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Living the Lessons of Love – A Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter

In the Gospel for today’s Mass, Jesus gives us three lessons on love meant to prepare us for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. They also go a long way in describing the normal Christian life.

Too many Christians see the Faith more as a set of rules to keep than as a love that transforms—if we accept it. Let’s take a look at the revolutionary life of love and grace that the Lord is offering us in three stages: the power of love, the person of love, and the proof of love.

1.The Power of Love – “If you love me, you will keep my commandments … Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me.”

We must be very careful how we hear this, for it is possible to think that the Lord is saying, in effect, “If you love me, prove it by keeping my commandments.” This understanding reduces the Christian faith to a moral maxim: do good, avoid evil, and thus prove that you love God. Loving God, then, becomes a human achievement.

Understanding this text from the standpoint of grace, however, yields a different—and I would argue, more proper—understanding. Loving God is not a human work; it is the gift of God. The text should be read to say, in effect, “If you love me, then by this love I have given you, you will keep my commandments.” Thus, the keeping of the commandments is the fruit of the love, not the cause of it. Love comes first. When love is received and experienced, we begin, by the power of that love, to keep the commandments. Love is the power by which we keep the commandments.

It is possible to keep the commandments to some extent out of fear and by the power of the flesh, but obedience based on fear tends not to last and brings with it many resentments. Further, attempting to keep the commandments through our own power brings not only exhaustion and frustration, but also the prideful delusion that somehow we have placed God in our debt because we obey.

It is far better to keep the commandments by the grace of God’s love at work within us. Consider the following qualities of love:

A. Love is extravagant – The flesh is minimalist and asks, “Do I really have to do this?” Love, however, is extravagant and wants to do more than the minimum. Consider a young man who loves a young woman. It is unlikely that he would say, “Your birthday is coming soon and I must engage in the wearisome tradition of buying you a gift. So, what is the cheapest and quickest gift I can get you?” Of course he would not say this! Love does not ask questions like this. Love is extravagant; it goes beyond the minimal requirements and even lavishes gifts on the beloved, eagerly. Love has the power to overrule the selfishness of the flesh. No young man would say to his beloved, “What is the least amount of time I must spend with you?” Love doesn’t talk or think like this. Love wants to spend time with the beloved. Love has the power to transform our desires from our own selfish ends, toward the beloved.

While these examples might seem obvious, it is apparently not so obvious to many Christians, who say they love God but then ask such things as, “Do I have to go to church?” “Do I have to pray, and if so, how often and for how long? “Do I have to go to confession, and if so, how frequently? “What’s the least amount I can put in the collection plate or give to the poor in order to be in compliance?” Asking for guidelines may not be wrong, but too often the question amounts to a version of “What’s the least I can do?” or “What’s the bare minimum?”

Love is extravagant and excited to do and to give, to please the beloved. Love is its own answer, its own power.

B. Love Expands – When we really love someone we also learn to love whom and what he or she loves.

During high school, I dated a girl who liked square dancing. At first I thought it was hokey, but since she liked it, I started to like it. Over time, I even came to enjoy it a great deal. Love expanded my horizons.

I have lived, served, and loved in the Black community for most of my priesthood. In those years, I have come to love and respect gospel music and the spirituals. I have also come to respect and learn from the Black experience of spirituality, and have done extensive study on the history of the African-American experience. This is all because I love the people I serve. When you love people, you begin to love and appreciate what they do. Love expands our horizons.

What if we really begin to love God? The more His love takes root in us, the more we love the things and the people He loves. We begin to have God’s priorities. We start to love justice, mercy, chastity, and all the people He loves—even our enemies. Love expands our hearts.

The saints say, “If God wants it, I want it. If God doesn’t want it, I don’t want it.” Too many Christians say, “How come I can’t have it? It’s not so bad. Besides, everyone else is doing it.” Love does not speak this way.

As God’s love grows in us it has the power to change our hearts, minds, desires, and vision. The more we love God, the more we love His commands and share the vision He offers for our lives. Love expands our hearts and minds.

