident that they have done all God has asked of them? But we can't allow fear or anxiety to lead us to despair. For Jesus also refers to the treasures in heaven that await us. And I expect that, alongside the accounting and judgment, there will also be other questions:

"Did you enjoy all that you were given? Did you make time for all the good things God wanted you to experience? Did you take it for granted? Did you share the good things I gave you on trust with others so that they could enjoy them too?"

We have all been entrusted with much, and some of us with even more, and so let's trust in the Lord and keep busy doing His work in the world. 

And as He promised, He will respond to our determination to live our faith by caring for us.

Homily: 1st Sunday of Advent - Year C

Readings: Jer 33:14-16; 1Th 3:12-4:2; Lk 21:25-28,34-36

Some years ago – actually 14 years ago, in December 2001 – two men I knew well died very suddenly within a few days of each other. Both of these men were in what we would call the "prime of life." One was 40, the other 56. Both were family men, husbands and fathers of three children. Both were seemingly fit and healthy. Both were, by every measure, very successful businessmen. And both probably thought they had 20 or 30 years of productive life ahead of them.

And yet in a flash, or perhaps more accurately, in the single beat of a human heart, both of these men were gone from us. For their families and friends, coping with such sudden loss, dealing with the grief and emptiness, was extremely difficult. Just as difficult were the questions they asked then, and have continued to ask since – questions to which there are no easy answers.

But against this uncertainty as to how and when we will die, is the absolute certainty that all of us will die. We humans are a strange lot. We accept the fact of death in general terms, because the evidence is irrefutable. But when it comes down to specifics, to ourselves or to someone close to us, we act as if God has somehow double-crossed us.

We tend to have a similar attitude about the end of the world. And yet, for my two friends, the end of their world arrived when they experienced their own personal second coming of Jesus. Oh, yes, as Catholic Christians we believe that Jesus will come again at the end of time. We just don't want it to happen on our watch. And maybe, if we don't think or talk about it, it won't. But that's exactly what we're asked to do during this season of Advent: to think and talk about it.

Today too many of us view Advent in one-dimensional terms. We see Advent simply as a prelude to Christmas, a sort of ecclesiastical version of the Christmas shopping season. Advent then becomes a warm and fuzzy time to turn our thoughts back to that first Christmas in Bethlehem, to the manger, to the bright star in the night sky, to Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus, to shepherds and angels and wise men, to the ox, the donkey and the lamb, to the little drummer boy.

Now I suppose that’s all a part of Advent, but quite frankly, it’s really only a small part. Lost amidst all this Christmas nostalgia, is the very fact of what we are called to celebrate. For Christmas isn't just the celebration of Jesus' birth. Rather, it's our commemoration of a defining moment in history: the manifestation of the incarnate Son of God to the world. Christmas is the celebration of an almost inconceivable act of love by the Father. It’s our loving God injecting Himself into human history in the most personal and direct way possible.

I will save you from yourselves by sending you my own Son, who will take on your nature, your flesh. He will live among you, teaching you about Me and how I expect you to live, to love, and to worship. And He will sacrifice Himself for you and for your sins.

Advent, then, is a time to ask ourselves whether we are prepared for the Son of God’s arrival into our lives. This is the Advent preached by John the Baptist: “…one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals” [Lk 3:16].

As Jeremiah prophesied in today's first reading:

"In those days, in that time, I will raise up for David a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land" [Jer 33:15].

This is what we celebrate during Advent as we look forward to Christmas: the beginning of the divine drama of the Incarnation, this wondrous manifestation of God's love through the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But that's not all we celebrate. We also look to the end of the drama. For the Church calls us not only to turn to the past, to Jesus' first coming, but also to the future, to the end of human history, to the second coming of Jesus. Unlike His first coming, which came quietly, almost secretly, His second coming will be quite an event.

In today's Gospel reading from Luke, Jesus gives us a pretty good idea of what to expect.

"…signs in the sun, the moon and the stars."
"…nations in disarray."
"…roaring of the seas and waves."
"…the powers in the heavens will be shaken." [Lk 21:25}

Yes, God will manifest His power as creator of the universe, and humanity will come to understand what the word "almighty" really means. So much so that Jesus tells us "people will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world" [Lk 21:26].

Now on the face of it, this doesn't sound like something to look forward to. But Jesus tells us, wait a minute…as Christians you have nothing to fear.

"…when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand" [Lk 21:28].

And it won't be easy, for "that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth" [Lk 21:35].

When will it happen? Today? Tomorrow? Next year? 100 or 1,000 years from now? We don't know; and those who throughout history, and even today, claim they do are false prophets. And because we don't know, Jesus instructs us:

"Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man" [Lk 21:36].

And so, during this season of Advent we are called to prepare ourselves, to act as if the end is near…for it might well be. And for some of us, like my two friends, it is.

"Be vigilant," Jesus says. Be watchful. That's what Advent is all about.

St. Bernard speaks of three comings of Jesus: One in flesh and weakness; one in glory and majesty; but another, a hidden coming, in which Christ comes into our lives through the working of the Holy Spirit and manifests His love through us. How better to prepare for His second coming than to be alert with God's love, to be alive with Christ's light.

What else can we do?

We can recognize Jesus when He comes to us through the others who touch our lives. We can see Jesus Christ in all others, so they will see Jesus in us. Like Mary, we can be “God-bearers” who take Jesus Christ, God’s Eternal Word, into the world. What a wonderful way to celebrate this coming of God's love into our hearts.

Listen again to the words of St. Paul in today's second reading:

"May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all…so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His holy ones" [1 Th 3:12-13]

How do we celebrate God's love? By loving. That's the point of Paul's prayer.

And what a prayer!

And what a world Christ would return to if everybody loved with His love. If Christ's light, emanating from the love of the Father, was truly the light of our lives.