C. Love excites – Imagine again a young man who loves a young woman. Now suppose she asks him to drive her to work one day because her car is in the shop. He does this gladly and sees it as an opportunity to be with her and to help her. He is excited to do so and is glad that she asked. This is true even if he has to go miles out of his way. Love stirs us to fulfill the wishes and desires of the beloved.

In the first Letter of John we read, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). Yes, love lightens every load. As we grow in love for God, we are excited to please Him. We keep His commandments, not because we have to, but because we want to. Even if His commandments involve significant changes, we do it with the same kind of gladness that fills a young man who drives miles out of his way to take his beloved to work. Love excites in us a desire to keep God’s law, to fulfill His wishes for us.

2.The Person of Love – “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him. But you know him, because he remains with you, and will be in you.”

In this text, Jesus tells us that the power to change us is not an impersonal power like “The Force” in Star Wars. Rather, what changes us is not a “what” at all but a “who.” The Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, living in us as in a temple, will change us and stir us to love. He who is Love will love God in us. Love is not our work; it is the work of God. “We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:10). God the Holy Spirit enables us to love God the Father and God the Son, and this love is the power in us that equips, empowers, and enables us to keep God’s law. He, the Holy Spirit, is the one who enables us to love extravagantly and in a way that expands and excites.

The Lord says that He, the Holy Spirit, remains in us. Are you aware of His presence? Too often our minds and hearts are dulled and distracted by the world and we are unaware of the power of love available to us. The Holy Spirit of Jesus and the Father is gentle and awaits the open doors we provide (cf Rev 3:20). As we open them, a power from His Person becomes more and more available to us and we see our lives being transformed. We keep the commandments; we become more loving, confident, joyful, chaste, forgiving, merciful, and holy. I am a witness! Are you?

3.The Proof of God’s Love – “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.”

The key phrases here are “You will live” and “You will realize,” for the Lord says that He will not leave us as orphans, that He will come to us and remain with us.

How do you know that these are more than just slogans? Simply put, you and I know this because of the new life we are receiving, which causes us to realize that Jesus lives, is in the Father, and is in us.

To “know” in the Bible is more than intellectual knowing. To “know” in the Bible is to “have intimate and personal experience of the thing or person known.” I know Jesus is alive and in me through His Holy Spirit because I am experiencing my life changing. I am seeing sins put to death and graces coming alive! I am a new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17). This is what Jesus means when He says, “You will realize that I am in the Father and in you.” To “realize” means to experience something as real.

I am proof of God’s love and its power to transform, my life is proof! In the laboratory of my own life I have tested God’s word and His promises, and I can report to you that they are true. I have come to experience as real (i.e., “realized”) that Jesus lives, that through His Holy Spirit I have a power available to me to keep the commandments and to embrace the new life, the new creation they both describe and offer to me.

I am a witness; are you?

This song says, “He changed my life and now I’m free …”

 

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It Is The Decision of the Holy Spirit and Us – A Teaching on the Catholicity of the Early Church

The first readings at daily Mass this week recount the Council of Jerusalem, which scholars generally date to around 50 A.D. It was a pivotal moment in the history of the Church, because it would set forth an identity for Her that was independent of the culture of Judaism per se and would open wide the door of inculturation to the Gentiles. This surely had a significant effect on evangelization in the early Church.

Catholic ecclesiology is evident in this first council in that we have a very Catholic model of how a matter of significant pastoral practice and doctrine is properly dealt with. What we see here is the same model that the Catholic Church has continued to use right up to the present day. In this and all subsequent ecumenical councils, there is a gathering of the bishops, presided over by the Pope, that considers and may even debate a matter. In the event that consensus cannot be reached, the Pope resolves the debate. Once a decision is reached, it is considered binding and a letter is issued to the whole Church.

All of these elements are seen in this first council of the Church in Jerusalem, although in seminal form. Let’s consider this council, beginning with some background.

  1. Bring in the Gentiles! Just prior to ascending, the Lord gave the Apostles the great commission: Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19). The Gentiles were now to be summoned and included in the ranks of discipleship and of the Church.
  2. The Church was mighty slow in beginning any outreach to the Gentiles. While it is true that on the day of Pentecost people from every nation heard Peter’s sermon, and more than 3000 converted, they were all Jews (Acts 2). In fact, there seems little evidence of the Church moving far from Jerusalem let alone to all the nations.
  3. Perhaps as a swift kick in the pants, the Lord allowed a persecution to break out in Jerusalem after the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7). This caused the gospel to begin a northward trek, into Samaria at least. Samaritans, however, are not usually considered Gentiles, because they were a group that had intermarried with Jews in the 8th century B.C. There was also the baptism of an Ethiopian official, but he, too, was a Jew.
  4. Fifteen Years? The timeline of Acts is a bit speculative. However, if we study it carefully and compare it to some of what Paul says (especially in Galatians), it would seem that it was between 12 and 15 years before the baptism of the first Gentile took place! If this is true, then another nudge or push from the Lord was surely needed. There was strong racial animosity between Jews and Gentiles, which may explain the slow response to Jesus’ commission. Although it may explain it, it does not excuse it. However, the Lord does not fail to guide His Church.
  5. Time for another kick in the pants. This time the Lord goes to Peter, who was praying on a rooftop in Joppa, and by means of a vision teaches him that he should not call unclean what God calls clean. The Lord then sends to Peter an entourage from Cornelius, a high Roman military official seeking baptism. Cornelius, of course, is a Gentile. The entourage requests that Peter accompany them to meet Cornelius at Cesarea. At first, he is reluctant, but then recalling the vision (the kick in the pants) that God gave him, Peter decides to go. In Cesarea, he does something unthinkable: Peter, a Jew, enters the house of a Gentile. He has learned his lesson and as the first Pope has been guided by God to do what is right and just. After a conversation with Cornelius and the whole household as well as signs from the Holy Spirit, Peter baptizes them. Praise the Lord! It was about time. (All of this is detailed in Acts 10.)
  6. Many are not happy with what Peter has done and they confront him about it. Peter explains his vision and also the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, insisting that this is how it is going to be. While it is true that these early Christians felt freer to question Peter than we would the Pope today, it is also a fact that what Peter has done is binding even if some of them don’t like it; what Peter has done will stand. Once Peter has answered them definitively, they reluctantly assent and declare somewhat cynically, “God has granted life giving repentance even to the Gentiles!” (Acts 11:18)
  7. Trouble is brewing. The mission to the Gentiles is finally open, but that does not mean that the trouble is over. As Paul, Barnabas, and others begin to bring in large numbers of Gentile converts, some among the Jewish Christians begin to object that they are not like Jews and insist that the Gentiles must be circumcised and follow the whole of Jewish Law—not just the moral precepts but also the cultural norms, kosher diet, purification rites, etc. (That is where we picked up the story in yesterday’s Mass.)
  8. The Council of Jerusalem – Luke, a master of understatement, says, “Because there arose no little dissension and debate …” (Acts 15:2) it was decided to ask the Apostles and elders in Jerusalem to gather and consider the matter. So the Apostles and some presbyters (priests) with them meet. Of course Peter is there as is James, who was especially prominent in Jerusalem among the Apostles and would later become bishop there. Once again, Luke rather humorously understates the matter by saying, “After much debate, Peter arose” (Acts 15:7).

Peter arises to settle the matter because, it would seem, the Apostles themselves were divided. Had not Peter received this charge from the Lord? The Lord had prophesied, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you all like wheat but I have prayed for you Peter, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers (Luke 22:31-32). Peter now fulfills this text, as he will again in the future and as will every Pope after him. Peter clearly dismisses any notion that the Gentiles should be made to take up the whole burden of Jewish customs. Paul and Barnabas rise to support this. Then James (who it seems may have felt otherwise) rises to assent to the decision and asks that a letter be sent forth to all the Churches explaining the decision. He also asks for and obtains a few concessions.

So there it is, the first council of the Church. That council, like all the Church-wide councils that would follow, was a gathering of the bishops in the presence of Peter, who worked to unite them. At a council a decision is made and a decree binding on the whole Church is sent out—very Catholic, actually. We have kept this biblical model ever since that first council. Our Protestant brethren have departed from it because they have no pope to settle things when there is disagreement. They have split into tens of thousands of denominations and factions. When no one is pope, everyone is pope.

A final thought: Notice how the decree to the Churches is worded: It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us (Acts 15:28). In the end, we trust the Holy Spirit to guide the Church in matters of faith and morals. We trust that decrees and doctrines that issue forth from councils of the bishops with the Pope are inspired by and authored by the Holy Spirit Himself. There it is right in Scripture, the affirmation that when the Church speaks solemnly in this way, it is not just the bishops and the Pope speaking as men, it is the Holy Spirit speaking with them.

The Church—Catholic from the start!

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Remaining In the Lord

The text from today’s Gospel (Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter) speaks of the need to remain in the Lord.

Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither.

In this short Gospel, the word “remain” occurs six times. Do you get the point? Remain! The Greek word μείνατε (meinate) is the plural imperative of the verb meno, meaning to abide. To abide means to remain habitually or to stay somewhere. It speaks of stability and persistence. I prefer “abide” as a translation because it suggests staying put. One can “remain” in a place for an hour and then leave, but abiding has a more ongoing sense.

It is clear that a branch must always stay attached to the vine or else it is doomed. Absolutely nothing is possible for a branch (except to wither and die) unless it is attached to the vine 24 x 7 x 365. It would appear that the analogy couldn’t be clearer.

And yet it seems very unclear to Jesus’ disciples, who walk away easily, finding abiding both tedious and difficult. And then we puzzle as to why our spiritual life is tepid and its fruits lackluster. We can’t have even a mediocre spiritual life apart from Christ; the text says we can’t do anything at all but be scattered.

How do we abide with and in the Lord? Scripture distinguishes four ways. We abide and experience union with the Lord through

  1. His Word – If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you (Jn 15:7). Anyone who loves me will be true to my word and my Father will love him and we will come to him (Jn 14:22).
  2. Holy Communion – He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him (Jn 6:56).
  3. Prayer (especially communal prayer) – For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Matt 18:20).
  4. Keeping His Commandments – Those who keep his commandments abide in him and He in them (1 John 3:22).

Yes, abiding is accomplished through prayer, Scripture, sacraments, fellowship, and walking uprightly. This Gospel could not be clearer: abide, abide, abide, abide, abide, abide. Six times the word is used.

Do you get it? Abide. Abide persistently.

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In Justice, We Owe God Our Worship

There is a strong tendency today to regard sacred worship as more for us than for God. Some complain of “not being fed,” of Mass being boring or lasting too long. Masses are generally assessed as “good” if they please those in the pews, are “relevant” to their experiences, engage their interests, and are culturally sensitive. The focus is anthropocentric and, to the degree that they think of God, they are certain that if theyare happy then He must be, too.

I may exaggerate, but only a little.It is not far from the truth to say that God is somewhat of an afterthought in modern liturgical thinking, by congregations or clergymen. This is not to say that we neglect to consider how our liturgies can be beautiful, compelling, inspire reverence, and instruct. Unfortunately, we rarely speak of worship as a sacrifice that, in justice, we owe to God.

First and foremost, we worship God because, in justice, we owe Himpraise and thanksgiving. We have a debt to render to Him simply because He is God and also because of all He has done for us. Consider the following Scripture passages and see how they link worship as a sacrifice owed to God with the fulfillment of vows:

    • I will offer to You a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD. I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the LORD’s house, in your midst, O Jerusalem(119:17-19).
    • Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared(Psalm 76:11).
    • Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name(Heb 13:15).
    • Freely I will sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good. For He has delivered me from every trouble, and my eyes have stared down my foes (Psalm 54:6-7).
    • Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High(Ps 50:14).

The term “vow” makes sense in the passages above to us who are in a covenantal relationship with God. Just as a husband and wife in the covenant of Holy Matrimony owe each other many things in light of their vows, so too do we owe God many things: love, obedience, gratitude, praise, thanksgiving, honor, and reverence.

Note again, we owe this to God. To fail in this regard is a grave injustice because we are subject to Him, because He is infinitely superior to us, and because of the goodness and providence He has shown us.

St. Thomas Aquinas placed worship not where we might expect it—in his treatise on faith or love—but in his treatise on justice. In doing so, he makes the same point: that worship and sacrifice are due to God in justice:

Natural reason tells man that he is subject to a higher being, on account of the defects which he perceives in himself, and in which he needs help and direction from someone above him: and whatever this superior being may be, it is known to all under the name of God. Now just as in natural things the lower are naturally subject to the higher, so too it is a dictate of natural reason in accordance with man’s natural inclination that he should tender submission and honor, according to his mode, to that which is above man. …

Hence it is a dictate of natural reason that man should use certain [objective sacrifices], by offering them to God in sign of the subjection and honor due to Him…. Now this is what we mean by a sacrifice, and consequently the offering of sacrifice is of the natural law (Summa Theologiae II, IIae, q 85 art 1).

Note, therefore, that we allowe sacrifice and worship to God in justice. It is not an obligation merely of those in the biblical world. Rather, it is a precept of reason and Natural Law. Hence, even pagans are bound in justice to acknowledge the debt they owe to God or to whatever superior being they acknowledge. While those outside the biblical world may be mistaken as to the nature of God or unaware of the proper way to worship Him as described in biblical texts and Sacred Tradition, they are nevertheless obliged to give honor and reverence to God as they understand Him. St. Paul said something similar about the Gentiles of his time:

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened (Rom 1:18-21).

Yes, natural reason is capable of concluding the existence of God and the gratitude, reverence, worship, and honor due to Him in justice. St. Paul says that those who fail to do so are without excuse and bring down darkness and confusion upon themselves.

Allow this reflection to remind all of us that the primary reason we worship God is that we owe it to Him in justice. He is infinitely worthy of our praise, love, and gratitude.

Further, allow this reflection to rebuke the rather selfish notions of worship that are so common today. Complaints of “not being fed” or of being bored cannot overrule our obligation to offer a sacrifice of praise to God every Sunday. Many liturgical notions today focus too heavily on pleasing man and too little on God. Modern preoccupations with making the Liturgy “relevant,” completely understandable, culturally pleasing, and “interesting” often move man to the center and God to the periphery. While relevance, comprehensibility, and cultural sensitivity have their place, the proper liturgy will also contain things that are mysterious and just do not fit in with modern sensibilities. The true liturgy often demands sacrifice from us, that we adjust to it and allow it to form us rather than to merely reflect us.

In the end, the Sacred Liturgy is foremost about God and the worship due to Him. This is a blessing for us, too, but only if pleasing God is truly our primary goal. Putting God first unlocks the blessings of the Sacred Liturgy for us. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you (Mat 6:33).

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We Must Hear in Order to See

The Gospel for today’s Mass (Monday of the 5th Week of Easter) makes an interesting connection:

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him,
“Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us
and not to the world?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (John 14:21-23).

Thus, there is a connection between hearing and seeing: we must hear in order to be able to see.

In this context, hearing and seeing refer to more than the mere physical acts. As Jesus clearly states, hearing His word is linked to obeying it. The word “obedience” comes from the Latin roots ob (before or near) and audire (to hear, listen, or hearken). Hence, hearing means keeping the Commandments and keeping the Lord’s Word. St. Paul said, Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ (Rom 10:17). Hence, it is listening to the Word of God and obeying its precepts that opens our spiritual eyes so that Christ and the love and presence of the Father are revealed to us.

Similarly, seeing does not refer to light rays touching our retinas. Rather, it means a spiritual comprehension in which the glory of God and His truth become increasingly evident to us.

Recall from John’s Gospel the man blind from birth. He heard the Lord tell him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam. He went, washed, and came back able to see (cf. John 9). Obedience to what is heard leads to God revealing Himself to us.

Summarizing this brief reflection: it is necessary to hear with obedience in order to see, that is, in order to experience the ongoing presence of God in our life. Listen well, that you may see.

This chant says, “Hear, O Daughter, and see. Incline your ear, for the King desires your beauty.”

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Are You a Tombstone or a Living Stone? A Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter

By His resurrection, Jesus has brought us from death to life. He has snatched us from this present evil age (Gal 1:4) and from the death-directed desires of our body (Rom 6:12), and made us into a new and living creation (2 Cor 5:17). As such, we have exchanged the tombstones that once indicated we were dead in our sins and have become living stones in the spiritual edifice that is the Body of Christ and also the Church.

In the Epistle for today’s Mass (1 Peter 2:4-9), we are summoned to this new life and told what some of its characteristics are. Let’s take a look at how we go from being tombstones to living stones by considering this text in three sections.

1. The Call of Salvation – Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house.

Notice first the invitation that is made: Come to Him! Let yourself be built! The entire Christian life is based on our response to an invitation to accept Jesus Christ and to let Him transform our life. We are to say, “yes,” not only to Jesus, but also to what He can do for us. He will take our broken, crumbling lives and rebuild them. In what sense will He do this? Two images are offered:

Living Stones – A stone is an odd image for life. There doesn’t seem to be anything less living than a stone! What does it mean to be a “living stone”? First, it means to be alive, to be full of life! Second, it means that some of the better qualities of stone are to be ours. A stone is firm, weighty, not easily moved, and able to withstand a heavy load. Thus we too are to be strong and firm in our faith, not easily moved about by the currents of the world or tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes (Eph 4:14). Stable and firm, we are also able to carry the weight and bear the difficulties imposed by this world. We are able to support and carry others in their time of need, sharing their burdens. Yes, living stones—strong, firm, not easily moved, and alive, quite alive!

A Spiritual House – The image implies that in a spiritual sense, we as living stones make up the walls of the Church. We are fitted together like stones into a wall that is strong and sure. We are not saved merely unto ourselves, but also for the sake of others. By God’s grace, we depend upon one another, each of us carrying his share of the burden. Each stone in the wall does its part. Remove one stone and the whole wall is weakened. Only together is the wall solid and sure.

2. The Choice for Salvation – whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame. Therefore, its value is for you who have faith, but for those without faith: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and a stone that will make people stumble, and a rock that will make them fall. They stumble by disobeying the word, as is their destiny.

Simply put, we have a choice to make. That choice will determine if Jesus is the cornerstone who supports us or a stumbling block over which we trip and fall. It is an interesting phenomenon that when a person is being rescued at sea, sometimes the victim will reach out and grab the life ring that is tossed to them, while others will resist attempts to save them, seeing it as something that will further endanger them.

What is meant by the “cornerstone”? It usually brings to mind a ceremonial stone with an inscription and possibly some historical things embedded. Here, though, it refers more to the stone at the bottom of an arch or the row of bricks that supports the whole arch. It had to be a very carefully crafted stone since all the other stones depended on its integrity and perfect shape to support them. This is Jesus Christ for us. We are all leaning on Him; He is the perfect stone who carries our weight.

But for those who reject Christ, He is a stone over which they trip and fall. Surely Jesus wants to save us all, but some reject Him and for them He becomes a stumbling block. We cannot remain neutral about Jesus. We must decide one way or the other about Him: yes means salvation; no means condemnation. He will either be a cornerstone or a stumbling block; there is no third way. To those who knowingly reject Him, He is a stumbling block. This image also explains some of the venomous attacks on Christ and Christianity from the world. When one trips over something and falls, one tends to curse what caused the fall.

The choice is ours. May it be Christ and may He be our cornerstone—the only One on whom we can lean and rely with certainty. Only this will take us from being tombstones to living stones.

3. The Characteristics of Salvation – You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Notice four characteristics of those who are no longer tombstones, but are living stones:

Our Pedigree – The text calls us a “chosen race.” We’ve reflected on making Christ our choice, but here we are reminded that before we chose Him, He chose us. If we received an invitation to the White House, many of us would feel that we had “made it” and would proudly tell our friends of the great honor. Yet we take little notice that we are chosen by God and invited to the great Wedding Feast of the Lamb. Yes, we are chosen; we have a pedigree. We are of the household of God. This is greater than any worldly dignity and it is able to overcome any indignity that the world heaps upon us.

Our Priesthood – Each of us who is baptized into Christ Jesus is made priest, prophet, and king. This “royal” priesthood, while different from the ministerial priesthood, has this similarity: every priest is enabled to offer a sacrifice pleasing to God. In the Old Testament, priests offered up something distinct from them, usually an animal. But in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, the priest and the victim are one and the same. Jesus offered Himself. All of the baptized are equipped by God to offer the pleasing sacrifice of their very selves to God. Here is a very great dignity given to us by Jesus: to have a perfect right to stand in His Father’s presence, praise Him, and offer a fitting sacrifice. Only ministerial priests of the Church can bring us the sacraments, but all baptized believers share in the royal priesthood, wherein they freely offer themselves to God.

Our Place – The text calls us a “holy nation.” To be holy means to be set apart. Hence we are called out from among the many to be a people that is set apart for God. While all are invited to Christ, only those who accept the invitation receive the grace to be called a holy nation. As such, we should understand that our role is not to “fit in” with this sin-soaked world, but rather to stand apart from it, to be recognizably distinct from it. Our behavior, priorities, love, joy, and charity should be obvious to all. To be a holy nation is a great honor, but also a great responsibility. May this curse of Scripture never be said about us: As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (Rom 2:24).

Our Proclamation – The text says that the Lord has acted in our life so that you may announce the praises of him, who called you out of darkness into his own, wonderful light. Yes, the Lord has been good to us and is changing our lives! If you are faithful, then you know what He has done for you and you have a testimony to give. Scripture says that we were made for the praise of his glory (Eph 1:6). Do people hear you praise the Lord? Have you glorified His name among the Gentiles? (Rom 15:9) Do people know of your gratitude? Have they heard of your witness to the Lord? Can you articulate how God has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light? You ought to be a witness for the Lord! This is a necessary characteristic of those who are no longer tombstones, but living stones.

Are you a tombstone or a living stone?

Here is a video version of this homily:

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A Sunday to Remember Always

This past Sunday will go down in my memory as among the most blest and surprising. Here we are in the middle of a plague but God still reigns and the love and hunger of the people of God is alive.

The morning started quietly with confessions in the Church followed by a private Mass celebrated and sung solemnly with the three seminarians who are staying here. They are good men and have been a great support to me in times like these, and all of our liturgies are reverently and meticulously celebrated.

By 11:00 AM the Sisters from our Convent joined us in the courtyard for a small May Procession: six sisters, three seminarians and I processed around Lincoln Park here in the neighborhood carrying our Lady in Procession. We returned to the courtyard next to the church and there crowned the large statue of our Lady with flowers. She looks so beautiful with her crown!

So the day was already rich with blessings. But at 2:00pm there came yet another amazing blessing and great delight. I had been asked to come outside the rectory, having been told that a small group wanted to make a presentation to me. I had no idea what it could be and so I went forth quite curious. The video below shows what unfolded. It was a road-rally of almost 120 cars filled with parishioners honking and waving as they went by!

I cannot begin to tell you how moved I was. God’s people are so good! It is the greatest gift I could imagine. All I could do was smile and wave back. But I think my tears said more than I can ever express in words.

To my parishioners I want to say, I love you, I miss you and am grateful for the gift you gave to me, to the sisters and staff. And the gift you gave was the gift of your very self. I long to be reunited and I don’t think we’ll ever be able to see our Sunday gatherings as ordinary again. The Sunday Mass and Our Lord in the Eucharist have formed us and knitted us together all these years, it is the most precious gift we have. We are members of Christ, but we are also members of one another, and that was so beautifully evident last Sunday.

I thank you again for this precious gift. I will never forget the joy of that moment and, following the Blessed Mother’s example, I will treasure and ponder it in my heart.

I know that some of you have already seen the video on Facebook. But if not, here you go:

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How Did Jesus Go From Being a Hero to Being Hated In Less Than a Week?

Although we are well into the Easter season, my mind harkens back to an event on Good Friday that has often puzzled me. What turned the crowd against Jesus? Recall that just six days earlier, on Palm Sunday, the crowds praised Him, acclaimed Him Son of David, and spoke of Him as a king and messiah. By the morning of Good Friday, though, they were calling for Him to be crucified. What turned them against Him?

My usual explanation was to suppose that the Temple leaders hired a crowd of ruffians and coached them on what to say. In other words, I conjectured that these were not the same people who welcomed Jesus on Palm Sunday but rather a carefully selected group assembled on the plaza in front of the governor’s residence (the Praetorium). While it may be true that the Temple leaders coached them, it still raises the question, how were they able to find so many people willing to turn against a man so widely admired and appreciated by the ordinary faithful?

Fr. Antonin-Gilbert Sertillanges gave a thoughtful and insightful analysis of this event and of the crowd’s motivation in his book What Jesus Saw from the Cross. Let us consider Fr. Sertillanges’ explanation of the mood of the crowd. (Note that he does notdiscount that many in the crowd may well have hailed Jesus as Messiah on Palm Sunday.)

At the beginning of his sacred ministry … Jesus had aroused intense enthusiasm …. [But now] what is the grievance? That the leaders of the Jews should have hated Jesus is perhaps intelligible, but the enmity of the crowd is most mysterious. It is only at the last moment that it becomes manifest, and then only under the stimulus of encouragement from the priests (pp. 157-158).

So, Fr. Sertillanges has pondered the mysterious shift in mood of the crowd. And while he notes that there was some stimulus from the Temple leaders, he does not presume that those leaders had gathered the crowd.

[On that Good Friday] morning the crowd assembled for reasons of its own. They have a right to have a prisoner released to them on this day and they are coming to claim that right. Perhaps they are thinking of Barabbas, perhaps of Jesus, who is just at this moment appearing before the tribunal. … Pilate [however] irritates them twice by referring jocularly to [Jesus] as “their king.” [And thus, Jesus now] arouses their division more than their pity: a messiah in chains before a Roman governor? This seems to be the kernel of the matter in the eyes of these Israelites, who were enthusiastic [on Palm Sunday], a few moments ago were in doubt, and now are suddenly hostile and furious (p. 158).

Now Father moves to the psychological shift that takes place:

Mobs do not like to be disillusioned; and the man who disappoints them may pass in a moment from the rank of a national hero to nothing, and even to less than nothing. … Think what a disillusionment it is for the Jews to see Jesus in this [scourged] condition before Pilate. … This is the Pauline “scandal of the cross” (p. 159).

From disappointment they pass to spite, from spite to anger, and under the ceaseless encouragement of their iniquitous leaders they are easily roused to exasperation. The word crosshas been spoken; it is taken up and repeated. … The taste of blood now begins to intoxicate the mob; a thrill of cruelty runs through them all. To any further questions or objections, the maddened crowd has only one reply, given with increasing violence: “Crucify him! Crucify him!” (pp. 159-160)

[And thus, Jesus departs the Preatorium] carrying all his blessings with him. As he processes along the way … the cruel gaiety of this day has gone to everybody’s head. Every savage instinct latent in the heart of man was awake; souls froth over with rage in this anticipatory delegation of those in every generation who would hate and oppose Christ vented itself in the cry of Satanic joy (p. 161).

Going even deeper into the cause of their disillusionment, Fr. Sertillanges ponders:

And yet, [at a deeper spiritual level] the problem still remains: how did this transformation which we have described become possible?

The mystics tell us that a great moral lapse is always preceded by hidden causes. [Some have noted that] the Jewish masses at that time were prone to mystical curiosity and superstitious practices. The success that Jesus achieved among the masses was due to the [messianic] interests of the moment and the enthusiasm aroused by his miracles, the fascination of his discourse, and to the sardonic satisfaction of hearing their leaders criticized and of seeing them defied …. [This explains their attraction to Jesus] more than a fully convinced adherence to Jesus and his teaching (pp. 161-162).

The people had become dazzled, not convinced, and their carnal expectations were disappointed. Jesus as a political Messiah … Casting off the Roman yoke, the abolition of taxes and the return of the Jews of the dispersal, this is what would have won them over. But the aims and the doctrines of the Savior were not of this kind; and this is the reason why, as soon as they see their selfish hopes disappointed, the crowd turned against him. Their favor becomes hostility (p. 162).

This is quite a rich examination of the puzzling shift in the mood of the crowd.To Father’s reflection I can only add that St. Paul calls the cross a stumbling block to Jews because Deuteronomy (21:23) says, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” As they beheld Jesus horribly scourged, a prelude to crucifixion, they judge Him cursed by God and bitterly dismissed the idea that He could be the Messiah they hoped for.

There much to ponder in Fr. A.G. Sertillanges’ What Jesus Saw from the Cross. It is rich in history and spirituality and I highly recommend it for your reading.